Under $25: 0%
$25 to $50: 2%
$51 to $100: 8%
$101 to $250: 19%
$251 to $500: 11%
$501 to $1000: 5%
Over $1000: 4%
I Don’t Have a Tattoo: 48%

In a classic bell curve, skewed slightly to the right, this month’s poll results revealed that most of the poll-takers who were tattooed (39%) paid between $100 and $250 for their tattoo. What is really interesting though is that nobody has gotten all, or perhaps even any, of their tattoos for free. Those are good signs and not simply because of the money that is moving in the tattoo industry. It’s a good sign because, as in all things, you get what you pay for. Rule #1 in the tattoo money game: Great tattoos are not cheap. Corollary to Rule #1: Cheap tattoos are not great. Most people who had a tattoo, amounting to 60%, paid less than $250. However, a significant 40% have paid more than $250 for a single tattoo. Many things influence the cost of a tattoo – whether you’ve selected flash or want a custom design, the size of the tattoo, the pay rate of the tattooist, the reputation and location of the shop, perhaps even the time of year (with winter being the slowest season). The cheapest tattoos fall into categories such as tiny hearts or a lettered name. There’s no reason that one of these can’t be fantastic. They’re just small. On the upper end, those people who spent over $1000 for a single tattoo (8% of the tattooed poll-takers), are people who are craving — and getting — a relatively large custom piece that takes more than an hour or two to ink. Hidden in this 8% number are people who have likely spent well over $1000 for their most expensive single tattoo – people who are having world class tattoo artists create large pieces of work that were conceived as a whole (perhaps a full sleeve or a backpiece) over multiple sessions. Money is often one of the most taboo subjects in western culture (way behind sex and religion), so our thanks to all the participants in this poll! (Percentages don’t tally due to rounding error.)