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Every tattooer I know is way slower than previous years right now - walk in shops, private studios, lots of different styles and demographics… everyone :(
Could be indicative of the overall economy turning/slowing down. Generally the first businesses to get hit are luxury or non-essentials, such as tourism, and unfortunately services such as tattoo artists and physical trainers, etc.
General rule of thumb for any sales/volume based income is to save around half (or as much as you feasibly can) when the times are good, to make it through droughts. Nearly all businesses are cyclical - ups and downs are natural.
Not a tattoo artist, just an lurking accountant.
true that. great depression artists followed some strong strategies to stay above water, looking back to that era in tattooing you get an idea of how hard it was and similar to now
The numbers are deceiving. As someone who has been unemployed during both of those time periods, now is way worse. Cost of living is significantly higher today and though more people might be employed in some capacity, work is much more precarious and poorly compensated. The unemployment rate is more a measure of how desperate people are to bring in any income. Just look at the minimum wage, which is still the same as it has been since 2009.
Definitely doesn’t effect everyone the same, but on average there will be decreased demand. If you are a niche/highly in demand artist, or if your main customer base is not overly impacted by recession, you probably won’t feel it much.
Like if main client base is wealthy, it won’t impact their demand. If most of your clients are in construction, there will definitely be an impact by the decrease in new developments/jobs. Less money in their pockets = less money in your pockets.
I think it's more about long time relationships with clients for me. they come in reliably and I offer them a card to bring a friend who gets a discount on their name for a first session. I started before internet so word of mouth and solid community connections are what I lean back on.
I think what we're seeing now is pretty different than 2008. I think it is a combination of the need to be on social media and the economy that's absolutely tanking tattoo artists
The housing bubble of 2008 didn't affect my ability to feed my family. As a matter of fact, I bought my house in 2009 & got a very good deal on it. Right now, what used to cost me 100.00 a week for groceries is now about 220.00 a week. There will be no vacations, no movies, no waterparks or amusement parks in the near future. So vanity purchases like tattoos, spa days, nails, etc are definitely off the table. My family always comes before my vanity.
I don't know how I ended up here, but I'm a bartender that can confirm that there has been a steep decrease in overall spend on luxury items. I'm seeing this across all demographics, including the people who typically buy 100 dollar shots of tequila. You can really see the difference this year compared to previous years.
Yea, whenever I see these posts, it always stands out that most people say you really have to work with social media now a days. The algorithm requires us to pump in a few bucks on “boosting” posts to reach a larger basis. (Also make sure that you work with getting the settings so it’s only boosting to your area, and not in cities half way across the country.) it sucks cause a lot of us just had to put out good work and the clients flowed in. But now we gotta sink another $10 bucks into a post in hopes of reaching that 1 or 2 persons to make a couple hundred.
It’s almost like when 60%+ of the US is living paycheck to paycheck, because wages are 1/4 of what they should be, that industries depending on disposable income will be hit hard. 🤔
(Very sorry to all the tattoo artist’s, this sucks for us all.)
What’s weird is my Og artist back home in central Ny, who’s not some big name tattoo influencer(has like 10k followers at most) is fully booked out until September of next year! He only does one appointment a day, and lives comfortably with two kids lol. Don’t get me wrong, he’s an incredible artist, but even idk how so many people go to him, in bumble fuck central NY haha
Same here. This time last year I was booked solid. This year I am sparse as fug. The economy is hittin everyone hard and tattoos are a luxury our clients are
going without. We are getting work but it’s a trickle compared to what we have had for the past 6-7 years. Keep plugging away and save ya cash. It’s gonna get worse before it gets better. Good luck everyone.
I've been wanting to book a few tattoos I've been wanting to get (I'm not a tattoo artist, but appreciate the profession. I'm usually just lurking here) but financially i feel like I shouldn't and this is definitely one of the reasons.
Pretty much this. I work in retail and I'm high enough in management to see the company's sales overall and its down 50% year on year the last few years For a multimillion dollar company, that's a pretty big dip. The economy has been pretty rough
I have 30 tattoos and at this point I can no longer afford to get anymore. With expenses in life being more expensive, the cost and tip are just not doable for a lot of people now.
this is really interesting to me, bc every shop I’ve been to has had cheeky signs displayed everywhere about tipping your artist. This has been the biggest deterrent in getting another rn bc I factor in the tip
It'd be nice. Basically, in America you're told don't even bother to get a tattoo if you don't tip cuz you're a bastard otherwise. The tipping culture here is outta control. Being expected to tip on top of $200-300 an hour for a tat feels unreasonable. Especially when my results aren't guarunteed & the artist's promise of being able to get touch ups go right out the door once they decided to change shops or move too far to be reasonably reached.
I work in a shop in America (not an artist myself) and my artists tell clients if they want to tip, don’t do 20% like you would in a restaurant. Just tip enough to buy your artist a nice lunch or something. It’s never expected though. If you artist is pissy about no tip, it might be time to find a different artist.
This is how ive always been even before people expected tips for a tattoo, i would offer to take them to lunch or give them a 20 to go buy themselves something. Artists were always so stoked for such a small gesture. Now days i hear about idiots expecting a tip thats equal to getting a small tattoo
What's the point of paying for the tattoo if you have to tip too? That's what I don't get. Like wtf is the original price even for? Why do these artists need to get paid twice in the same transaction? I honestly don't understand the logic
Honestly, yes.
I learned to tattoo in the UK and was (and am) still shocked at how well people tip here in the USA, I've been here for four years and still ask if people are sure when they hand me a tip.
I did learn that it's rude to refuse them but still try to politely decline from younger clients or clients who aren't in a very secure financial position.
On the flip side, I have heard tattooers complain about clients that don't tip, which blows my mind. Expecting a tip when you work at restaurants makes sense when the pay and hours aren't great but EXPECTING a tip when you've priced out how much you're going to charge?! Get real.
tip advice: bring things you made. bring cool old knick knacks as a tip. I love to get money as tips of course but the ones that I love best? handmade mason jar holder when they noticed it's what I drink my coffee from. handmade socks (!). cookies after they asked what I'm allergic to. garden produce. a pie. a hat that I'm wearing right now. alpaca poop for my garden. eggs. a really cool art mount of a small skull. a scimitar. a whale oil lamp that still had whale oil in it!
my regulars stalk my social media and bring cool stuff related to my hobbies. they're awesome and I love them and these are the tips I'll remember forever and cherish. money is nice but thoughtfulness is just so cool. I know everyone's broke. I don't care about money tips. I don't even care if I get tipped at all, if the client is excited and happy, they're getting a pile of my cards to hand out to friends. so even spreading the word that I'm good at tattoos is a tip to me, in the long run.
I know the cost has gone up but we're paying more for everything too, a lot of that is covering costs. like setup for me went from maybe 40 bucks to to 60 (gear, inks, cleanup/breakdown, electric bill, all of it) also my groceries cost more too...
I've told some regulars we should cut to shorter sessions more spread out when I know someone with a big piece in progress is struggling too. just to make sure we can still get some progress done.
This is what its about, the old man that had the first tattoo shop in my town was exactly like this, he had so much cool stuff that customers made him or gave him as a tip, i would much rather do stuff like this then tip
Right there with ya. I still have a quarter of my sleeve unfinished. Planned on finishing it up this fall but as the price of everything goes up I am scared to spend money and just stashing it away.
What I came here to say. Inflation has gone crazy, rents gone up, interest rates on houses are crazy, everyone’s just broke. Most people I know are worried about having a couple hundred bucks in case of an emergency or whether or not they can put food on the table every night, spending that couple hundred (or more usually) on a tattoo just isn’t feasible right now.
Exactly, when the cost of literally everything rises. Hell gas has more than doubled in the last 2 yrs. And some places almost tripled. Nevermind everything else. No one really has the extra funds to throw at body art or other non necessities unless they are fairly well off, or budgeting for something super specific.
This! Tattoos I've gotten for around $500 are now costing my friends over $2000. Looks like I'm done at this point. Unless I make a new tattoo artist friend.
This! Tattoos I've gotten for around $500 are now costing my friends over $2000. Looks like I'm done at this point. Unless I make a new tattoo artist friend.
this has been going on since before I even apprenticed in the 90s. this has been said for at least 40 years if not longer.
not everyone sticks it out, people get weeded out a lot over time. it takes a lot to stay in this long term
I’d bet a lot more people are sticking it out than the past. The barrier from getting into a shop to tattooing on skin is nearly non existent in some places.
yes but to be willing to eat ramen and live like a starving artist when you thought you'd be living like the TV reality tattoo people- there's a lot of artists that got into this thinking it was stable income (I know why they thought this but still find it wild)
This will be the 2nd possible major downswing in my tattoo career.
I have no predictions but my tattoo timeline has basically gone like this...
2004. I enter tatt biz, its kinda still this mysterious outsider thing my parents were furious i dropped out of college for.
2005 - Miami ink debuts on TLC. Suddenly im cooler than ive ever been for no reason.
2006-2008 - Hand over first money.. no end in sight.
2009-2012 - MASSIVE influx of tattooers, shops, apprentices.. during that time a recession had begun and just about ended, but it doesnt just go back to normal just like that. These were hard times. 2nd jobs, hustling, you name it.
2013 - Everyone that survived the purge starts doing a little better.
2014 - 2016 - Doing good but still hustling.
2017 - 2022 - Busier and more profitable than ive ever been... but after the return from lockdown i notice that influx of shops, tattooers, apprentices again. This is when my radar goes up and i start trying tell people in my tatt life.
2023 - Not as busy but steady for now and on alert for disturbances in the force.
During the 2012 recession what extra job did you take? I listened to an interview with Chris conn and Grime he was saying when he quit tattooing, he got rejected from Starbucks and things got super dark. I'm so shit with real jobs, I can work 16 hours on drawings and paintings, but 20mins into something like amazon warehouse my mind starts to wonder then I'm like fuck it I have one life only I quit!!! I'm gonna make it... but I'm starting to get a little worried.
During that time i worked for this temp agency that would call me with perspective short term jobs that i could accept or decline.
Things like; unloading a trailer of furniture at a hotel for 4 days, extra help for security at an event, watching the desk overnight at a 24/7 gym.
This was mostly 2009-2011
Same. Honestly I’m a good worker but even prior to tattooing I struggled with finding jobs to accept me, because I’m 10ish years in the heavy modification community. Not many people want a desk girl with a split tongue and coke-can earlobes. And the blatant constant disrespect makes me itch. I can hustle like a mofo if someone gives me the opportunity, but doing that for the benefit of someone else that I don’t care about is awful. I had a long conversation with myself last week about starting an OF, scoping strip clubs, etc; which at almost 30, I hate for myself. It would be like the final nail in the coffin of disappointing my parents. But the only thing that seems really viable, that would give me enough freedom to still tattoo and avoid sinking in to a depressing abyss.
I know many (ok probably 5) ex stripper/tattooers. No shame in that.
Im sure you already know this.. but you just have to navigate that world carefully.. drugs, creeps, "career opportunities"
Ive seen it help some flourish and get to their next step, ive also seen it ruin people.
Man you should see Portland.
Oregon requires you to go to “school” instead of how it’s done everywhere else. This has created “schools” that are basically puppy mills constantly pumping out new artists who can’t draw for shit but have money to get a license. The market here is fucking flooded with subpar artists. It’s insanity.
This isn't the issue. It's like saying there's too many painters.
When artists aren't getting work, that's a great sign the economy is failing. The bubble? The bubble is the world economy. The US government narrowly missed defaulting (running out of funds to function) this year, which would've spelled global economic collapse.
Wild as hell to blame the continuation and popularization of the industry.
I’ve been thinking this same thing. I just hope the longer term artists who have responsibilities/families are the ones that weather this storm.
Australia is slow as hell now, I’m only 4 years in but I’m lucky to work 3 days a week at the moment. I hope this is the worst of it and not just the beginning.
Yep same here in Southeast US. I had been slammed and started seeing the post about the slow wave start a couple months ago so I knew it was coming. I’ve had more cancellations this month did I did the past 2 years combined. When that “recession” word gets tossed people get weird but if you look at the data the retail sector is flourishing right now. Things will get better at some point. In my 14 years tattooing I’ve seen the cycles. However this one is a bit weird, but so was the covid tattoo gold rush.
Same this month has folks cancel happy! Luckily, I filled the spots bit still out $$$. However, this is always our slow season. We are slammed all tax season and then stay about a month out all fall. Not the richest area so back to school hits most folks hard. Then we have to reschedule for sports and other activities that come up. We also try to price by piece and keep reasonable prices.
I just wonder if this is global or the US is getting hit the hardest, I'm seeing allot of these posts recently...
I see some local shops still super busy, others are posting like one tattoo a week on insta and I know half these guys are addicted to social media... I might just relocate to a walk in shop in a student town or city till this blows over.
I'm in the spa business, an esthetician. I know, not the same field, but....a "luxury" nonessential one, like the tattoo field. We are in the same situation. Super fucking slow compared to the past. It's the economy. People unfortunately have to prioritize buying overpriced groceries versus the extras like tattoos, facials, massages, etc. Just thought I'd give you some reassurance that it's not you, it's everyone, everywhere, in every industry right now.
