$20 minimums next door!?!?!?!? wtf!

[jake bevil]

so heres the deal,

i moved my shop after being opened for five years in the same location, to a larger nicer building. i didnt tattoo for about a month as i was building stations painting and all the other legwork that goes into opening up a shop. two days before we opened the doors i see RIGHT NEXT DOOR some jerky looking kids snooping around. come to find out the land lord signed them up to open a bong/ tattoo supply/ tattoo shop, that also does artsy fartsy photography of tattooed girls with fake blood smeared all over them (you know the type). i talked to the owner and tried to reason with him about shop minimums and what not, and nothing. shop min 20 bucks, on top of that they have a 250 all you can hack! 250 bucks and get tattooed all day. needless to say none of these kids can tattoo their way out of a paper bag but people are eating it up! the only thing i can think of to do is to unload a huge can of bear mace in thier mail slot and wait. is this what tattooing has become? oh i miss the stories of people getting their hands broken and shops being burned down. MAKE TATTOOING ILLEGAL already. the up side.....i have a lot of time on my hands to paint flash.

jake bevil.

[ShawnPorter]

Sorry to hear, Jake. That sucks.

That said, if you want tattooing to be made illegal and still plan to tattoo... (thus breaking the law)... why not just break the law and go break some hands? :D

[Avery Taylor]

Maybe you should start running a cover-up special.

[Ursula]

Wait until you smell them out back smoking weed and call the cops. Hard to do $20 tattoos when your shop is shut down.

[jake bevil]

Wait until you smell them out back smoking weed and call the cops. Hard to do $20 tattoos when your shop is shut down.

im going to paint a sign that says "WE FIX $20 TATTOOS". sometimes i think back of the days when i could still smell green soap, people still made needles, and there was somewhat of a common respect between tattooers in a town. unfortunately violence doesnt solve anything, only gets you an extended stay in a beautiful state run facility. i love tattooing, although lowballers and phonys are making it harder and harder. time to knuckle down and just keep working.

[slayer9019]

That sucks! Your landlord sounds retarded! As a landlord his first mistake is renting to what sounds like a bunch of crack pots, second you should never rent to two competing businesses. Worse case scenario one puts the other out of business making you loose a tenant.

On another note I love the idea of a "WE FIX $20 TATTOOS!". Might some people think twice about that. On a side note though, how can they afford to have such cheap prices....it sounds like they are running a bit of a front store of some type. I can't see them lasting much longer.

[David Flores]

That sucks! Your landlord sounds retarded! As a landlord his first mistake is renting to what sounds like a bunch of crack pots, second you should never rent to two competing businesses. Worse case scenario one puts the other out of business making you loose a tenant.

On another note I love the idea of a "WE FIX $20 TATTOOS!". Might some people think twice about that. On a side note though, how can they afford to have such cheap prices....it sounds like they are running a bit of a front store of some type. I can't see them lasting much longer.

Most of the time the yahoos running these kinds of shops either still live at home or rent a cheap apartment with like three other people. They have no concept of making enough money to support a family or any kind of grown up lifestyle so they are just looking to make rent, beer and pot money. You would hope that this shop folds up soon and when the next shop like this opens up it's far away from you.

[Ursula]

you should make or get one of those signs that says "Good tattoos ain't cheap and cheap tattoos ain't good" as well!!

[jake bevil]

a nice big sign that says "if you can get it cheaper then why are you here".

they operate in a tiny space that i cant believe people would even want to get tattooed in, so i dont think that making rent will be a problem especially with all the gimmicks they are putting out. some or their crew work at an out door fleamarket on the weekends and raffle off fake coach bags and bongs along with tattoos at local night hot spots. i hate to bring up the negative a negative topic, but i look at this shit and wonder if im going bat shit. and yeah land lord said there was no competitive clause in lease...

[ShawnPorter]

Depending on how deep you want to go into legal troublemaking:

Call the police and complain about "funny smells" coming out of that "bong store".

Check the licensing laws for tattooists in your town/county and see if they comply.

Check your lease. If your lease prohibits competition and you signed first, you can compel the landlord to evict.

