why I don't do 13 buck tattoos

Every month there is a Friday that lands on the 13th, I brace myself for an influx of phone calls, messages, emails, and DMs at all hours of the day and night (3 am anyone? This happened yesterday).

Hey, are you doing a Friday the 13th special?

OK, I’m not a snob. I’m far from it. I personally love doing flash events - days when I tattoo pre-drawn “tattoo flash” designs. I love meeting clients who may never have stepped foot in my shop before. I get to interact with people “day of” - I’m a tattooist who books several months in advance, and have gotten so busy I’ve recently had to hire an assistant to help me with bookings and requests, so it’s nice to go back to my “street shop” roots once in a while. And personally, I do love tattoo flash in general. It was the tradition of tattoo flash - specifically classic American tattoo flash from the 1920s to 1940s - that got me even interested in tattooing in the first place. I hold a place of high esteem in my heart for good flash designs.

What I’m not crazy about is this - the $13 flash tattoo.

I have no idea when this even became a thing. I remember encountering it for the first time, working on the east coast, maybe back in 2013 or 2014. One of the shops I was working at asked if we’d do a $13 day, and I thought - are you kidding me, no way. What most people don’t know is how tattoo artists get paid. Traditionally, shops pay artists on a cut. Sometimes it’s 40%, sometimes it’s 50%. In rare cases, I’ve seen cuts of 60-70%, but that doesn’t happen often. In my case, at that time, I was on a 40% cut, which would have put me at $5.20 a tattoo. Hard pass on that. Now, some people do tip, which is appreciated, but it’s not always required and not everyone thinks to tip their artist.

Here in California, paying artists on a cut - or commission split - was made illegal back at the end of 2019 when Assembly Bill 5 (AB5) went into effect. (Note - if you’re an artist still making a cut, your shop is operating illegally. Just FYI.) This forced every legally operating studio owner to bring in “booth renters”, which basically makes it next to impossible to truly make a profit as a studio owner. When you have an artist as a booth renter, they pay a specific rent to you each month and that’s it. They have to have their own business license, their own insurance, their own social media and so forth (this is why this website only features my work; the talented ladies who work in my studio run their own businesses!) - and as the owner, you have the lovely benefit of paying extra yearly studio fees, you pay exponentially more in liability insurance, and you shoulder all the responsibility for required inspections and such. It’s no wonder that so many studio owners, especially in Los Angeles, have moved to the whole “private studio” business model.

What many studios here in California do on Friday the 13th is they CHARGE an individual artist - who may or may not be associated with that studio - a flat rate to work the $13 flash day. I’ve seen fees upwards of $300 simply to have the honor of working for that day. Think about it - how many tattoos would one artist have to do even to break even on the fee at that price, without even factoring in supplies?

My stock answer when people ask me “why don’t do you $13 events?” is this: I would never in a million years ask any artist who rents from me to work for less than minimum wage.

It’s simple economics.

There is a basic cost of giving someone a tattoo. Booth renters must provide all of their own equipment in a studio. So if we just look at basics here - one needle cartridge averages around $2 (this is for people who work with rotary wands, which we see much of the time in events like this - less time with set-up/breakdown, and 100% disposable). If you use one for lining, one for shading, that’s $4 invested. Ink - colors can be $10-12 a bottle; now, you’re only using a little bit, but it adds up. Then there are things like ink caps, sterilization products, paper towels, fluids, soaps, barrier films, and in today’s wonderful world of COVID prevention, all kinds of PPE including masks and such. The studio may or may not include these products with the price of rent. For the sake of argument, let’s say that each tattoo costs the artist $5. Profit is $8. You might think, not bad, but then let’s look at time.

This is something most people don’t know. If an artist is to properly set up and breakdown their workstation, it doesn’t matter how small the tattoo is or how quickly it is done, there is a SET time that it takes to ensure prevention of cross-contamination and sterilization. For example, decontamination wipes and sprays include a “kill time” - that can be 5 minutes or more. (You NEVER want to cut cleaning protocol short on time. I can’t tell you how many artists I know personally who have had hepatitis C, or how real of a fear hepatitis C is to me!) Then you also have to factor in paperwork, taking a copy of photo ID (yes, this is required for all clients in Ventura County, where I work), and of course - treating your client like a human being. People get nervous and it’s your job as an artist to put them at ease. It’s simply disrespectful and downright irresponsible as an artist to treat your client like a cash cow and to not have empathy for how they may be feeling in your chair.

I typically budget a MINIMUM of 45 minutes for a tiny tattoo that takes maybe 5-10 minutes to complete. Your $8 profit doesn’t amount to much of an hourly wage if you take this all into account.

Additionally, I feel incredibly strongly that there should never be a time limit on a tattoo. This is why I have a moral problem with the show Inkmaster - how can anyone possibly know how their client will react? You can’t possibly know - as an artist - how the client’s skin may be until you actually begin to tattoo them. Setting a time limit is irresponsible. It forces the artist to rush, or the client to feel unsafe because they are being rushed. Tattoos take as long as they take. My mentor used to say to every client at the beginning of an appointment, to put their mind at ease: “It’s not a race.” I tell my clients the same thing. Now, at a Friday the 13th event where people are lined up around the block - is an artist going to take their time to make everyone feel comfortable, welcomed, and safe? Or is that artist going to feel a whole lot of pressure and stress to get people in and out the door as quickly as possible? I rest my case.

I take my craft incredibly seriously. There’s not a day that goes by where I don’t think - I’m putting a permanent marking on this person’s body that they will carry to the grave. Really. And I believe all artists should have that level of respect for their craft.

This blog post is not meant to be a rant, but rather to be educational. I have plenty of well-meaning clients who ask. And I’m also not talking down on shops that choose to participate in such events - that’s everyone’s personal choice. But mine is to never tattoo $13 flash.