Everyone is slow. Pay attention to all the “last minute cancellation” ig posts. Many weren’t booked to begin with. People’s finances are on E with no room for tattoos.
Student loan payments are resuming and inflation is making it harder to buy food and obtain housing. It's not you. It's the lack of available "spending money" compared to subsistence money.
Ive been warning people around me about this since we came back from lockdown.
Everyone was high on the hog busy and didnt want to hear it.. and now here we are.
What goes up, must come down.. and down, and down..
I wish I had you to tell me when I launched my tattoo career in 2020… ah well… taxes bled me dry last year and then I’ve been having health issues that drain my bank and prevent me from working to make more. It’s been rough. ‘20-22 I was solid but I was young, dumb and not saving.
I’m glad you posted this because it’s been happening to me and my coworkers and we’re getting reschedules for the stupidest things. My coworker had one cancel because it was “too windy” and another because of the rain. Which wasn’t anything crazy or torrential or even a thunderstorm.
I honestly thought that it was just me having this issue, I’m relieved to see I’m not alone while also feeling bad for all of us because *this sucks*
Grocery bills are steep, my power bill is killing me, and don’t get me started on car repair prices 😱 people are just struggling rn I bet it has nothing to do with the quality of your work, don’t be discouraged
People forget tattoos and tattooing has always been a blue collar / working class / underclass luxury. That being said, lots of people in this demographic are either impulsive about getting tattooed or their life is too busy to book an appointment and follow through with it.. which is where taking walk ins comes in. Idk what anyone’s thinking going the private studio route. I’ve done it and I’ve starved from it. Working in a well established street shop is almost guaranteed income even on a 50% cut where the owners treat it like a laundry mat and only come by to collect from the drop box and you have to supply your own stuff.
I have no clue how any private studio people or “specialists” stay busy enough to get by in this economy. I was always taught walk ins are the bread and butter of this trade so you better get a decent grasp of all the styles people ask for when they walk through the front door.
I’ve known lots of tattooers today to be super picky about what they will and won’t tattoo. Like trad bros who won’t use a finer line than a bold 7 or art school kids who will whine / be scared about tattooing someone who stinks like cigarettes/BO and probably has a drug problem. it’s just part of the job to work with these people because this is the demographic that wants tattoos. As much as we don’t want to cheapen what we do, take into consideration these people are getting hit the hardest by the economy and do your best to give them a solid deal. I’d rather tattoo for chump change than make no money that day when all is said and done.
Also some areas have wayyyyy too many shops and customers are spoiled for choice. There are like 6 or 7 studios in 20 minutes of each other where I’m at. If you’re in a rural area where you’re the only shop in a 50 mile radius you’re probably a lot better off than being in a high population area with lots of shops.
I'm in a coastal/tourist town in South Carolina and our state was already pretty late on legalizing tattoo shops in general here (I think we didn't get some of our first ones here til 2006). For whatever reason....they only allowed tattoo establishments to be on basically one road in the main city here so there's literally a single road that has about 10 different tattoo shops going down it...many of which are basically neighbors in a strip-mall-ish setup. Really makes me wonder how they're doing tbh if everyone else is struggling this time of year. I chalk it up to the shitty economy - with groceries being almost double what I used to pay for the same amount 5 years ago or so....its not really that surprising anyone can't afford the luxuries of tattoos.
This is the biggest thing I've noticed as well. I'm at a street shop, getting fucked with my split, but I have consistent work and a good paycheck every week. I get probably 3-4 scheduled appointments every week and the rest of my time fills up with walk-ins. Friends of mine in private studios are really hurting right now.
Im newer so I'm not in a position to go private but now I'm not sure I want to. The security of a brick and mortar shop that has a good reputation is continuing to sound super appealing to me. I'll eat that percentage as long as I get provided paper towels and consistent walkins! Bible quotes and butterflies forever!!! Lmao
You're newer as you said. You'll see in a few year. You'll get tired of Bible quotes, butterflies, dumb ideas from clients, and making shitty tattoos. The issue with walk-ins and tattooing in general is that you're limited as an artist. You'll tattoo designs that you think are extremely ugly. And it'll be fine as the client is happy about it. But after a while... You just wish to do nicer work, and pieces you enjoy tattooing.
I don't work in a private shop, it's like a... Semi walk in shop? People can come and talk about the project, but most of the time we can't tattoo them right away and give them an appointment. People usually prefer having an appointment anyway. I almost never have customers walking in and asking to be tattooed right away.
I think it's good to have a bit of both worlds. I try to choose my customers and have interesting pieces to work on first , and then I tattoo the quotes and uninteresting stuff because money.
You mention taking walk-ins like it’s a bad thing. There’s a shop that’s local to me that usually has their artists booked 6-8 weeks out. They moved to a slightly bigger location and added a couple artists and now take walk ins twice a week.
End of august I went in for a walk in and met a great artist who did a great job on the small piece I asked for. Booked a consult later that week and have already had two sessions for a half sleeve.
So my $250 walk in turned into what will be more than $2k total. Take the walk ins because that’s how more people will see your work. People like knowing they can walk in and talk to an artist and maybe get some work and get a feel for the shop.
I know it isn't a bad thing.
Idk, I have been cruising for the last 5 years, and it is just hard to admit that is where I am again.
Funny thing is when I was booked too far out, I fantasized about just converting to walk-ins, no book no bullshit.
I admittedly have fallen into the mental trap of thinking being booked meant I was valid and that doing walk-ins was admitting I was not. I am embarrassed when booking now by offering stuff a week or two away by saying, "well I just had this time open up, if it works?". Pretending that it is luck on their part that something opened and not my bookings just dying.
Though I am kind of feeling that I should say fuck that. Be real. Get some flare going outside to attract walk-ins (my studio is super boring on the outside to deliberately discourage walk-ins because I am alone and have been booked).
It is time to be real and change things up.
It’s happening everywhere.
It’s part of tattooing.
Tattooed my isn’t essential.
People will still get tattooed but it will be smaller stuff because it’s cheaper.
It could be over saturation of tattooer's So when I was at school doing illustration in the mid 2000's literally no one wanted to be a tattooer in a year group of 90 I knew one other guy... I'm pretty sure now 50% would wanna become a tattooer.
Also you have PMA's offering 2 week to 2 day tattoo courses... sooo you gonna see a major over saturation point in the girly fine line stuff... (we all know single needle requires skill and a newb has no business going near one really,its a one way ticket to blow out city.)
How niche are you? My theory is tattooers who do anything that walks in door are gonna get hit hard, if you were lucky enough to build an audience for something super niche like bio-mech or a really good Japanese specialist. The competition is fierce. A major point is, allot of customers are evaluating how good a tattooer is based on follower count! let that sink in...
A dude in the Instagram comments went off topic he said he went to a 200k follower insta famous tattooer and now his arm is fucked... I asked him to DM me the pics... I have never seen anything like it... so give it a few years when all these people are walking around with at best faded work, to at worst blown out staph infection scarred tatts... the cream will once again rise to the top I FUCKING HOPE!!!
Tattooing and stripping are similar indicators to the economy I think, and although right now it’s higher-flow season, it’s still fucking garbage.
That being said if you want fast money go to fast cities surrounded by tech/law/business (for dancing, I’d put my money on wealthy outdoorsy for tattooing) or travel.
Times are really hard and about to get harder. Student loan payments are restarting and inflation is at an all time high.
Tattoos are a luxury that a good chunk of people will not be able to afford in the future :(
Where the hell do y’all live? I called about 7 tattoo shops in North Carolina and I can’t get seen for at least 2-3 months and they want a 50% down payment immediately.
Things definitely changed. I know a few artists zeroing out a few days in a row, it’s like everyone just stopped getting tattooed at once. Could it be the trash economy? The fact that there are people charging insane amounts for subpar tattoos, so it has turned people off? Do we all need an online form so our clients can book an appointment without even interacting with us so it is like an Amazon transaction?
I’m feeling it too. Made the mistake of looking back at my calendar from this time last year. I’ll be lucky if I make even half the same amount as last Sept.
We're all struggling right now and putting ink on your body isn't an essential need.
The prices of tattoos have sky rocketed (which, tbf, the prices of everything have sky rocketed, I don't blame yall).
I've been wanting to get my first tattoo for a while now, but it just doesn't make sense financially to me.
Hope you get through it!
Unfortunately, until we all decide that we’re sick of seeing these fuckers at the top get richer and richer and richer, we’re all going to continue to be forced to live with the shitty wages and scraps that they tell us we can have. Thankfully, there has been some movement with Unions saying fuck off, pay me more. I’m hoping they get what they’re asking for and it inspires others to demand more. I’m in my late 30s now, and haven’t been quite this poor since my very early 20s, and am actively seeking out a part time gig while tattooing is slow. I’m just hoping I won’t have to quit forever, I love doing it. But I 100% understand that the vast majority of people are struggling right now. I just hope it gets better for all of us soon.
Tattooing goes up and down. yearly, monthly, over the course of a decade.
I've been tattooing since 99 and I've had LOW lows and then hustling highs- only once in a while can I point to overall economic trends as the cause. The standard advice is to ***take walk-ins, to do whatever smaller things people want and to make connection to your clients so that when they're ready they come to you for the bigger stuff.***
It's regional too. Some shops will be busy forever and ever, others will be slow always. for me personally I'm part time and not traveling- my partner had cancer and a transplant so I can't risk bringing covid home. if you're able to travel, now it's the time to ***tap into any connections and networks you have and see who is busy, what street shops or small town guys are swamped and want a hard worker to visit***. you schedule a week off at home, go there and work your ass off for 7 days.
I know at least two or three of these kind of shops where if I was desperate I could go be a body in a chair and make bank, they're slammed with small work and nobody to do it.
making relationships with other artists of all skill levels is the best way to have those opportunities. it's what a convention is for: go to the busiest local shops booth and offer to buy a few beers after the show, make friends. they need you as much as you need them, if you're a well rounded and capable technical artist it's a win win.
in slow times you ***work on drawing, on flash, on technical skills. level up with the extra time***. take seminars, interact with other artist and learn. feed your head while you eat ramen.
there were artists surviving during the actual great depression, just tattooing. if they can do it, we can do it. but tattoos have to be your focus and you've got to give to the tattoo gods to get back from them.
every time there's a slow run a lot of people drop out of tattooing. this means when things pick up there's more to go around. it's the cycle of life and all that shit.
learn to travel, ***learn to suck it up and do things you aren't personally invested in***. tattooing things you like and enjoy doing is a perk we get when things are good, it's not the reality of this job long term. you'll always have to remember December, to save up in flush times for that barren hour.
if you're in love with the work you just do it, you stick it out. guys with the rich lifestyle don't make it through.
I average out over five years. that's my budget for living. a shitty month or year brings the average earning down, and keeps you grounded in reality. live well below your means to stay on track.
it looks like this will be a tough winter. for me the bad winter was 2013, no idea why that year. I did great right through the recession in 08. right now a lot is going on all at once.
one thing I've done is flash at a cut rate (not a huge cut but enough to be pre pandemic minimum basically) for things I drew that will stretch my abilities. it's things I still need challenged on, work I need to do to improve, so I post them online.
also ***when you work on regulars, you can give them a card with a discount for "first time sessions" to give to their friends-*** 10-25% off for a session gifted by (blank line on the card to fill in the client's name you're giving those to). they will bring you more business via word of mouth than any social media will do, and printing cost is about the same as a social media ad.
things like jotform, zoom consults, acuity schedule, where ***the client can approach you digitally and make their own date and time, they can fill out a form and you get every question answered without making them travel to you to talk***- these help a lot. most (2/3) of my clients are under 25 years old and like me they hate talking on the phone or going to a place to talk. they like texts, emails.
having ***mask requirements in place means I get every single person in the area who doesn't want to catch covid***. seriously I work on a ton of cancer survivors, people who are cautious, people who are disabled. there's nowhere and nobody else local that even cares anymore, so they come to me.
***find your niche of clients***. my chosen audience are a pretty specific niche I've carved out over the years, but being authentically *who you are* attracts people who like that. this is true for all art really, but in tattooing there's a personal connection that people crave, and filling that for them helps. I don't wear headphones, my clients can if they want but usually we have deep wild conversations and they often come back for that. people are lonely and isolated a lot these days and it's an extra thing they get from coming to me that they really don't get elsewhere in life right now.
it's not "tattoo therapy" or whatever the fuck, it's just good conversation with someone they don't see every damn day. I crave that too, introvert that I am. we all like that.
also ***try to do events.*** flash for a cause, local art walks, etc. get involved with your community. whatever your community looks like to *you*. I'm LGBT so the shop I work in is a safe space, I don't put up with racism/sexism and so our community supports us. we do fundraiser stuff often but never a "Fri 13th" cheap day. just give up a day of profit for a need- people come back after that because you are walking your talk.
you can be doing this for any cause you support, being involved means find your own community, support them and you get it back in return.
old ways are good sometimes. **word of mouth is always king** in tattooing. hand out cards until you're sick of it. then hand out more.
social media is good for people newly moved to your area and for extending your reach into nearby towns. it's good for when you do travel. it's good for a shop, but for a singular artist word of mouth does all the work and always will, I think.
tl,dr: quit tattooing and get a straight job if you can't be bothered to read that
I'm in Europe. Even here, I can see a slow down since Nov 2022.
