We all love a bargain, and finding a gem in an op-shop now and again is fantastic. New Zealand isn’t exactly the cheapest place to live, and for anyone making minimum wage, the less we pay, the better off we are.
But tattoos are different.
Never make price the deciding factor
If you’re seriously considering a tattoo, then put the price out of your mind. If price is your main concern, then you’re not serious about it.
Figure out what kind of tattoo you want first, where it’s going to go and how big you want it. Then find a respectable, experienced tattoo artist.
Talk with them about your ideas, and what you want as a finished product. Think about what you want ten years from now.
Now ask about the price.
If it’s outside of your budget, either explain that to the artist and figure something else out, or simply wait until you’ve saved up enough.
The cost of something isn’t the same as the price
If you make the mistake of going cheap, then you may regret it for the rest of your life.
Let’s just say you’ve gone to see a tattoo artist, explained what you wanted, and they have quoted you something that’s a couple hundred more bucks than you were expecting. The smart thing to do is to save up and come back another day.
The dumb thing to do is go to someone who’ll do it cheaper.
People who tend to do tattoos ‘cheaper’ are usually not only less skilled than professional tattoo artists, but a lot more dangerous.
There will always be someone who’s bought a tattoo gun off Trade Me and thinks they know what they’re doing. Without the proper training in Health &Safety, or their premises meeting hygiene standards, a tattoo from someone like this is just asking for trouble.
Even forgetting about the risk of disease such as Hepatitis from previously used needles, there’s a very real threat of your tattoo becoming infected.
Not to mention the fact you might end up like this bell-end.