[jade1955]

Best of luck to you. Your reputation will bring in the customers.

Who needs clients that are only prepared to pay $20 for a tattoo, anyway.

I like the idea about the sign saying "We fix $20 tattoos"

[Jennifer Stell]

Well...

Richard said, " Your problem is Brownsville"...

I will say the following:

It's a business, I have seen it, and seen it over and over.... You can't sit online and complain about shit like this unless you plan to be proactive, otherwise it's just bitching about it.

You know, there is always the welcoming committee, make sure they have their papers from the TDH, Drugs and Medical Devices in Texas... Make sure they have been inspected by the fire department, and they have paid for all their certificates...

A lot of local public departments not just state level, have started to put their hands out and want their fees from tattoo and piercing businesses, and if you want to help make sure that there are minimal risks to the general public, get in with your local whomever, and put a few bugs in their ears... You will find you can help set the standards, and make the new kitchen jockeys jump through some hoops, at least not making it a walk in and set up shop scenario, with no nothing to even prove you own a machine, or a needle...

IE, Blood Borne Pathogens Classes, and CPR, and First Aid certifications, that your shop has, but they haven't even heard of... Give people a heads up on things early you will find that they come back to you and ask questions, or look for advice....

Otherwise...

Snitching is never cool...

If you're not happy, and you are over cut throat business practices, get out now, as it's only going to get worse. "Rats jumping on a sinking ship", Richard always says...

Start educating every person that walks in, and go check their shop out....

Watch them. And then if you really want to let them know how you feel, say something to the person in charge.

Is it really necessary to devalue the craft as a whole? Do they know that what they are doing is respected by a great few, and they can choose to be part of the community, or not...

If not, you tried...

Bring on the stink bombs, and prank calls, along with whatever you come up with on a rainy day...

But hopefully, you will be busy as fuck fixing their shit tattoos, and won't care...

I dunno my two cents...I am tending to lean towards Shawn's responses more and more...

[IAS]

this has been a constant problem in the area i work for years. Almost ten shops in four years, none lasted longer than 18 months. All have said personal attacks on us, as bad as imaginable(really), none ever true. Not an ethical bone in their bodies.

best thing to ever happen to us!

we have gained a more receptive and appreciative client base. all the manglers that would come in, have a place to go to get their $20 tattoos without bothering people really interested in having a tattoo and more than willing to pay. for every one person they tattoo, five of their friends come to us after seeing it. every time one closes its doors it more certifies our reputation. it takes younger people (18-21) a while to learn "cheap ain't good", but the good ones come around.

I can happily say as well......i have never said a bad word about them to customers, any of them, ever! and people really notice and love it. i just say stuff like "Never heard if them." or "did they just open?".

recent occurrence in the area is some are offering to finish tattoos we have started. for free even. but, if anyone goes for that option, i didnt really enjoy them anyways. its happened some and worked itself out in my favor. they dont know how much i really know about all of them and how they work. i have people who keep up with them and i keep tabs. but they always shoot themselves in the foot. it works out beautifully.

P.S. f your landlord dude

[Jaycel Adkins]

I agree with I.A.S.

Not a tattoo shop owner, but as a small business owner, here's my two cents:

1. I think you should put up a sign that says 'We fix $20 tattoos.' It's a funny play on the a classic business cliche and the people who laugh at it will be your customers. But I wouldn't do anything more than that, because it's just bad business karma and that stuff lingers after those people are are gone. You don't even need to put it up in your window, just next to where you take your payments. Remember most businesses make money on repeat customers and word-of-mouth, not one-offs.

2. I think your bigger issue is your landlord. The $20 tattoo guys are going to be a flash in the pan compared to the problems a bad landlord can cause you. There SHOULD have been a noncompete in your lease, it's fundamental for you and for your landlord, since it's in the landlords interest to have you succeed, so you can pay your lease! IF the landlord is more interested in getting tenants (and in this economy...well...not hard to see why) at the expense of good tenants, then you are dealing with someone who is likely to screw you in more harmful ways. If you are in a multi-unit/suite building, rather than a stand alone, please have a rainy day fund ready.