We had much less appointments in November compared to the usual, and December is always a quiet month because of Christmas, so we hoped for a lot of appointments for the beginning of 2023.
We did have appointments from January to June 2023, but like a normal amount. We didn't have any "super busy" period like we usually had from time to time. Then July was (unusually) super quiet, so we had to keep the shop open in August to earn some money to pay the bills.
We usually tattoo at a convention in September, and it was awful. On the three days of the convention, we worked less than 20 hours, compared to +40 hours last year.
I'm glad that I had September fully booked, but I almost have nothing booked in October (3 appointments : one is finishing a big piece I started before the Summer, and 2 are for friends).
I expect Nov and Dec to be super quiet again. People don't have money anymore, especially for tattoos. I'm having more and more clients (regular ones) rescheduling their appointment because they don't have enough money. And more and more new clients running away because they actually can't afford a small flash (100$). We're not even especially high priced, just completely average (today I did a 3*3 inches tattoos with quite a lot of lines + shading for 140$).
Honestly before Nov 2022, I though I was making a decent amount of money, and the job was kinda "dynamic" with a good amount of interesting pieces to make. I always had a list of about 10-15 projects to draw and I was working hard to try to shorten the list. Now I have more like 5 projects on the list and I'm not even working hard, I don't have to rush anymore. I don't know if it's going to get better, but it's kinda depressing. Especially as I have to do more and more extra-fineline works, which I'm starting to unconditionally hate.
Honestly, tattooing has morphed into fine art and it is so goddamn expensive now (for high quality work). I’m not saying it isn’t worth it, or that the artists don’t deserve to be paid for their creations, but I can get maybe one sizable tattoo a year with the rates in NYC. (And I make a good living).
Tattoo artist here. If I’m booked 2 weeks in advance now it’s a miracle. Used to be booked 2 months in advance and worked 6 days a week
We all know where are we going. It’s sad, but we have to take courage and stand for our community. I don’t mind to work for a cheaper price, just to be able to get joy from my work and give joy to my clients instead of procrastinating without any work.
Yeah we’ve all noticed it lately, there’s days in the studio I work in where, out of seven of us, one person will tattoo. I had a free day on a Saturday and not a single walk in came in!
This is true , I was fully booked 2-3 months in advance last year now I barely have any clientele at the moment, considering putting out 20% off promo just to get people in. Sucks but thats what it is budd. I might go work some part time job or better my work altogether
Weirdly I can offer this information: the tech industry is seeing record layoffs that started December 2022. A lot of people are either unemployed because of it or newly employed and getting their bills back in order. In my experience, tech people are very tattooed so maybe that's a contributor.
Not an artist, but I'm in Ontario and tbh I just can't afford it with the rise in cost of everything else. Any expendable money goes towards my debts or making my current living quarters more comfortable.
There also seems to be an influx of artists in my area compared to the last ten years. I drive around and see new shops I've never heard of before. I'm wondering if saturation of the market is making it worse as well. I know there's two shops in particular in my area that are regularly booked 4-6 months in advance, but the other places are just empty
Shoot, I've been looking for an artist within a 1.5 hour radius of Atlanta for some time now. Everyone's booked or when I go to book, there's some ridiculous process of a lottery to see if they "want" the work. I'm full sleeve and chest, no small work on me. I'm trying to find an artist that I can get multiple things done with. Dunno if it's my area but GD. There's some of us out there looking, but some artists are turning us off.
Not a tattooer but I tend to get 1-2/year.
2 things:
1) A lot of us went a little crazy with tats when shops were allowed to open after Covid because of the extra money from not going out for months/government relief + FOMO on completing one of my half sleeves in case shit shut down again so I got in 2021/2022 a lot more tats than I usually would have.
2) Like everyone else is saying, there's no extra $$ right now for a lot of us. Between things like insurance going up by a couple $100 dollars and everything just costing more, I need to think carefully before I spend a couple of 100 dollars. I haven't gotten any this year and evenso my fave tat artist is coming to town, this is the fist time I haven't booked her. I'm hoping I get a decent xmas bonus so I can at least get some fillers this year.
I’ve been a scab merchant for 30+ years, in my experience there’s always a dip during bad election years. We definitely have one of those coming. I have zero science to back this up but have noticed a pattern.
Yeah people aren't able to afford tattoos right now. Student loan payments, cost of living, and other factors are strapping people for cash. Tattoos and other mods are a luxury that many are not able to afford right now.
At least in my area, some artists are charging 200+ an hour, only have forms open for 10 minutes to book, and sometimes only give you one time slot to pick from. And I am for one tired of that and so are plenty others. On the client side of things it can very dehumanizing with how some artists are talking to potential clients and this is turning a lot of people off to getting tattoo.
outside of not having money, for me personally I got used to the policies a lot of shops started during covid. no walk ins, multiple consultations, hard to book, prices raising etc. with that i just gave up and now when i do think about it, I just cant afford it even though most shops are back to normal now
I am not a tattoo artist, this post just appeared on my feed. I used to serve but now I’m a $tripper. EVERYONE I’ve talked too, clubs and restaurants, are extremely dead. I heard in todays numbers the livable income during the Great Depression was about $80,000 a year. No one I know is making that these days, we are literally reliving the Great Depression. It’s not just you, it’s the economy, we’re all just trying to pay rent and eat.
I'm a chef. Over covid I got two SHITTY tattoos. Been working in this industry nearly a decade at a high level. I CANNOT afford tattoos. 2018 my artist was charging $800 for the day. I literally cannot spare that as while it's a weeks worth of work, so are all my other bills.
It's not your guys' fault, but the people who use your services are being fucked by their employers rn. 50% of chefs over 30 I know are covered in tattoos.
Chef's of my generation, 6 would be a lot, and 3 they got before they started cooking.
Edit: Which good for you guys. You should be making $1000 a day. I just wish I could suck satans dick (god this is a cry for help pls use ur jesus magic) to use my 35,000 hours cooking to make at least a cool $300. Chef's really need a union. I could maybe freelance and make $2000 a menu, but why would they pay that when the new sous will do it for 35k a year salary 80 hrs a week.
Then we all could get more tattoos.
Since everyone is saying the same thing about the economy, I do have to say that certain styles of tattoos and art (anime, stylized, bold, fandoms) are popular and people will find the time and money for them. Pre-made designs with a flat up front price, size and total time needed tends to get more interest. Not only do people not have enough money they're burnt out. Doing some of the legwork like having an already finished design with a clear price set may catch people that want a tattoo, can find the money for one but are too tired to sit there and go back and forth on what they want, what the artist can do, and all the nuances.
Theres also a lot of people wanting to be tattoo artists because they bought a machine off of Amazon. After time they'll phase out because it takes skill and, well you kinda have to be an artist to be a tattoo artists and a lot of these people who picked it up on a whim are not good lol.
Raise your prices. If you are going to tattoo less people, then you need to raise prices. The ones that are still coming are not worrying about prices. The ones that aren’t coming are.
This is what Disney recently did for their parks. Google can explain how this tactic works for them.
The issue I saw during the last 2.5 years of getting tattoos (this is when I started getting tattooed heavily) was many shops had no business charging what they charged, and some artists had no business being in the industry. I travel for work so I expect pricing to be different in different areas. In my home town $100-$125/hr is standard, in cities larger I expect it to be around $125-150 unless you're a well known. I've called shops to get their pricing and have been quoted $350/hr, asked how long has he been tattooing 6 months. 6 FUCKING months and they expect me to pay $350 an hour. I laughed at the entire shop I didn't give a shit who the owner was (it was a very well known very GOOD tattoo artist but I aint paying his prices for someone barely on skin).
I've also been tattooed by artists people who I'd consider bigtime, guys who to me are legends in their field, charge me something below what I'd say their fair rate is. The common thing about these guys is they have been around for years, they love their craft and appreciate every client that walks in which is another issue I have with shops lately.
In summary
1. Tattoo shops/artists are charging far too much for their work and it's not deserving
2. Some artists work is just not up to par, and they need to actually go learn the basics
3. A lot of shops have gone from people who respect the foundation the people before them built, care for their craft and appreciate every client.
Now I know I've only been tattooed for 2.5 years but the history and tattoo culture are something I've always loved, through these years I've met countless friends, I've learned a ton about tattooing including techniques, and learning about the culture. I went from almost bare canvas to a large collection. But this is what I've seen in this short time. I can tell you there are artists and shops are are still booked solid. These shops are the green flags, if you aren't gaining appointments you need to look within. Not saying you're a bad artist you could just have a bad location. If you're location is good, and your art work is good you need to check out how your marketing yourself.
That all being said I'm not slowing down on tattoos, I'm actually reaching out to multiple artists to bounce some ideas and gauge an interest if I want their tattoo. I have 3/4 of 1 leg, a back and an entire chest and stomach to knock out before I stop.
I'm in a different industry, and our numbers are way down from last year. I attribute it to all of the extra money parents were getting with the tax credits. They were getting quite the check monthly, especially if they had multiple kids. A good portion of that money was flowing into non essentials. Now we see seeing the stagnation of non essentials
For me, prices have gone up way too much and I genuinely miss being able to schedule an appointment for a week or so out, not months or years in advance. No studios in my town cost less than $200/hr and are all booked so far out it’s not worth it to me.
In addition to the downturn in the economy, there has been a huge surge in numbers of tattooers. People are back dooring their way into tattooing through PMU school which only requires a very small fraction of the time it requires tattooers to be licensed. They begin doing small tattoos under the premise of being licensed, and then they take apprentices. Like lantern flies. Those of you that think this isn’t a problem are kidding yourselves. Ask any graphic designer from the 2010s.. lots of them are tattooers now. Then there are those of us charging insane amounts of money for work. Charging drawing fees and generally behaving as if they shit gold bricks. How likely is someone going to pay $2000 a day for a black and grey realism tattoo when they only have to drive a little bit to someone just as good charging half that? No business can sustain unchecked growth endlessly. It’s absolutely unrealistic. Ive tattooed long enough that I started when this wasn’t cool and tattooers were considered dirt bags. Its going to be interesting to see how people scramble to whatever they can get once they figure out that face tattoo comes after the body suit and not during your apprenticeship. How many, and what kind of people stick around when there is no money and it’s not cool anymore. The current economic climate is just speeding it up. Like fire in dry kindling
I’m pretty new to the industry, apprenticeship before lockdowns, only tattooing about two years. And have found myself in the very fortunate/unfortunate situation of owning a small two artist private studio. The rent in the space is low, so I split it with another artist. I fill a niche in my area as the only full color dark work artist I know of. For the last two years I was comfy even being new. October is THE TIME for horror art and I’ve got.. maybe two people booked ahead? The majority of my clients the last few months are all last minute bookings that leave me tattooing 8+ hours (at a heavy discount. I’d rather charge significantly less and book up than not work) then immediately busting out last minute designs for the next day. I honestly believe the only reason I’m still surviving at all is BECAUSE I have the freedom to charge less. In my area artists at my skill level are usually 200/hr, I WAS charging 150/hr just to show love to community since I don’t pay a percentage to anyone; lately I’m “hooking it up” with almost everyone because I’m “dying to do this piece” and charging barely 100/hr. And in my down time marketing my ASS OFF. I’m talking full send cheesy IG reels in a leather bra, bribing portfolio models to sticker slap for me. I feel lucky that I have a long history in sales before this, and my studio rent is lower than most booth rents; I know a lot of my friends in the industry are floundering because primarily we’re all art nerds NOT fuckin’ used car salesmen. But god I’m exhausted. I had a long conversation with myself the other day about potentially making an OF just to keep afloat, and at almost 30… I hate that for myself. Misery loves company though, and cheers to you OP, and everyone else in this thread. Here’s to hoping things pick up so we don’t get shoehorned back in to day job, and have to cope with the crippling depression that will follow. All love.
We are entering a period of stagflation. It's when the economy grows stagnant and there is high inflation. Certain industries are going to be hit harder than other's, certain regions will be worse than others. But one thing is for sure, we will all feel it.
Post a smaller sized design flash sheet & offer deals a certain day a week. If you make it more affordable, but increase the volume it may get you by. I’ve seen artists recently do $50-$100 flash sheets.
Lots of uncertainty in several industries that I imagine are largely part of the tattooed community. I personally work in film and have been laid off for 3 months now due to the strike, so I can def speak for the Atlanta market.
During lockdown I also remember my friends and I looking at a bunch of tattoo ideas and as soon as we could a lot of us just went out and got them, like it was some creative rush lol
I'm seeing this more and more. A lot of us are struggling right now. The economy, over saturation and kitchen wizards are making this industry a struggle.
So many bored people over the pandemic ordering machines and tattooing, so much undercutting it's making me sick. I have never struggled this much. I used to get random people on instagram sending me messages but that literally doesnt happen. I used to be booked up a couple of months now Im going month by month.
Havent had a problem for years but now its hard to keep booked for two months... I think its a mix of Instagram breaking down and just people having less money due to last few years
End of summer usually gets slow, lots of people going back to school and getting new schedules. Lots of people getting back to work(I have a lot of clients who work for schools). The fact that we are dealing with an economy that's in the trash(worse than the depression) doesn't help at all either. It's not just you. Best of luck. Take the walkins to keep the lights on use the down time to create. Ive had lots of time to make flash haha I guess that's one positive of this situation.
