Tattoo studios Vs The recession

Diceicle

Just out of curiosity, but has the recession et al started to affect any studios with regards their pricing structure?
While its acceptable\possible to charge 80/100/120 per hour when everyone had some spare cash, surely logic dictates that studios will have to review their hourly rates seeing as how El Hefe Biffo continues to grab everyones spare money at every opportunity.
IMO only the dedicated tattoo enthusiast will have "get a tattoo" on their current To-do list and dedicated tattoo-heads probably aren't enough to keep a studios head above water. Lowering prices may be the only way to get the (for want of a better term) Flash-pickers back in.
Or am I wrong?

Star Lord

Get 3 tattoos is on my to-do list :pac:

One on my chest, and one on the top of each arm

Dancor

I have plenty more hours of ink planned. I dont mind paying good money for good work. But above all else the places I will go to will have a great rep and talk to me politly, as in not be up there own wannabe rockstar arse, and spend time listening to what I want, but also advise from there experianced point of view.

hot2def

I'd say you'll tattooists leaving the country more than you'll see prices coming down.




tattooists only get paid per piece. when the number of customers drops sharply, so does their money. you'll find that in that situation, they can't afford to lower the price.


fewer customers, less frequently is one of the reasons tattooing costs more that hairdressing. it stands to reason that fewer customers again is unlikely to drive the price down much

Diceicle

I've plenty more ink planned myself (hope to start a the other sleeve soon enough), just thought I'd put this thread out there to see if there is any sign of prices coming down in-line with the economy / intrest rates etc.
Not sure what made me think of this issue but was curious about it none the less. As we can all see, utilities are on the way down, retail sales everywhere, tradesmen are charging less, so I got to wondering were tattoo studios holding out?
Realistically speaking, most tattoo artists would leave the country rather than take a cut in rates, thus lessing the talent pool further. Bad news for tattoo fans, however, there's really not that many places to go in truth. England for instance, IMO, has a larger pool of talent to compete against and get established against and is in as dire circumstance as ourselves.
So would taking a leaf out of the retail sectors book and reducing costs to the consumer not spur more people through a studios doors
Just to be clear, I'm not being a stinge, I've no qualm as such paying 80-100 squid (I think the 120 I've heard some artists requesting is over-priced now or in the boom).

vangoz

Yeah its been the main reason ive taken a back step in getting work done. Just couldnt afford it lately, but got enough cash up now and getting back on track to getting my back piece finished

I honestly cant see price's dropping, I dont think a price drop would get more "flash pickers" into the shops, regardless of pricing i think getting a tattoo is the last thing on the average mind of a "flash picker".

chin_grin

I've my next few planned too. But to be honest I'd rather pay a decent whack and know that I'm getting the best artist I can get for it. From anybody in the business, has there been a quick drop in new customers?

vangoz

chin_grin wrote: »

I've my next few planned too. But to be honest I'd rather pay a decent whack and know that I'm getting the best artist I can get for it. From anybody in the business, has there been a quick drop in new customers?

Ask hot2def in the "in the well" thread, she's been quite responsive and helpfull with all Q's.

Diceicle

vangoz wrote: »

Yeah its been the main reason ive taken a back step in getting work done. Just couldnt afford it lately, but got enough cash up now and getting back on track to getting my back piece finished

I honestly cant see price's dropping, I dont think a price drop would get more "flash pickers" into the shops, regardless of pricing i think getting a tattoo is the last thing on the average mind of a "flash picker".

Whats your backpiece of?

I can't see any studios dropping their prices in the coming months myself to tell the truth but the reality of the situation is that once the next budget passes everyones disposable income is going to shrink alot. This will put a strain on all tattooheads, even the ones like ourselves who want tattoos alot will have to save longer and harder to afford them, thus putting longer times between visits to the studio.
Prices charged for goods and services fall and rise in relation to a number of factors and one of those factors is the disposable income in the economy. I think that the studios who do not review their price structure will find it harder to make it through to the next boom......unfortunately.

hot2def

Diceicle wrote: »

Whats your backpiece of?

I can't see any studios dropping their prices in the coming months myself to tell the truth but the reality of the situation is that once the next budget passes everyones disposable income is going to shrink alot. This will put a strain on all tattooheads, even the ones like ourselves who want tattoos alot will have to save longer and harder to afford them, thus putting longer times between visits to the studio.
Prices charged for goods and services fall and rise in relation to a number of factors and one of those factors is the disposable income in the economy. I think that the studios who do not review their price structure will find it harder to make it through to the next boom......unfortunately.

parlours won't really drop prices much unless utilities/rents drop, which I don't think will have happened for most parlours yet. I'm not saying proces won't go down, just not anytime soon. But you will see tattooists leave the country.

PeakOutput

im pretty sure i heard that allstar ink in limerick is booked up 6 weeks in advance and they are doing great so it seems to be fairly recession proof

Diceicle

The tattoo-scene supporter in me hopes there wont be too much of a drop in price as it will most likely lead to some of the small talent pool we have here leaving for pastures anew (though where you go to to get more than €100 per hour in a worldwide recession is up for debate too), but the consumer in me would like to see a slight reduction in rates. Utilities are coming down, tax will go up, disposable income goes down, rental on property is definately up for negotiation by alot of studios.
My slight knowledge of economics et al tells me that by this time next year some studios will be offering rates of €70-90 per hour. Its supply and demand. Besides which if the cost of a studio operating reduces a fair deal, is it not right/ smart to pass the saving on to the consumer? :pac:

Crumble Froo

im sure there's just as many people who still intend on getting work done, etc... but the problem is, if any of them are like me... it's just taking a *lot* longer to get the money together to get them done.

vangoz

Diceicle wrote: »

Whats your backpiece of?

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