3. Get an escape clause in your next lease, letting you opt out for any reason in the first six months. You'll lose whatever build out improvements you made and of course, more importantly, time, but you will have an out. Before signing a lease and coming up to re-signing an existing lease are usually the ONLY times you as the tenant will have leverage over a landlord.

4. Just grin and bear it, otherwise. Do good tattoos, treat clients with respect, and use social media to promote yourself. Those three things will serve you well, wherever you set up shop, I think.

Good luck and wishes you the best, sir.

[Shannon Shirley]

more good signage....."long after the thrill of a cheap price is gone, the tattoo is still there." GTC.

[blessedmatter]

Put a sign in your window advertising half off tattoos until they're gone. I don't want to speak about things that aren't my business, but something similar happened in Jersey years ago and that's how it was handled.

The cream will always rise, friend.

[Jaycel Adkins]

Use extreme caution when engaging in a 'Race to the Bottom' when dealing with pricing.

[David Flores]

Yeah I wouldn't do half price tattoos, that is just lumping yourself in with them. There is no real solution, but I know everytime someone comes in and wants to cover up some tattoo they got for twenty dollars I make sure they understand that the price they are paying is more than what they would have paid and now a $20 tattoo ends up costing them $270-$320 to make it look decent. When they could have just spent $180-200 and had a good tattoo in the first place.

[Ursula]

There was these two hot dog stands on the same corner in downtown Toronto. Every week one would lower the price by fifty cents, then the other would have to do the same. It got to the point where they both had to sell their hotdogs for $1 for the rest of the summer. Don't let that happen with your tattoo shop. Stick to what you think your tattoos are worth and eventually the other shop will close for one reason or another. Hopefully quickly.

[David Flores]

There was these two hot dog stands on the same corner in downtown Toronto. Every week one would lower the price by fifty cents, then the other would have to do the same. It got to the point where they both had to sell their hotdogs for $1 for the rest of the summer. Don't let that happen with your tattoo shop. Stick to what you think your tattoos are worth and eventually the other shop will close for one reason or another. Hopefully quickly.

It sounds like those guys next door probably already sell $1 hot dogs out of the shop or at the flea market with their bongs.

[jade1955]

I agree 100 per cent.

They'll eventually put themselves out of business giving people shitty $20 tattoos and hepatitis

[Scott R]

Yeah I wouldn't do half price tattoos, that is just lumping yourself in with them. There is no real solution, but I know everytime someone comes in and wants to cover up some tattoo they got for twenty dollars I make sure they understand that the price they are paying is more than what they would have paid and now a $20 tattoo ends up costing them $270-$320 to make it look decent. When they could have just spent $180-200 and had a good tattoo in the first place.

plenty of business models discuss how you can raise your price and loose customers and still make more money. If your product is superior never lower the price

[hawk]

The best solution I can find to these tattoos and hairdoos pop up and burn the rep misanthrope pop culture peddling life forms can be found in a Garret Morris clip I found on youtube;

[jake bevil]

no way in hell are we doing specials on tattoos or lowering our prices.up until about a year and a half ago i had never even heard of tattoo specials! "anyone can sell snake-oil on a sunday". we all stand by our work and thats it. richard is probably right that brownsville is the problem, and i had been thinking about that same thing. are there just some towns that arent tattooable? meaning that the majority just doesnt get it? even after they see all the bullshit on tv that might show people what descent tattoos might look like? so after taking saturday off, drinking lots of lonestar, smoking a shit ton of camels and doing alot of grumbling about this or that is wrong with tattooing, i descided to say fuck them. nose to the grindstone. im only worried about me and mine. thats all you can do in this situation, unless you have a knack for arson. its gonna get worse before it gets any better, all we can do is try to take care of tattooing and try to educate our clients. im not into the whole internet revolution in tattooing, this is the first time i have posted anything or joined a blog forum thingy. good positive feedback thank you all again.

oh yeah fuck snitches. homie dont play that.

[kylegrey]

Right on Jake,funny when Richard said "your problem is Brownsville "I took him to mean shitty problem as in a play on the Brown part rather than your specific location -if that makes sense .