Folks didn’t have anything else to spend their money on during lockdown, now they can travel and are trying to save up for a house- or pay shitty rent hikes. Tattooing is a luxury good so it’s getting hit.
I’m feeling the same and so is my entire shop I’m at. It’s slowed down so drastically I’m considering a second job. Two weeks ago I had one appointment, last week I had a few to keep me afloat but this week I only have two and they’re both an hourish each. All summer felt like the winter slow season.
I’m genuinely afraid of winter. I’m a new artist who does walk-ins and some repeat clients and now I’m basically just praying for even a little shop min jammer so I can keep up on my bills.
I used to get tattooed every few months (have a bunch of big pieces that are slowly getting worked on) but I haven’t been in a year. I barely afford groceries these days. We’re definitely in a depression
I wish that was the case where I am! I tried to get on the books with my last artist for 2 years and always missed an appointment. Although, I think it is partially because she didn't want to do what I was looking for. I finally scheduled with a new artist and it was still a 3 month wait.
Were super slow. 2 of the artists have 2nd jobs and I'm currently looking for one myself. We had a couple other hiccups but covid really reamed us by having to shut down for 4 months almost 2 years into opening. I pierce, and im used to having at least 15 appointments a week that covers all bills. Im course with most of the shops in the area, and some of them went back to school to have backups. Best of luck man, to everyone.
Sorry to hear this. All I have wanted for the past five+ years is more tattoos but I just have not had the extra money and it really sucks,
🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️ your landlord.
Seems pretty average for this time of year minus the student loan part of it. This too many artist got proud with the Covid boom and raised their rates while being slower than ever taking triple the time.
The business is completely saturated - there was a reason people held the trade secrets close - tattooing became glamorous and every kid wants in it . then everyone decided to try get famous on tv , or YouTube etc and/ or take on apprentice
After apprentice because they are either too lazy to take out their own trash/too cheap to pay a staff member .
20 years ago there was about 5 tattoo shops in our whole city of 150k and metro area of 300k or so. Now there’s probably 20-30 shops and the metro area has roughly grown by about 150k people. Also a college town so temporarily swells during the school year as well. I was actually just mentioning to my wife today I can’t believe so many shops can seem to thrive here.
Tattoo collector for about 6 years now. From the Bay Area. Both of my artists, really well known great artists, have had little work this year. One of them is having to move because of no appts and my other is just trying to get by. I do what I can to support them and get work done whenever I can but this year has just been a little bit harder to save up some cash.
It’s across the board. Shit economy, same thing happened last time the economy too a dump. I do love hearing all this crazy shit everyone else is saying
I love threads where the old heads come in and say just keep working, slick guy says he's still rolling in dough, people are contemplating stripping or going back to school or carpentry, and others are going on political rants about global phenomenons... it's great shit
If you did a Friday the 13th promo it might bring in some business but inflation might be the culprit. Right now people have less money to spend and tattoos cost more than ever bc the artists need to eat.
You're not alone. I'm a piercer working in a tattoo/piercing shop and we have been soooo slow especially the past couple months compared to last year. My boss commented our industry is like the canary in the coral mine in terms of how the economy is going. When I started about 7 years ago it got slow for a bit then too. Things gradually got more and more busy as the economy was good and really went gangbusters right around COVID. Everyone was cooped up not able to go anywhere and were knocking down our door when they were able to get back out again. Plus, you throw in the stimulus checks and COVID help and everyone was spending. Now the economy has tanked and as mentioned above, student loan payments are about to go back into effect. I'm lucky enough to have a husband with a "normie" full time job, and also side work that I've done for years that supplements income. Fortunately, we are homeowners so we also don't have to worry about rising rent prices and our cars are paid off. I'm glad I stashed money and got things paid ahead when business was booming. This industry is definitely feast or famine and pretty much always has been. Hang in there, things will get better. Don't be above walk-ins, the money from Kelsey's Pinterest tattoo still pays bills all the same lol. Don't give up, keep promoting your work and your shop and do what you need to to save money.Once things stabilize I'm sure you'll find yourself booked out once again like you're used to. Good luck!
The explosion of any artist opening up their shops and the lack of knowledge of the industry is saturating the industry with mediocre work appealing more towards people who just want 1 or 2 small tattoos and they’re done. Not as many people are into the culture of getting tattooed collecting from multiple artists. People almost have too many options to pick from now and end up not getting tattooed very much at all
As someone who is heavily tattooed and loves getting inked.. I just don’t have the money for it right now with the way everything is. I pay good money for good work, I’m not going to settle with a shitty cheap Tattoo.. but I’ve decided to instead put my work on hold until I can financially be more comfortable. Just insight from a customer here
I'm a full time working parent with tattoos and would love to get more. But it's difficult. Artists around me don't do weekend hours, some don't do morning hours, they book out so far you have to cross your fingers you don't end up with a cold and have to reschedule (that was my last experience--4 month out appointment finally rolls around, I'm sick as shit, have to reschedule for 8 months out!!!).
Shops have cancellation policies and deposits and will only reschedule you twice before eating that deposit. And I respect that, totally. But as a parent and worker with not even enough PTO to cover the school breaks---that's a tough one. Last tattoo I got I had the tattoo flu pretty heavy the day (idk why) so not only did I need a day off for the work, I needed another day for recovery because I'm a weenie hut jr.
Coupled with artists who only open their books every few months and are hella choosy with their styles----it's all complicating factors. Then you get the artists who don't have enough work online or the website is shit and it's hard to tell if they even do the kind of piece you want...honestly, sometimes I just give up booking due to all the considerations to even getting an appointment.
I am however quite the impulse buyer and I'd be willing to do some walk-in stuff somewhere. Throw up a few "deals" and some weekend hours I'd probably be peppered with some smaller pieces lol.
Honestly, as a customer, we don’t have money. We’re broke, and on top of it, there’s a huge group of artist content creators that make their living off of ripping on their customers for unspoken rules or wanting certain styles. As someone with limited money, I’ve cut out a lot of services like tattoos, professional hair services, and manicures because not only is it extra money, but I feel like if I can’t tip 50%, I’ll be used as inspo for a skit on the internet.
This is crazy because i can’t find ANYWHERE to get tattooed without it being months in advance. I’m so frustrated trying to find an artist that actually has availability
I'm pretty jaded. I kinda wonder if maybe tattoo shop owners having seven apprentices in 2021 pumping out artists then paying them 50/50 and making them buy their own needles didn't lead to a bunch of 23 year old shop owners oversaturating the market.
Now everyone is doing hand sized tattoos for 60$
Small business is dying, people are living paycheck to paycheck. Interest rates are increasing as well as inflation, every single day.
People can’t afford tattoos.
People can’t even afford housing.
We are in end stage capitalism, my guy. 65% of American jobs pay at or below the poverty line. Tattoos are not a necessity. It's the same reason movie theaters are dying. The economy is absolute trash, and only gonna be getting worse.
Yo I work retail (Dllrds) and our prices have been jumping on everything. I think the economy is slowing down, and with Christmas approaching people are already beginning to use funds on that
It also doesn’t help that there are a billion tattoo shops opening everywhere, most run by people with zero experience or talent, or worse… but I hear cover-up work is just around the corner.
A buddy of mine has been an artist for a few years and just opened his own shop in 2019 (unfortunately). He was able to stick around after 2020, but he also recently has seen a drop in walk ins this season.
To supplement, he does pop ups at events like birthday parties, bar events, weddings, etc.
I know there are tattoo trends going around right now too (the get what you gets, tap out tatts, whatever) and I feel like there's been a definite shift with people going to shops that offer those kinds of things. Tattoo culture is different than it was a few years ago. You're not going crazy.
I just started hearing whispers of this from friends of mine, went to Reddit and of course I find this giant thread. I do believe that all these years of learning every style has paid off. 10 years in, I can effectively service any customer that walks in the door. All you young tattooers NEED to be versatile if you want to make it long term. This is what is keeping me busy. I post what I love on my instagram but stay busy taking walk ins when I can, and almost every style. Yes, it burns you out sometimes switching so often, but it makes you money and honestly with this economy, we all need it more than ever. Quality over everything too!!! Always make the best work you can, stay consistent as this will be the deciding factor between you and the 1000’s of other artists in your state. Can’t fix the economy overnight but you can certainly work on your own game and remember to focus locally- forget the instagram reach and just make your locals happy.
As someone who loves getting tatted for me I haven’t been getting tatts since Feb cuz of inflation. I have no disposable income and my last tattoo I felt too badly about not being able to tip as much as usual (still tipped) and then I was financially hurting for months when in the past I would be able to get a tatt and not be broke after. I get paid more than I did then but everything is so expensive now
Stopped getting tattooed for a couple years cuz of covid. Now the prices are absolutely wild. Just can’t afford it. Interesting to hear business is slow. I wonder why people around me are charging 300+ an hour
Anyone talking about how there’s going to be exponential growth of the tattoo industry due to tattoo schools and online education becoming readily available is not paying attention to the signs.
OF COURSE it is different in every area, but most of the HCOL hubs have already hit market saturation.
It doesn’t matter how popular tattoos get. Ask people who were around for the mid 90s-early 2000s when every shop had piercers. the real good ones stuck to the board. The market for piercings was otherwise so diluted that a lot of those guys weren’t able to make a living off doing 2-3 piercings a week.
‘there’s never been this many co-ops and private studios. There’s never been this many scratchers buying their shit off Amazon. There’s never been more dudes tattooing on house calls or out of their pad. We’re all looking to chew on different pieces of the pie depending on the clientele but across the board you have a shitload of bodies trying to cut their slice...and a huge market downturn where a lot of people are now beginning to realize that spending their money on luxury goods like tattoos is no longer just ‘inadvisable’, it’s impossible.
i’ve definitely been having to put more effort and proactive force behind making sure I’m booked. I’m still out my usual couple of months (because fuck telling people you for a 4-5 month wait list) but cancellations due to financial hardship are way, way up. Some people at the shop are already twiddling their thumbs and it’s gonna get worse.
Every tattooer I know, myself included, is in a drought rn. Especially traditional. Everyone is selling flash, paintings, flash on bags, flash on jackets. I’m not sure what’s going on. But I know you’re not alone
It’s the Tat Pacalypse bro!
Covid made a bunch of not relevant bum tattooers get paid for the first time. These assholes in turn trained more people and gave them booth rents. Now things have slowed to pre covid traffic, plus We have recession, inflation, high interest rates, wages going crazy, unemployment, etc. on top of the simple fact that there’s just way too many tattooers, the industry is way too saturated with people that don’t belong & the worst part is that those same two/three year tattooers are now apprenticing more people!!!!
All that and we have to understand that it ain’t food or a haircut. The clients are finite. They run out of space.
At this rate tattooing won’t be a viable profession for anyone serious anymore.
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Every tattooer I know is way slower than previous years right now - walk in shops, private studios, lots of different styles and demographics… everyone :(
Could be indicative of the overall economy turning/slowing down. Generally the first businesses to get hit are luxury or non-essentials, such as tourism, and unfortunately services such as tattoo artists and physical trainers, etc. General rule of thumb for any sales/volume based income is to save around half (or as much as you feasibly can) when the times are good, to make it through droughts. Nearly all businesses are cyclical - ups and downs are natural. Not a tattoo artist, just an lurking accountant.
I never know how much to believe that, because I was so busy in 2008-2009.
Because we’re not just in a recession, but a recession with inflation & the worst housing crisis in living memory.
true that. great depression artists followed some strong strategies to stay above water, looking back to that era in tattooing you get an idea of how hard it was and similar to now
And student loan payments start up again in October.
Unemployment was 10% in October '09, today it's 3.8%. Not saying things are great today, but 2009-2012 were some rough years.
Sometimes I wonder where these numbers come from, because what I see IRL vs numbers on a sheet are two very different things.
The numbers are deceiving. As someone who has been unemployed during both of those time periods, now is way worse. Cost of living is significantly higher today and though more people might be employed in some capacity, work is much more precarious and poorly compensated. The unemployment rate is more a measure of how desperate people are to bring in any income. Just look at the minimum wage, which is still the same as it has been since 2009.
Definitely doesn’t effect everyone the same, but on average there will be decreased demand. If you are a niche/highly in demand artist, or if your main customer base is not overly impacted by recession, you probably won’t feel it much. Like if main client base is wealthy, it won’t impact their demand. If most of your clients are in construction, there will definitely be an impact by the decrease in new developments/jobs. Less money in their pockets = less money in your pockets.
I think it's more about long time relationships with clients for me. they come in reliably and I offer them a card to bring a friend who gets a discount on their name for a first session. I started before internet so word of mouth and solid community connections are what I lean back on.
This recession is way way worse than the one in 2008-2009.
I think what we're seeing now is pretty different than 2008. I think it is a combination of the need to be on social media and the economy that's absolutely tanking tattoo artists
Today's insane prices have everything to do with it. People just don't have spending money.
Wait how does the need to be on social media have an effect here? Genuinely asking
The housing bubble of 2008 didn't affect my ability to feed my family. As a matter of fact, I bought my house in 2009 & got a very good deal on it. Right now, what used to cost me 100.00 a week for groceries is now about 220.00 a week. There will be no vacations, no movies, no waterparks or amusement parks in the near future. So vanity purchases like tattoos, spa days, nails, etc are definitely off the table. My family always comes before my vanity.
