Pricing Updates – Changing to Industry Standard Hourly Rate

We have recently made a few changes to our pricing procedures at Figure 8 – these changes aren’t major overall, and mostly have to do with how we quote and communicate to clients in the booking process.  The biggest change is that we are now explicitly stating our individual (each artist’s) hourly rates rather than using ranges to quote and charge. In the past, we’ve charged a slightly higher hourly rate for difficult projects and a slightly lower rate for fun/easier ones. Our adherence to a set hourly makes it much easier for us to confidently charge appropriately, easier for our clients to receive estimates, and it gives us the freedom to still hook up our clients individually when appropriate. It also is a way to communicate to our clients up front about individual artists’ experience levels and pacing.  If an artist works at a slightly slower pace, that will be reflected in a slightly lower hourly rate.  The same with experience level.  

The set hourly rate is the universal standard, as modeled in the oldest tattoo market in the US, Richmond, Virginia.  Every shop that we know of in that region prices in this way.  We’ve been functioning outside of that standard in an attempt at flexibility and precision per piece. But this streamlining is actually more concise, comprehensive, and transparent. Clients will now have fewer variables to work with when understanding the cost of services. Budget planning will be more cut and dry.

With this change, we are also updating our decade old deposit system. To be transparent, we have had an increase in cancellations this last year (as have most others in the industry). We have at least one cancellation or reschedule every one or two weeks. Emergencies happen, but sometimes a $50 deposit means less to a person than adjusting their schedule, thus keeping appointments and respecting a service provider’s loss and calendar isn’t a big deal. We are changing to the industry standard of a deposit equal to one hour of work (for that specific artist). This will be our new system. It helps to offset the loss experienced by the artist/shop in case of a last-minute cancellation, which often cannot be filled.        

Deposits are meant to hold your place. They come out of your total cost at the end of your service. This is great for client budgeting, since a deposit equals the artist’s hourly rate and assists in the understanding of the cost of the service. In the event that a client no-call no- shows, or provides less than 48 hours notice, this deposit will cushion the hours spent drawing and preparing for said client. We are never unwilling to work with a budget, and in the case of micro tattoos (tattoos that take less than 45 minutes) we still offer a shop minimum cost of $85.  That deposit option will be available for $50, which can be placed over the phone. 

Our new hourly rates are as follows: 

Senior artists

• Tricia (14 years of experience, shop owner) $200
• Sabrina (5 years of experience) $185

Junior artists

• Daniella (2 years of experience) $175
• Frankie (2 years of experience) $165 

You may notice that our hourly rates have increased 5-20 dollars each. This increase comes with additional years of experience, as well as an increase exponentially in cost of operation and supplies (a box of needles when Tricia began was $15-20, now it is $35-45, for an example). If you have any questions about how this might affect your upcoming appointment or want to discuss budget options, or splitting up work into sessions, please feel free to start those conversations! 

These rates reflect not only experience level but also work speed. Some artists are faster than others and therefore charge more. Some artists tend to move slower procedurally and therefore charge less. Each artist has their specialty, but we all take pride in our ability to execute most styles and subject matter with technical excellence and artistic care. Different pacing is a natural and common experience in the tattoo industry, just like with any art form.  

We appreciate all of our clients and look forward to continuing to make progress and positive changes!