How to get tattooed on a budget. (and still get a great tattoo!)

First step, Stop thinking of tattoos as an expense, and therefore deserves a spot on your spending budget! Tattoos are an investment in yourself. This is a chance to express yourself visually for the rest of your life, do not be cheap when investing in your body art. Be a collector versus a tattooed individual. The main difference is the mindset. Collectors recognize they are investing in their art.

With this said, there are options that will keep the hit on the wallet lower per visit. Consider the option between one shot tattoos ( tattoos that can be completed in one session, generally taking less than 3 hours to complete) and session work. One shot tattoos cost less for a completed project, primarily due to the fact they are smaller and less complex and therefore are a smaller investment in time and materials to complete. If you are looking for a pick me up, that good feeling you get from a new tattoo, a one shot tattoo may be for you. Always let your artist know if there is any chance that you will want tattoos around it, so they can design it accordingly to allow it to be worked into and around later on.

Another option if your design is large or complex, is session work. Many tattoos can be broken down into more manageable chunks of time, like line work, shading, and coloring. The end results in a larger total amount of money, in smaller, more affordable amounts of time. A linework session of a fairly large area can be less expensive than a one shot tattoo. (Can be, not always will be, or often is.) Many times these sessions can be broken into one hour blocks, if your artist charges $100 an hour, you can get your awesome tattoo $100 at a time. This tends to make the overall process much longer, but makes it easier to afford the investment in a great tattoo.

Another thing to keep in mind, a decent amount of tattoo artists offer lower prices for longer sessions. They may offer flat rate full day sessions, or reduced rates for sessions over 4 hours, and other options of the same. The truth of the matter is, a majority of our cost of materials is used in the set up. Our needles, ink, tubes, etc. are all laid out at the beginning of the tattoo. Many of these material costs do not increase with the time in chair, so it becomes a higher profit margin as the time increases. Many artists choose to pass this on to the customer by offering lower pricing for longer sessions. If they do not offer discounts, it is not a strike against their character, but a statement that they value their time at a set rate, and cost of materials do not factor into that value. These are generally very good artists, and should not be discarded as a possibility for your artist just because they do not offer discounted rates. With this option, you may end up saving money from the total of the piece, but will be required to come up with more per session than you would with much smaller sessions. You will end up with a finished piece faster. Its all a trade-off, depending on what you value more.

In any case, you should prepare for your tattoo, and research your artist. Discuss these options with them when you set up your consultation, and determine what the best avenue will be for both of you. As always, pay the price asked, as you have done the work to find the artist that works best for you, and being cheap will only get you a less than great tattoo. Cheap tattoos aren’t good, and good tattoos aren’t cheap!

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