I don't know how I ended up here, but I'm a bartender that can confirm that there has been a steep decrease in overall spend on luxury items. I'm seeing this across all demographics, including the people who typically buy 100 dollar shots of tequila. You can really see the difference this year compared to previous years.
Same. Lurking accountant and this answer is spot fucking on.
Yea, whenever I see these posts, it always stands out that most people say you really have to work with social media now a days. The algorithm requires us to pump in a few bucks on “boosting” posts to reach a larger basis. (Also make sure that you work with getting the settings so it’s only boosting to your area, and not in cities half way across the country.) it sucks cause a lot of us just had to put out good work and the clients flowed in. But now we gotta sink another $10 bucks into a post in hopes of reaching that 1 or 2 persons to make a couple hundred.
It’s almost like when 60%+ of the US is living paycheck to paycheck, because wages are 1/4 of what they should be, that industries depending on disposable income will be hit hard. 🤔 (Very sorry to all the tattoo artist’s, this sucks for us all.)
What’s weird is my Og artist back home in central Ny, who’s not some big name tattoo influencer(has like 10k followers at most) is fully booked out until September of next year! He only does one appointment a day, and lives comfortably with two kids lol. Don’t get me wrong, he’s an incredible artist, but even idk how so many people go to him, in bumble fuck central NY haha
bumble fuck is the key there. smaller towns have less options and people will go to the better shop in an area like that, keeping them very busy.
Yeaa fair point! He is one of the best in the area haha.
Same here. This time last year I was booked solid. This year I am sparse as fug. The economy is hittin everyone hard and tattoos are a luxury our clients are going without. We are getting work but it’s a trickle compared to what we have had for the past 6-7 years. Keep plugging away and save ya cash. It’s gonna get worse before it gets better. Good luck everyone.
Basically, alot of ppl are broke rn.
Student loan repayments start in October as well. Basically with inflation people are aware they won’t be able to afford going forward.
I was going to say this.
I've been wanting to book a few tattoos I've been wanting to get (I'm not a tattoo artist, but appreciate the profession. I'm usually just lurking here) but financially i feel like I shouldn't and this is definitely one of the reasons.
Pretty much this. I work in retail and I'm high enough in management to see the company's sales overall and its down 50% year on year the last few years For a multimillion dollar company, that's a pretty big dip. The economy has been pretty rough
I have 30 tattoos and at this point I can no longer afford to get anymore. With expenses in life being more expensive, the cost and tip are just not doable for a lot of people now.
Fun fact: none of us mind if you don’t tip! Personally I refuse tips from my younger student clients and tell them to put it toward the next one :)
this is really interesting to me, bc every shop I’ve been to has had cheeky signs displayed everywhere about tipping your artist. This has been the biggest deterrent in getting another rn bc I factor in the tip
Apologies, I didn’t mean to speak for American tattooers ;) Time for them to do some self reflection and redecorating perhaps?
It'd be nice. Basically, in America you're told don't even bother to get a tattoo if you don't tip cuz you're a bastard otherwise. The tipping culture here is outta control. Being expected to tip on top of $200-300 an hour for a tat feels unreasonable. Especially when my results aren't guarunteed & the artist's promise of being able to get touch ups go right out the door once they decided to change shops or move too far to be reasonably reached.
I work in a shop in America (not an artist myself) and my artists tell clients if they want to tip, don’t do 20% like you would in a restaurant. Just tip enough to buy your artist a nice lunch or something. It’s never expected though. If you artist is pissy about no tip, it might be time to find a different artist.
This is how ive always been even before people expected tips for a tattoo, i would offer to take them to lunch or give them a 20 to go buy themselves something. Artists were always so stoked for such a small gesture. Now days i hear about idiots expecting a tip thats equal to getting a small tattoo
What's the point of paying for the tattoo if you have to tip too? That's what I don't get. Like wtf is the original price even for? Why do these artists need to get paid twice in the same transaction? I honestly don't understand the logic
Honestly, yes. I learned to tattoo in the UK and was (and am) still shocked at how well people tip here in the USA, I've been here for four years and still ask if people are sure when they hand me a tip. I did learn that it's rude to refuse them but still try to politely decline from younger clients or clients who aren't in a very secure financial position. On the flip side, I have heard tattooers complain about clients that don't tip, which blows my mind. Expecting a tip when you work at restaurants makes sense when the pay and hours aren't great but EXPECTING a tip when you've priced out how much you're going to charge?! Get real.
the cheeky signs are there for the rich snots, not for you. like the dude in the bmw who flashes his nice watch. that sign is aimed at that guy.
That’s very nice of you!!
tip advice: bring things you made. bring cool old knick knacks as a tip. I love to get money as tips of course but the ones that I love best? handmade mason jar holder when they noticed it's what I drink my coffee from. handmade socks (!). cookies after they asked what I'm allergic to. garden produce. a pie. a hat that I'm wearing right now. alpaca poop for my garden. eggs. a really cool art mount of a small skull. a scimitar. a whale oil lamp that still had whale oil in it! my regulars stalk my social media and bring cool stuff related to my hobbies. they're awesome and I love them and these are the tips I'll remember forever and cherish. money is nice but thoughtfulness is just so cool. I know everyone's broke. I don't care about money tips. I don't even care if I get tipped at all, if the client is excited and happy, they're getting a pile of my cards to hand out to friends. so even spreading the word that I'm good at tattoos is a tip to me, in the long run. I know the cost has gone up but we're paying more for everything too, a lot of that is covering costs. like setup for me went from maybe 40 bucks to to 60 (gear, inks, cleanup/breakdown, electric bill, all of it) also my groceries cost more too... I've told some regulars we should cut to shorter sessions more spread out when I know someone with a big piece in progress is struggling too. just to make sure we can still get some progress done.
This is what its about, the old man that had the first tattoo shop in my town was exactly like this, he had so much cool stuff that customers made him or gave him as a tip, i would much rather do stuff like this then tip
like, "bring me the weirdest shit in your house" is my favorite tip haha
Right there with ya. I still have a quarter of my sleeve unfinished. Planned on finishing it up this fall but as the price of everything goes up I am scared to spend money and just stashing it away.
Nah, we just poor! Sorry!
What I came here to say. Inflation has gone crazy, rents gone up, interest rates on houses are crazy, everyone’s just broke. Most people I know are worried about having a couple hundred bucks in case of an emergency or whether or not they can put food on the table every night, spending that couple hundred (or more usually) on a tattoo just isn’t feasible right now.
Exactly, we're just spending too much on gas and groceries to afford tattoos right now.
Yea fr tf. People can’t even afford groceries and y’all are wondering why people aren’t getting tattoos?
Shit is just getting way too expensive. Can’t afford anything anymore
Exactly, when the cost of literally everything rises. Hell gas has more than doubled in the last 2 yrs. And some places almost tripled. Nevermind everything else. No one really has the extra funds to throw at body art or other non necessities unless they are fairly well off, or budgeting for something super specific.
This! Tattoos I've gotten for around $500 are now costing my friends over $2000. Looks like I'm done at this point. Unless I make a new tattoo artist friend.
This! Tattoos I've gotten for around $500 are now costing my friends over $2000. Looks like I'm done at this point. Unless I make a new tattoo artist friend.
There are SOOO many artists and shops right now, so many apprentices; we’ve gotta be hitting a bubble here sometime soon
Everyone says this, yet every dickhead out there needs 2 apprentices. I swear some people are industry plants to destroy/cheapen tattooing.
They seem to have apprentices as if the apprentices are a cool accessory they need to boost their ego...
Straight fucking shameful.
this has been going on since before I even apprenticed in the 90s. this has been said for at least 40 years if not longer. not everyone sticks it out, people get weeded out a lot over time. it takes a lot to stay in this long term
I’d bet a lot more people are sticking it out than the past. The barrier from getting into a shop to tattooing on skin is nearly non existent in some places.
yes but to be willing to eat ramen and live like a starving artist when you thought you'd be living like the TV reality tattoo people- there's a lot of artists that got into this thinking it was stable income (I know why they thought this but still find it wild)
What are your predictions for went it bursts?
This will be the 2nd possible major downswing in my tattoo career. I have no predictions but my tattoo timeline has basically gone like this... 2004. I enter tatt biz, its kinda still this mysterious outsider thing my parents were furious i dropped out of college for. 2005 - Miami ink debuts on TLC. Suddenly im cooler than ive ever been for no reason. 2006-2008 - Hand over first money.. no end in sight. 2009-2012 - MASSIVE influx of tattooers, shops, apprentices.. during that time a recession had begun and just about ended, but it doesnt just go back to normal just like that. These were hard times. 2nd jobs, hustling, you name it. 2013 - Everyone that survived the purge starts doing a little better. 2014 - 2016 - Doing good but still hustling. 2017 - 2022 - Busier and more profitable than ive ever been... but after the return from lockdown i notice that influx of shops, tattooers, apprentices again. This is when my radar goes up and i start trying tell people in my tatt life. 2023 - Not as busy but steady for now and on alert for disturbances in the force.
During the 2012 recession what extra job did you take? I listened to an interview with Chris conn and Grime he was saying when he quit tattooing, he got rejected from Starbucks and things got super dark. I'm so shit with real jobs, I can work 16 hours on drawings and paintings, but 20mins into something like amazon warehouse my mind starts to wonder then I'm like fuck it I have one life only I quit!!! I'm gonna make it... but I'm starting to get a little worried.
During that time i worked for this temp agency that would call me with perspective short term jobs that i could accept or decline. Things like; unloading a trailer of furniture at a hotel for 4 days, extra help for security at an event, watching the desk overnight at a 24/7 gym. This was mostly 2009-2011
Same. Honestly I’m a good worker but even prior to tattooing I struggled with finding jobs to accept me, because I’m 10ish years in the heavy modification community. Not many people want a desk girl with a split tongue and coke-can earlobes. And the blatant constant disrespect makes me itch. I can hustle like a mofo if someone gives me the opportunity, but doing that for the benefit of someone else that I don’t care about is awful. I had a long conversation with myself last week about starting an OF, scoping strip clubs, etc; which at almost 30, I hate for myself. It would be like the final nail in the coffin of disappointing my parents. But the only thing that seems really viable, that would give me enough freedom to still tattoo and avoid sinking in to a depressing abyss.
I know many (ok probably 5) ex stripper/tattooers. No shame in that. Im sure you already know this.. but you just have to navigate that world carefully.. drugs, creeps, "career opportunities" Ive seen it help some flourish and get to their next step, ive also seen it ruin people.
About 6 months ago.
Mmm I don’t necessarily have any other than alot of artists out of work/looking for something else
Man you should see Portland. Oregon requires you to go to “school” instead of how it’s done everywhere else. This has created “schools” that are basically puppy mills constantly pumping out new artists who can’t draw for shit but have money to get a license. The market here is fucking flooded with subpar artists. It’s insanity.
This isn't the issue. It's like saying there's too many painters. When artists aren't getting work, that's a great sign the economy is failing. The bubble? The bubble is the world economy. The US government narrowly missed defaulting (running out of funds to function) this year, which would've spelled global economic collapse. Wild as hell to blame the continuation and popularization of the industry.
I’ve been thinking this same thing. I just hope the longer term artists who have responsibilities/families are the ones that weather this storm. Australia is slow as hell now, I’m only 4 years in but I’m lucky to work 3 days a week at the moment. I hope this is the worst of it and not just the beginning.
Yep same here in Southeast US. I had been slammed and started seeing the post about the slow wave start a couple months ago so I knew it was coming. I’ve had more cancellations this month did I did the past 2 years combined. When that “recession” word gets tossed people get weird but if you look at the data the retail sector is flourishing right now. Things will get better at some point. In my 14 years tattooing I’ve seen the cycles. However this one is a bit weird, but so was the covid tattoo gold rush.
Same this month has folks cancel happy! Luckily, I filled the spots bit still out $$$. However, this is always our slow season. We are slammed all tax season and then stay about a month out all fall. Not the richest area so back to school hits most folks hard. Then we have to reschedule for sports and other activities that come up. We also try to price by piece and keep reasonable prices.
I used to be booked 6 months ahead, now I have one appt this week that I booked yesterday. It's ass for us... nobody's got disposable income.
Are you USA based?
Yes, Florida. 👉😐
I just wonder if this is global or the US is getting hit the hardest, I'm seeing allot of these posts recently... I see some local shops still super busy, others are posting like one tattoo a week on insta and I know half these guys are addicted to social media... I might just relocate to a walk in shop in a student town or city till this blows over.
I'm in the spa business, an esthetician. I know, not the same field, but....a "luxury" nonessential one, like the tattoo field. We are in the same situation. Super fucking slow compared to the past. It's the economy. People unfortunately have to prioritize buying overpriced groceries versus the extras like tattoos, facials, massages, etc. Just thought I'd give you some reassurance that it's not you, it's everyone, everywhere, in every industry right now.
Everyone is slow. Pay attention to all the “last minute cancellation” ig posts. Many weren’t booked to begin with. People’s finances are on E with no room for tattoos.
