Deciding on whether to tip an artist and how much can be hard for some people. They don't want to be thought of as mean but they also don't want to just give someone money. One artist told me that word of mouth to get them more customers is the best tip you can give. But to be honest, a good tip is always welcome. So how do you decide on how much to tip your tattoo artist? One guy I spoke to said that a good tip is any amount in the range of 10-20% of the total cost of the tattoo job. Of course it depends on how much money you have. You can't give what you don't have.

If you are happy with the result, then you should consider giving your tattoo artist a tip. The amount you give will depend on several things. You can also just give from your heart especially if you are extremely pleased. Here are of the things you can look at in order to decide whether to give something or not and whether to give a big or small tip.

First, if you are not happy with the tattoo, then you are not obliged to tip the artist. It doesn't make sense to give a tip in this case, unless you are saying that the artist tried his best and it wasn't his fault.

1. Reception and service

If you are well received and treated well when you enter the tattoo shop it can help enhance the experience of being at the tattoo shop. If people ignore you and no one seems to acknowledge your presence or talk to you, you should take that into consideration when deciding on the amount to leave as a tip. A good tattoo shop will offer a great service all round. Good services attract lots of tips from happy and satisfied customers.

2. Their dedication and willingness to work with your design.

You will find that some artists are very patient and they will work with you to come up with a design that you are happy with. On the opposite end, there are those who will keep brushing your ideas aside, showing you pictures and won't want to hear about your input.

3. How well they communicated with you

Some artists are good at communication. These will usually take their time and make sure they understand what you want and they won't pretend to be busy or rush you to do things. Being rushed when you're making important decisions can be very annoying and frustrating.

4. The length of time it takes

Some tattoo artists will try to speed through the process and the quality of the finished tattoo will show this. You also don't want someone taking much longer than it should normally take.

After looking at these things you'll get a good mental picture of the overall quality of the service and you'll be able to decide whether to tip closer to the 20% or towards the lower 10% or even not give a tip at all. Remember, tattoo artists don't require you to tip them but if you want to do it, there is no reason why you shouldn't if you are very happy with the tattoo and the service you've received.

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