questions about fees

I have some questions about the costs associated with getting a custom tattoo. I understand that a custom piece is much different than going into a shop and pointing to a design on the wall and that the work done will be charged on an hourly basis. Is it unusual (or rude) to ask for an estimate? If an estimate is given, how closely should you expect the work to follow the estimate? If midway through the project the artist decides that he wants to spend several hours to go over an area that he has already done, whose dime is this on? When does the clock start? From the moment the ink starts to flow, or does the billable time also include prep and station clean up?

I can only speak for myself, most of what I do is custom, but there are a few flash pieces that people are sold on so I tattoo those as well. I give a flat price on the tattoo based on a rate that would be the same regardless of whether it's custom or flash. It's not out of line at all to ask for an estimate, in fact, it makes things easier for both parties. My rate starts when the ink starts flowing. If I give you a quote of x amount of dollars, and for some reason it seems to be taking longer than I thought, I still stick to my quote. The same usually goes for if we finish the tattoo sooner. If I give you a price and you are cool with that, then that is the price. I do not charge to draw for you, but I won't draw for you until you have made a deposit to get the tattoo done. When you come in for your tattoo, I show you what I came up with based on your description, and if you want any changes made, thats when we make them, for no extra fee.

I would expect an artist to be able to estimate how long a tattoo will take, and the less sure they are of actually how long it will take, the larger the range of the estimate. Depending on what type of tattoo your talking about the estimate could range from 4-6 hours, to 3-5 sessions of 4-6 hours... to who the F knows, 60 hours? 100? cant tell you until we get in there! If an artists wants to make a second pass over an area, I would expect them to charge for it. Of course there are some artists who may take advantage of the client, there are others that want the tattoo to be perfect and will layer in ink in sessions over the same area to make it perfect. Like anything in life, it depends on the artist, the client, and a variety of other factors...