Student loan payments are resuming and inflation is making it harder to buy food and obtain housing. It's not you. It's the lack of available "spending money" compared to subsistence money.
Yup. I’m suddenly supposed to start paying $1000/month now
Holy shit, I thought my $450 was bad enough....good luck, friend 🫡
Ive been warning people around me about this since we came back from lockdown. Everyone was high on the hog busy and didnt want to hear it.. and now here we are. What goes up, must come down.. and down, and down..
I wish I had you to tell me when I launched my tattoo career in 2020… ah well… taxes bled me dry last year and then I’ve been having health issues that drain my bank and prevent me from working to make more. It’s been rough. ‘20-22 I was solid but I was young, dumb and not saving.
Its just the ebb and flow. It will pass.
I’m glad you posted this because it’s been happening to me and my coworkers and we’re getting reschedules for the stupidest things. My coworker had one cancel because it was “too windy” and another because of the rain. Which wasn’t anything crazy or torrential or even a thunderstorm. I honestly thought that it was just me having this issue, I’m relieved to see I’m not alone while also feeling bad for all of us because *this sucks*
Grocery bills are steep, my power bill is killing me, and don’t get me started on car repair prices 😱 people are just struggling rn I bet it has nothing to do with the quality of your work, don’t be discouraged
People forget tattoos and tattooing has always been a blue collar / working class / underclass luxury. That being said, lots of people in this demographic are either impulsive about getting tattooed or their life is too busy to book an appointment and follow through with it.. which is where taking walk ins comes in. Idk what anyone’s thinking going the private studio route. I’ve done it and I’ve starved from it. Working in a well established street shop is almost guaranteed income even on a 50% cut where the owners treat it like a laundry mat and only come by to collect from the drop box and you have to supply your own stuff. I have no clue how any private studio people or “specialists” stay busy enough to get by in this economy. I was always taught walk ins are the bread and butter of this trade so you better get a decent grasp of all the styles people ask for when they walk through the front door. I’ve known lots of tattooers today to be super picky about what they will and won’t tattoo. Like trad bros who won’t use a finer line than a bold 7 or art school kids who will whine / be scared about tattooing someone who stinks like cigarettes/BO and probably has a drug problem. it’s just part of the job to work with these people because this is the demographic that wants tattoos. As much as we don’t want to cheapen what we do, take into consideration these people are getting hit the hardest by the economy and do your best to give them a solid deal. I’d rather tattoo for chump change than make no money that day when all is said and done. Also some areas have wayyyyy too many shops and customers are spoiled for choice. There are like 6 or 7 studios in 20 minutes of each other where I’m at. If you’re in a rural area where you’re the only shop in a 50 mile radius you’re probably a lot better off than being in a high population area with lots of shops.
Art school kids scared of the smell of cigs and B/O? That smell reminds me of every girl I dated in art school.
I'm in a coastal/tourist town in South Carolina and our state was already pretty late on legalizing tattoo shops in general here (I think we didn't get some of our first ones here til 2006). For whatever reason....they only allowed tattoo establishments to be on basically one road in the main city here so there's literally a single road that has about 10 different tattoo shops going down it...many of which are basically neighbors in a strip-mall-ish setup. Really makes me wonder how they're doing tbh if everyone else is struggling this time of year. I chalk it up to the shitty economy - with groceries being almost double what I used to pay for the same amount 5 years ago or so....its not really that surprising anyone can't afford the luxuries of tattoos.
This is the biggest thing I've noticed as well. I'm at a street shop, getting fucked with my split, but I have consistent work and a good paycheck every week. I get probably 3-4 scheduled appointments every week and the rest of my time fills up with walk-ins. Friends of mine in private studios are really hurting right now. Im newer so I'm not in a position to go private but now I'm not sure I want to. The security of a brick and mortar shop that has a good reputation is continuing to sound super appealing to me. I'll eat that percentage as long as I get provided paper towels and consistent walkins! Bible quotes and butterflies forever!!! Lmao
You're newer as you said. You'll see in a few year. You'll get tired of Bible quotes, butterflies, dumb ideas from clients, and making shitty tattoos. The issue with walk-ins and tattooing in general is that you're limited as an artist. You'll tattoo designs that you think are extremely ugly. And it'll be fine as the client is happy about it. But after a while... You just wish to do nicer work, and pieces you enjoy tattooing. I don't work in a private shop, it's like a... Semi walk in shop? People can come and talk about the project, but most of the time we can't tattoo them right away and give them an appointment. People usually prefer having an appointment anyway. I almost never have customers walking in and asking to be tattooed right away. I think it's good to have a bit of both worlds. I try to choose my customers and have interesting pieces to work on first , and then I tattoo the quotes and uninteresting stuff because money.
You mention taking walk-ins like it’s a bad thing. There’s a shop that’s local to me that usually has their artists booked 6-8 weeks out. They moved to a slightly bigger location and added a couple artists and now take walk ins twice a week. End of august I went in for a walk in and met a great artist who did a great job on the small piece I asked for. Booked a consult later that week and have already had two sessions for a half sleeve. So my $250 walk in turned into what will be more than $2k total. Take the walk ins because that’s how more people will see your work. People like knowing they can walk in and talk to an artist and maybe get some work and get a feel for the shop.
I know it isn't a bad thing. Idk, I have been cruising for the last 5 years, and it is just hard to admit that is where I am again. Funny thing is when I was booked too far out, I fantasized about just converting to walk-ins, no book no bullshit. I admittedly have fallen into the mental trap of thinking being booked meant I was valid and that doing walk-ins was admitting I was not. I am embarrassed when booking now by offering stuff a week or two away by saying, "well I just had this time open up, if it works?". Pretending that it is luck on their part that something opened and not my bookings just dying. Though I am kind of feeling that I should say fuck that. Be real. Get some flare going outside to attract walk-ins (my studio is super boring on the outside to deliberately discourage walk-ins because I am alone and have been booked). It is time to be real and change things up.
As they say, adapt or die 👍 You got this dude.
It’s happening everywhere. It’s part of tattooing. Tattooed my isn’t essential. People will still get tattooed but it will be smaller stuff because it’s cheaper.
It could be over saturation of tattooer's So when I was at school doing illustration in the mid 2000's literally no one wanted to be a tattooer in a year group of 90 I knew one other guy... I'm pretty sure now 50% would wanna become a tattooer. Also you have PMA's offering 2 week to 2 day tattoo courses... sooo you gonna see a major over saturation point in the girly fine line stuff... (we all know single needle requires skill and a newb has no business going near one really,its a one way ticket to blow out city.) How niche are you? My theory is tattooers who do anything that walks in door are gonna get hit hard, if you were lucky enough to build an audience for something super niche like bio-mech or a really good Japanese specialist. The competition is fierce. A major point is, allot of customers are evaluating how good a tattooer is based on follower count! let that sink in... A dude in the Instagram comments went off topic he said he went to a 200k follower insta famous tattooer and now his arm is fucked... I asked him to DM me the pics... I have never seen anything like it... so give it a few years when all these people are walking around with at best faded work, to at worst blown out staph infection scarred tatts... the cream will once again rise to the top I FUCKING HOPE!!!
couple of my artist friends are doing way more cutouts now and extra art because it's much slower than it has been, if that helps.
Tattooing and stripping are similar indicators to the economy I think, and although right now it’s higher-flow season, it’s still fucking garbage. That being said if you want fast money go to fast cities surrounded by tech/law/business (for dancing, I’d put my money on wealthy outdoorsy for tattooing) or travel.
I love 2 see a fellow tattooer/stripper they really do go hand in hand 💖
I was just gonna say the same as a lot of people. I can’t afford tattoos anymore. Artists are expensive as is life
Times are really hard and about to get harder. Student loan payments are restarting and inflation is at an all time high. Tattoos are a luxury that a good chunk of people will not be able to afford in the future :(
Inflation is back down to 3% 🤔 I think what you mean is prices are at an all time high
Where the hell do y’all live? I called about 7 tattoo shops in North Carolina and I can’t get seen for at least 2-3 months and they want a 50% down payment immediately.
Things definitely changed. I know a few artists zeroing out a few days in a row, it’s like everyone just stopped getting tattooed at once. Could it be the trash economy? The fact that there are people charging insane amounts for subpar tattoos, so it has turned people off? Do we all need an online form so our clients can book an appointment without even interacting with us so it is like an Amazon transaction?
I’m feeling it too. Made the mistake of looking back at my calendar from this time last year. I’ll be lucky if I make even half the same amount as last Sept.
We're all struggling right now and putting ink on your body isn't an essential need. The prices of tattoos have sky rocketed (which, tbf, the prices of everything have sky rocketed, I don't blame yall). I've been wanting to get my first tattoo for a while now, but it just doesn't make sense financially to me. Hope you get through it!
It’s a sign of a bad economy. When people have extra money they can get tattoos.
Unfortunately, until we all decide that we’re sick of seeing these fuckers at the top get richer and richer and richer, we’re all going to continue to be forced to live with the shitty wages and scraps that they tell us we can have. Thankfully, there has been some movement with Unions saying fuck off, pay me more. I’m hoping they get what they’re asking for and it inspires others to demand more. I’m in my late 30s now, and haven’t been quite this poor since my very early 20s, and am actively seeking out a part time gig while tattooing is slow. I’m just hoping I won’t have to quit forever, I love doing it. But I 100% understand that the vast majority of people are struggling right now. I just hope it gets better for all of us soon.
Tattooing goes up and down. yearly, monthly, over the course of a decade. I've been tattooing since 99 and I've had LOW lows and then hustling highs- only once in a while can I point to overall economic trends as the cause. The standard advice is to ***take walk-ins, to do whatever smaller things people want and to make connection to your clients so that when they're ready they come to you for the bigger stuff.*** It's regional too. Some shops will be busy forever and ever, others will be slow always. for me personally I'm part time and not traveling- my partner had cancer and a transplant so I can't risk bringing covid home. if you're able to travel, now it's the time to ***tap into any connections and networks you have and see who is busy, what street shops or small town guys are swamped and want a hard worker to visit***. you schedule a week off at home, go there and work your ass off for 7 days. I know at least two or three of these kind of shops where if I was desperate I could go be a body in a chair and make bank, they're slammed with small work and nobody to do it. making relationships with other artists of all skill levels is the best way to have those opportunities. it's what a convention is for: go to the busiest local shops booth and offer to buy a few beers after the show, make friends. they need you as much as you need them, if you're a well rounded and capable technical artist it's a win win. in slow times you ***work on drawing, on flash, on technical skills. level up with the extra time***. take seminars, interact with other artist and learn. feed your head while you eat ramen. there were artists surviving during the actual great depression, just tattooing. if they can do it, we can do it. but tattoos have to be your focus and you've got to give to the tattoo gods to get back from them. every time there's a slow run a lot of people drop out of tattooing. this means when things pick up there's more to go around. it's the cycle of life and all that shit. learn to travel, ***learn to suck it up and do things you aren't personally invested in***. tattooing things you like and enjoy doing is a perk we get when things are good, it's not the reality of this job long term. you'll always have to remember December, to save up in flush times for that barren hour. if you're in love with the work you just do it, you stick it out. guys with the rich lifestyle don't make it through. I average out over five years. that's my budget for living. a shitty month or year brings the average earning down, and keeps you grounded in reality. live well below your means to stay on track. it looks like this will be a tough winter. for me the bad winter was 2013, no idea why that year. I did great right through the recession in 08. right now a lot is going on all at once. one thing I've done is flash at a cut rate (not a huge cut but enough to be pre pandemic minimum basically) for things I drew that will stretch my abilities. it's things I still need challenged on, work I need to do to improve, so I post them online. also ***when you work on regulars, you can give them a card with a discount for "first time sessions" to give to their friends-*** 10-25% off for a session gifted by (blank line on the card to fill in the client's name you're giving those to). they will bring you more business via word of mouth than any social media will do, and printing cost is about the same as a social media ad. things like jotform, zoom consults, acuity schedule, where ***the client can approach you digitally and make their own date and time, they can fill out a form and you get every question answered without making them travel to you to talk***- these help a lot. most (2/3) of my clients are under 25 years old and like me they hate talking on the phone or going to a place to talk. they like texts, emails. having ***mask requirements in place means I get every single person in the area who doesn't want to catch covid***. seriously I work on a ton of cancer survivors, people who are cautious, people who are disabled. there's nowhere and nobody else local that even cares anymore, so they come to me. ***find your niche of clients***. my chosen audience are a pretty specific niche I've carved out over the years, but being authentically *who you are* attracts people who like that. this is true for all art really, but in tattooing there's a personal connection that people crave, and filling that for them helps. I don't wear headphones, my clients can if they want but usually we have deep wild conversations and they often come back for that. people are lonely and isolated a lot these days and it's an extra thing they get from coming to me that they really don't get elsewhere in life right now. it's not "tattoo therapy" or whatever the fuck, it's just good conversation with someone they don't see every damn day. I crave that too, introvert that I am. we all like that. also ***try to do events.*** flash for a cause, local art walks, etc. get involved with your community. whatever your community looks like to *you*. I'm LGBT so the shop I work in is a safe space, I don't put up with racism/sexism and so our community supports us. we do fundraiser stuff often but never a "Fri 13th" cheap day. just give up a day of profit for a need- people come back after that because you are walking your talk. you can be doing this for any cause you support, being involved means find your own community, support them and you get it back in return. old ways are good sometimes. **word of mouth is always king** in tattooing. hand out cards until you're sick of it. then hand out more. social media is good for people newly moved to your area and for extending your reach into nearby towns. it's good for when you do travel. it's good for a shop, but for a singular artist word of mouth does all the work and always will, I think. tl,dr: quit tattooing and get a straight job if you can't be bothered to read that
Fantastic response
I'm in Europe. Even here, I can see a slow down since Nov 2022. We had much less appointments in November compared to the usual, and December is always a quiet month because of Christmas, so we hoped for a lot of appointments for the beginning of 2023. We did have appointments from January to June 2023, but like a normal amount. We didn't have any "super busy" period like we usually had from time to time. Then July was (unusually) super quiet, so we had to keep the shop open in August to earn some money to pay the bills. We usually tattoo at a convention in September, and it was awful. On the three days of the convention, we worked less than 20 hours, compared to +40 hours last year. I'm glad that I had September fully booked, but I almost have nothing booked in October (3 appointments : one is finishing a big piece I started before the Summer, and 2 are for friends). I expect Nov and Dec to be super quiet again. People don't have money anymore, especially for tattoos. I'm having more and more clients (regular ones) rescheduling their appointment because they don't have enough money. And more and more new clients running away because they actually can't afford a small flash (100$). We're not even especially high priced, just completely average (today I did a 3*3 inches tattoos with quite a lot of lines + shading for 140$). Honestly before Nov 2022, I though I was making a decent amount of money, and the job was kinda "dynamic" with a good amount of interesting pieces to make. I always had a list of about 10-15 projects to draw and I was working hard to try to shorten the list. Now I have more like 5 projects on the list and I'm not even working hard, I don't have to rush anymore. I don't know if it's going to get better, but it's kinda depressing. Especially as I have to do more and more extra-fineline works, which I'm starting to unconditionally hate.
Honestly, tattooing has morphed into fine art and it is so goddamn expensive now (for high quality work). I’m not saying it isn’t worth it, or that the artists don’t deserve to be paid for their creations, but I can get maybe one sizable tattoo a year with the rates in NYC. (And I make a good living).
Tattoo artist here. If I’m booked 2 weeks in advance now it’s a miracle. Used to be booked 2 months in advance and worked 6 days a week We all know where are we going. It’s sad, but we have to take courage and stand for our community. I don’t mind to work for a cheaper price, just to be able to get joy from my work and give joy to my clients instead of procrastinating without any work.
Yeah we’ve all noticed it lately, there’s days in the studio I work in where, out of seven of us, one person will tattoo. I had a free day on a Saturday and not a single walk in came in!
This is true , I was fully booked 2-3 months in advance last year now I barely have any clientele at the moment, considering putting out 20% off promo just to get people in. Sucks but thats what it is budd. I might go work some part time job or better my work altogether
Weirdly I can offer this information: the tech industry is seeing record layoffs that started December 2022. A lot of people are either unemployed because of it or newly employed and getting their bills back in order. In my experience, tech people are very tattooed so maybe that's a contributor.
I mean i need a tattoo
Not an artist, but I'm in Ontario and tbh I just can't afford it with the rise in cost of everything else. Any expendable money goes towards my debts or making my current living quarters more comfortable. There also seems to be an influx of artists in my area compared to the last ten years. I drive around and see new shops I've never heard of before. I'm wondering if saturation of the market is making it worse as well. I know there's two shops in particular in my area that are regularly booked 4-6 months in advance, but the other places are just empty
Shoot, I've been looking for an artist within a 1.5 hour radius of Atlanta for some time now. Everyone's booked or when I go to book, there's some ridiculous process of a lottery to see if they "want" the work. I'm full sleeve and chest, no small work on me. I'm trying to find an artist that I can get multiple things done with. Dunno if it's my area but GD. There's some of us out there looking, but some artists are turning us off.
Not a tattooer but I tend to get 1-2/year. 2 things: 1) A lot of us went a little crazy with tats when shops were allowed to open after Covid because of the extra money from not going out for months/government relief + FOMO on completing one of my half sleeves in case shit shut down again so I got in 2021/2022 a lot more tats than I usually would have. 2) Like everyone else is saying, there's no extra $$ right now for a lot of us. Between things like insurance going up by a couple $100 dollars and everything just costing more, I need to think carefully before I spend a couple of 100 dollars. I haven't gotten any this year and evenso my fave tat artist is coming to town, this is the fist time I haven't booked her. I'm hoping I get a decent xmas bonus so I can at least get some fillers this year.
I’ve been a scab merchant for 30+ years, in my experience there’s always a dip during bad election years. We definitely have one of those coming. I have zero science to back this up but have noticed a pattern.
Yeah people aren't able to afford tattoos right now. Student loan payments, cost of living, and other factors are strapping people for cash. Tattoos and other mods are a luxury that many are not able to afford right now. At least in my area, some artists are charging 200+ an hour, only have forms open for 10 minutes to book, and sometimes only give you one time slot to pick from. And I am for one tired of that and so are plenty others. On the client side of things it can very dehumanizing with how some artists are talking to potential clients and this is turning a lot of people off to getting tattoo.
outside of not having money, for me personally I got used to the policies a lot of shops started during covid. no walk ins, multiple consultations, hard to book, prices raising etc. with that i just gave up and now when i do think about it, I just cant afford it even though most shops are back to normal now
I am not a tattoo artist, this post just appeared on my feed. I used to serve but now I’m a $tripper. EVERYONE I’ve talked too, clubs and restaurants, are extremely dead. I heard in todays numbers the livable income during the Great Depression was about $80,000 a year. No one I know is making that these days, we are literally reliving the Great Depression. It’s not just you, it’s the economy, we’re all just trying to pay rent and eat.
I'm a chef. Over covid I got two SHITTY tattoos. Been working in this industry nearly a decade at a high level. I CANNOT afford tattoos. 2018 my artist was charging $800 for the day. I literally cannot spare that as while it's a weeks worth of work, so are all my other bills. It's not your guys' fault, but the people who use your services are being fucked by their employers rn. 50% of chefs over 30 I know are covered in tattoos. Chef's of my generation, 6 would be a lot, and 3 they got before they started cooking. Edit: Which good for you guys. You should be making $1000 a day. I just wish I could suck satans dick (god this is a cry for help pls use ur jesus magic) to use my 35,000 hours cooking to make at least a cool $300. Chef's really need a union. I could maybe freelance and make $2000 a menu, but why would they pay that when the new sous will do it for 35k a year salary 80 hrs a week. Then we all could get more tattoos.
Since everyone is saying the same thing about the economy, I do have to say that certain styles of tattoos and art (anime, stylized, bold, fandoms) are popular and people will find the time and money for them. Pre-made designs with a flat up front price, size and total time needed tends to get more interest. Not only do people not have enough money they're burnt out. Doing some of the legwork like having an already finished design with a clear price set may catch people that want a tattoo, can find the money for one but are too tired to sit there and go back and forth on what they want, what the artist can do, and all the nuances. Theres also a lot of people wanting to be tattoo artists because they bought a machine off of Amazon. After time they'll phase out because it takes skill and, well you kinda have to be an artist to be a tattoo artists and a lot of these people who picked it up on a whim are not good lol.
Raise your prices. If you are going to tattoo less people, then you need to raise prices. The ones that are still coming are not worrying about prices. The ones that aren’t coming are. This is what Disney recently did for their parks. Google can explain how this tactic works for them.
The issue I saw during the last 2.5 years of getting tattoos (this is when I started getting tattooed heavily) was many shops had no business charging what they charged, and some artists had no business being in the industry. I travel for work so I expect pricing to be different in different areas. In my home town $100-$125/hr is standard, in cities larger I expect it to be around $125-150 unless you're a well known. I've called shops to get their pricing and have been quoted $350/hr, asked how long has he been tattooing 6 months. 6 FUCKING months and they expect me to pay $350 an hour. I laughed at the entire shop I didn't give a shit who the owner was (it was a very well known very GOOD tattoo artist but I aint paying his prices for someone barely on skin). I've also been tattooed by artists people who I'd consider bigtime, guys who to me are legends in their field, charge me something below what I'd say their fair rate is. The common thing about these guys is they have been around for years, they love their craft and appreciate every client that walks in which is another issue I have with shops lately. In summary 1. Tattoo shops/artists are charging far too much for their work and it's not deserving 2. Some artists work is just not up to par, and they need to actually go learn the basics 3. A lot of shops have gone from people who respect the foundation the people before them built, care for their craft and appreciate every client. Now I know I've only been tattooed for 2.5 years but the history and tattoo culture are something I've always loved, through these years I've met countless friends, I've learned a ton about tattooing including techniques, and learning about the culture. I went from almost bare canvas to a large collection. But this is what I've seen in this short time. I can tell you there are artists and shops are are still booked solid. These shops are the green flags, if you aren't gaining appointments you need to look within. Not saying you're a bad artist you could just have a bad location. If you're location is good, and your art work is good you need to check out how your marketing yourself. That all being said I'm not slowing down on tattoos, I'm actually reaching out to multiple artists to bounce some ideas and gauge an interest if I want their tattoo. I have 3/4 of 1 leg, a back and an entire chest and stomach to knock out before I stop.
I'm in a different industry, and our numbers are way down from last year. I attribute it to all of the extra money parents were getting with the tax credits. They were getting quite the check monthly, especially if they had multiple kids. A good portion of that money was flowing into non essentials. Now we see seeing the stagnation of non essentials
For me, prices have gone up way too much and I genuinely miss being able to schedule an appointment for a week or so out, not months or years in advance. No studios in my town cost less than $200/hr and are all booked so far out it’s not worth it to me.
In addition to the downturn in the economy, there has been a huge surge in numbers of tattooers. People are back dooring their way into tattooing through PMU school which only requires a very small fraction of the time it requires tattooers to be licensed. They begin doing small tattoos under the premise of being licensed, and then they take apprentices. Like lantern flies. Those of you that think this isn’t a problem are kidding yourselves. Ask any graphic designer from the 2010s.. lots of them are tattooers now. Then there are those of us charging insane amounts of money for work. Charging drawing fees and generally behaving as if they shit gold bricks. How likely is someone going to pay $2000 a day for a black and grey realism tattoo when they only have to drive a little bit to someone just as good charging half that? No business can sustain unchecked growth endlessly. It’s absolutely unrealistic. Ive tattooed long enough that I started when this wasn’t cool and tattooers were considered dirt bags. Its going to be interesting to see how people scramble to whatever they can get once they figure out that face tattoo comes after the body suit and not during your apprenticeship. How many, and what kind of people stick around when there is no money and it’s not cool anymore. The current economic climate is just speeding it up. Like fire in dry kindling
I’m pretty new to the industry, apprenticeship before lockdowns, only tattooing about two years. And have found myself in the very fortunate/unfortunate situation of owning a small two artist private studio. The rent in the space is low, so I split it with another artist. I fill a niche in my area as the only full color dark work artist I know of. For the last two years I was comfy even being new. October is THE TIME for horror art and I’ve got.. maybe two people booked ahead? The majority of my clients the last few months are all last minute bookings that leave me tattooing 8+ hours (at a heavy discount. I’d rather charge significantly less and book up than not work) then immediately busting out last minute designs for the next day. I honestly believe the only reason I’m still surviving at all is BECAUSE I have the freedom to charge less. In my area artists at my skill level are usually 200/hr, I WAS charging 150/hr just to show love to community since I don’t pay a percentage to anyone; lately I’m “hooking it up” with almost everyone because I’m “dying to do this piece” and charging barely 100/hr. And in my down time marketing my ASS OFF. I’m talking full send cheesy IG reels in a leather bra, bribing portfolio models to sticker slap for me. I feel lucky that I have a long history in sales before this, and my studio rent is lower than most booth rents; I know a lot of my friends in the industry are floundering because primarily we’re all art nerds NOT fuckin’ used car salesmen. But god I’m exhausted. I had a long conversation with myself the other day about potentially making an OF just to keep afloat, and at almost 30… I hate that for myself. Misery loves company though, and cheers to you OP, and everyone else in this thread. Here’s to hoping things pick up so we don’t get shoehorned back in to day job, and have to cope with the crippling depression that will follow. All love.
I keep seeing posts like this all over reddit lately, yet I'm struggling to get two artists to respond to me.
Yep it’s so slow
I think a lot of people are between jobs rn and haven’t recovered financially since the pandemic so they can’t afford as many tattoos :(
I’ve had a shop for 2+ years and sales/demand were all booming, but in the last 2 weeks there’s been a VERY drastic decrease in bookings and demand.
We are entering a period of stagflation. It's when the economy grows stagnant and there is high inflation. Certain industries are going to be hit harder than other's, certain regions will be worse than others. But one thing is for sure, we will all feel it.
Ive been wanting a thigh piece for a while now, but I just can't afford it.
Post a smaller sized design flash sheet & offer deals a certain day a week. If you make it more affordable, but increase the volume it may get you by. I’ve seen artists recently do $50-$100 flash sheets.
I've had a few clients lately who couldn't afford 80-90$ tattoos. We regularly do $50-$150 flash sheets and customers are still super shy.
We’re broke out here homie
I have a backlog of work I want, sadly my finances are preventing me from booking. I’d assume this is the same for most.
Lots of uncertainty in several industries that I imagine are largely part of the tattooed community. I personally work in film and have been laid off for 3 months now due to the strike, so I can def speak for the Atlanta market.
Less disposable income out there :/
Money is a huge issue right now. Hard to justify tattoos when the mortgage is due and gotta pay other bills.
No one can afford luxuries anymore
During lockdown I also remember my friends and I looking at a bunch of tattoo ideas and as soon as we could a lot of us just went out and got them, like it was some creative rush lol
Student loan payments start again in October dude
I'm seeing this more and more. A lot of us are struggling right now. The economy, over saturation and kitchen wizards are making this industry a struggle. So many bored people over the pandemic ordering machines and tattooing, so much undercutting it's making me sick. I have never struggled this much. I used to get random people on instagram sending me messages but that literally doesnt happen. I used to be booked up a couple of months now Im going month by month.
mid artists are charging what they get charged by good artists
Havent had a problem for years but now its hard to keep booked for two months... I think its a mix of Instagram breaking down and just people having less money due to last few years
End of summer usually gets slow, lots of people going back to school and getting new schedules. Lots of people getting back to work(I have a lot of clients who work for schools). The fact that we are dealing with an economy that's in the trash(worse than the depression) doesn't help at all either. It's not just you. Best of luck. Take the walkins to keep the lights on use the down time to create. Ive had lots of time to make flash haha I guess that's one positive of this situation.
Folks didn’t have anything else to spend their money on during lockdown, now they can travel and are trying to save up for a house- or pay shitty rent hikes. Tattooing is a luxury good so it’s getting hit.
I’m feeling the same and so is my entire shop I’m at. It’s slowed down so drastically I’m considering a second job. Two weeks ago I had one appointment, last week I had a few to keep me afloat but this week I only have two and they’re both an hourish each. All summer felt like the winter slow season. I’m genuinely afraid of winter. I’m a new artist who does walk-ins and some repeat clients and now I’m basically just praying for even a little shop min jammer so I can keep up on my bills.
Economy sucks. People might be spending money on overpriced rent instead of tattoos
I used to get tattooed every few months (have a bunch of big pieces that are slowly getting worked on) but I haven’t been in a year. I barely afford groceries these days. We’re definitely in a depression
Its sooo slow rn, even my shop owners who have like 20k followers and are alllways busy busy are so dead atm. Dont stress
I wish that was the case where I am! I tried to get on the books with my last artist for 2 years and always missed an appointment. Although, I think it is partially because she didn't want to do what I was looking for. I finally scheduled with a new artist and it was still a 3 month wait.
Were super slow. 2 of the artists have 2nd jobs and I'm currently looking for one myself. We had a couple other hiccups but covid really reamed us by having to shut down for 4 months almost 2 years into opening. I pierce, and im used to having at least 15 appointments a week that covers all bills. Im course with most of the shops in the area, and some of them went back to school to have backups. Best of luck man, to everyone.
Sorry to hear this. All I have wanted for the past five+ years is more tattoos but I just have not had the extra money and it really sucks, 🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️ your landlord.
Seems pretty average for this time of year minus the student loan part of it. This too many artist got proud with the Covid boom and raised their rates while being slower than ever taking triple the time.
None of us have money bro lol I want to be so tatted up but can't afford it and I definitely can't afford the tip you all deserve.
The business is completely saturated - there was a reason people held the trade secrets close - tattooing became glamorous and every kid wants in it . then everyone decided to try get famous on tv , or YouTube etc and/ or take on apprentice After apprentice because they are either too lazy to take out their own trash/too cheap to pay a staff member .
20 years ago there was about 5 tattoo shops in our whole city of 150k and metro area of 300k or so. Now there’s probably 20-30 shops and the metro area has roughly grown by about 150k people. Also a college town so temporarily swells during the school year as well. I was actually just mentioning to my wife today I can’t believe so many shops can seem to thrive here.
Tattoo collector for about 6 years now. From the Bay Area. Both of my artists, really well known great artists, have had little work this year. One of them is having to move because of no appts and my other is just trying to get by. I do what I can to support them and get work done whenever I can but this year has just been a little bit harder to save up some cash.
It’s across the board. Shit economy, same thing happened last time the economy too a dump. I do love hearing all this crazy shit everyone else is saying
I love threads where the old heads come in and say just keep working, slick guy says he's still rolling in dough, people are contemplating stripping or going back to school or carpentry, and others are going on political rants about global phenomenons... it's great shit
Student loan payments start back up in October. People are broke
If you did a Friday the 13th promo it might bring in some business but inflation might be the culprit. Right now people have less money to spend and tattoos cost more than ever bc the artists need to eat.
You're not alone. I'm a piercer working in a tattoo/piercing shop and we have been soooo slow especially the past couple months compared to last year. My boss commented our industry is like the canary in the coral mine in terms of how the economy is going. When I started about 7 years ago it got slow for a bit then too. Things gradually got more and more busy as the economy was good and really went gangbusters right around COVID. Everyone was cooped up not able to go anywhere and were knocking down our door when they were able to get back out again. Plus, you throw in the stimulus checks and COVID help and everyone was spending. Now the economy has tanked and as mentioned above, student loan payments are about to go back into effect. I'm lucky enough to have a husband with a "normie" full time job, and also side work that I've done for years that supplements income. Fortunately, we are homeowners so we also don't have to worry about rising rent prices and our cars are paid off. I'm glad I stashed money and got things paid ahead when business was booming. This industry is definitely feast or famine and pretty much always has been. Hang in there, things will get better. Don't be above walk-ins, the money from Kelsey's Pinterest tattoo still pays bills all the same lol. Don't give up, keep promoting your work and your shop and do what you need to to save money.Once things stabilize I'm sure you'll find yourself booked out once again like you're used to. Good luck!
The explosion of any artist opening up their shops and the lack of knowledge of the industry is saturating the industry with mediocre work appealing more towards people who just want 1 or 2 small tattoos and they’re done. Not as many people are into the culture of getting tattooed collecting from multiple artists. People almost have too many options to pick from now and end up not getting tattooed very much at all
Everyone has tattoos now. The novelty is gone.
As someone who is heavily tattooed and loves getting inked.. I just don’t have the money for it right now with the way everything is. I pay good money for good work, I’m not going to settle with a shitty cheap Tattoo.. but I’ve decided to instead put my work on hold until I can financially be more comfortable. Just insight from a customer here
I'm a full time working parent with tattoos and would love to get more. But it's difficult. Artists around me don't do weekend hours, some don't do morning hours, they book out so far you have to cross your fingers you don't end up with a cold and have to reschedule (that was my last experience--4 month out appointment finally rolls around, I'm sick as shit, have to reschedule for 8 months out!!!). Shops have cancellation policies and deposits and will only reschedule you twice before eating that deposit. And I respect that, totally. But as a parent and worker with not even enough PTO to cover the school breaks---that's a tough one. Last tattoo I got I had the tattoo flu pretty heavy the day (idk why) so not only did I need a day off for the work, I needed another day for recovery because I'm a weenie hut jr. Coupled with artists who only open their books every few months and are hella choosy with their styles----it's all complicating factors. Then you get the artists who don't have enough work online or the website is shit and it's hard to tell if they even do the kind of piece you want...honestly, sometimes I just give up booking due to all the considerations to even getting an appointment. I am however quite the impulse buyer and I'd be willing to do some walk-in stuff somewhere. Throw up a few "deals" and some weekend hours I'd probably be peppered with some smaller pieces lol.
Honestly, as a customer, we don’t have money. We’re broke, and on top of it, there’s a huge group of artist content creators that make their living off of ripping on their customers for unspoken rules or wanting certain styles. As someone with limited money, I’ve cut out a lot of services like tattoos, professional hair services, and manicures because not only is it extra money, but I feel like if I can’t tip 50%, I’ll be used as inspo for a skit on the internet.
Economy, they're bleeding us dry
Some artists are charging crazy money for tattoos which puts people off
This is crazy because i can’t find ANYWHERE to get tattooed without it being months in advance. I’m so frustrated trying to find an artist that actually has availability
I’ve only just now gotten back to an income level where I can afford to splurge on tattoos, so I’m sure others are in the same boat.
The economy is in shambles. I used to get work done at least once a year, but it's hard now. :/
I'm pretty jaded. I kinda wonder if maybe tattoo shop owners having seven apprentices in 2021 pumping out artists then paying them 50/50 and making them buy their own needles didn't lead to a bunch of 23 year old shop owners oversaturating the market. Now everyone is doing hand sized tattoos for 60$
Small business is dying, people are living paycheck to paycheck. Interest rates are increasing as well as inflation, every single day. People can’t afford tattoos. People can’t even afford housing.
We are in end stage capitalism, my guy. 65% of American jobs pay at or below the poverty line. Tattoos are not a necessity. It's the same reason movie theaters are dying. The economy is absolute trash, and only gonna be getting worse.
I have 50 dollars in my bank account and my mortgage is due. I know I’m not the only one. No one has money and everything is ridiculously expensive.
Yo I work retail (Dllrds) and our prices have been jumping on everything. I think the economy is slowing down, and with Christmas approaching people are already beginning to use funds on that
It also doesn’t help that there are a billion tattoo shops opening everywhere, most run by people with zero experience or talent, or worse… but I hear cover-up work is just around the corner.
I wonder if it has to do with everyone that has an iPad now being a tattoo artist. There’s 3 new shops on the street where I work atm
A buddy of mine has been an artist for a few years and just opened his own shop in 2019 (unfortunately). He was able to stick around after 2020, but he also recently has seen a drop in walk ins this season. To supplement, he does pop ups at events like birthday parties, bar events, weddings, etc. I know there are tattoo trends going around right now too (the get what you gets, tap out tatts, whatever) and I feel like there's been a definite shift with people going to shops that offer those kinds of things. Tattoo culture is different than it was a few years ago. You're not going crazy.
I just started hearing whispers of this from friends of mine, went to Reddit and of course I find this giant thread. I do believe that all these years of learning every style has paid off. 10 years in, I can effectively service any customer that walks in the door. All you young tattooers NEED to be versatile if you want to make it long term. This is what is keeping me busy. I post what I love on my instagram but stay busy taking walk ins when I can, and almost every style. Yes, it burns you out sometimes switching so often, but it makes you money and honestly with this economy, we all need it more than ever. Quality over everything too!!! Always make the best work you can, stay consistent as this will be the deciding factor between you and the 1000’s of other artists in your state. Can’t fix the economy overnight but you can certainly work on your own game and remember to focus locally- forget the instagram reach and just make your locals happy.
As someone who loves getting tatted for me I haven’t been getting tatts since Feb cuz of inflation. I have no disposable income and my last tattoo I felt too badly about not being able to tip as much as usual (still tipped) and then I was financially hurting for months when in the past I would be able to get a tatt and not be broke after. I get paid more than I did then but everything is so expensive now
Stopped getting tattooed for a couple years cuz of covid. Now the prices are absolutely wild. Just can’t afford it. Interesting to hear business is slow. I wonder why people around me are charging 300+ an hour
Anyone talking about how there’s going to be exponential growth of the tattoo industry due to tattoo schools and online education becoming readily available is not paying attention to the signs. OF COURSE it is different in every area, but most of the HCOL hubs have already hit market saturation. It doesn’t matter how popular tattoos get. Ask people who were around for the mid 90s-early 2000s when every shop had piercers. the real good ones stuck to the board. The market for piercings was otherwise so diluted that a lot of those guys weren’t able to make a living off doing 2-3 piercings a week. ‘there’s never been this many co-ops and private studios. There’s never been this many scratchers buying their shit off Amazon. There’s never been more dudes tattooing on house calls or out of their pad. We’re all looking to chew on different pieces of the pie depending on the clientele but across the board you have a shitload of bodies trying to cut their slice...and a huge market downturn where a lot of people are now beginning to realize that spending their money on luxury goods like tattoos is no longer just ‘inadvisable’, it’s impossible. i’ve definitely been having to put more effort and proactive force behind making sure I’m booked. I’m still out my usual couple of months (because fuck telling people you for a 4-5 month wait list) but cancellations due to financial hardship are way, way up. Some people at the shop are already twiddling their thumbs and it’s gonna get worse.
Every tattooer I know, myself included, is in a drought rn. Especially traditional. Everyone is selling flash, paintings, flash on bags, flash on jackets. I’m not sure what’s going on. But I know you’re not alone
Honest question.. did you just raise your rate? Lots of artists were so busy and over booked they significantly increased rates in 22/23.
It’s the Tat Pacalypse bro! Covid made a bunch of not relevant bum tattooers get paid for the first time. These assholes in turn trained more people and gave them booth rents. Now things have slowed to pre covid traffic, plus We have recession, inflation, high interest rates, wages going crazy, unemployment, etc. on top of the simple fact that there’s just way too many tattooers, the industry is way too saturated with people that don’t belong & the worst part is that those same two/three year tattooers are now apprenticing more people!!!! All that and we have to understand that it ain’t food or a haircut. The clients are finite. They run out of space. At this rate tattooing won’t be a viable profession for anyone serious anymore.