“How much?” is the first thing most people ask at the counter, and it deserves a straight answer. Here’s how pricing works at the shop: what the minimum is, how bigger pieces get quoted, what the deposit does, and what’s included in the number you hear.
Short version: $100 shop minimum. Anything beyond that depends on the design, size and detail. $100 cash deposit on appointments, and it comes off the tattoo. Cash only.
By the piece, not by the hour
We charge by the piece, and we draw for every client. That means you get one number for the whole tattoo, and you hear it before a needle comes out.
We do it that way on purpose. An hourly rate charges you for a slow day and rewards nobody for a clean one. A price on the piece means the number is about the tattoo, not the clock, and it doesn’t move because a line took longer than expected. That’s on us.
The shop minimum
Shop minimum is $100. That covers a small name or a simple design with limited shading or color, and a lot of what’s on the walls lands right around there. It’s the least any tattoo costs here, because setting up a clean station costs the same whether the piece takes ten minutes or two hours.
If you’re after something small and you want it today, walk in and pick from the wall. Flash Off the Wall covers how that goes.
Bigger pieces get quoted on the drawing
Above the minimum, the price is set on the piece itself: the size, the placement, the detail, how much color, and how long it’ll take to do right. You get that number at the counter, or after you send the tattoo request form and one of us has looked at your idea. If we need to draw it first, you’ll have the number before the appointment is booked, not after. The whole custom process is in Custom Work: From Your Idea to the Drawing to the Chair.
Big projects: one number, paid session by session
Sleeves, backs, legs and bodysuits are quoted as a whole project and paid session by session, so you know the full scope before the first line goes on and you never pay it all at once. To give you the shape of it, a full arm sleeve of Dave’s large-scale work runs $3,000 to $4,500 across about three sessions. The rest of those ranges are on the FAQ and, in full, on Dave’s price guide. They’re ranges, not quotes. Your number depends on the design, the placement, the scale and any existing work we’re building around.
The deposit
Booking an appointment takes a $100 non-refundable cash deposit, and it’s deducted from the final price of your tattoo. It isn’t an extra charge. It’s the first hundred dollars of the tattoo, paid early. Larger projects carry a bigger deposit, from $300 for a single piece up to $1,000 for a bodysuit, and that comes off the total the same way.
Moving your date, and missing it
Give us at least 24 hours notice and your deposit moves with you to the new appointment. There’s no limit on how many times you move it, and you don’t put down a new one. A same-day cancellation or a no-show is different: the deposit is forfeited. That chair was held for you, and there’s no time left to fill it. Life happens, we know. Just call before the day.
Cash, and the ATM
In God we trust, all others pay cash. There’s an ATM in the shop if you forget, but it charges $3 for every $200 you pull out, so it’s cheaper to stop at your bank on the way.
What’s included
The drawing. We draw for every client, and there’s no separate fee for it. The stencil, the setup, the time in the chair and a clean bandage to walk out with are all part of the piece.
The touch-up. Small tattoos get one free touch-up within six months, once you’re fully healed. Hands, feet, fingers, neck, face and head aren’t included, because those spots fade and age faster no matter who does them, so touch-ups there are charged. Sleeves and bigger projects already have a touch-up session of an hour or two built into the plan, about six weeks after your last paid session.
Getting a real number
Walk in any day, 12 to 7, and ask. If it’s small, you’ll hear the price and probably leave with the tattoo. If it needs drawing, send the form with your idea, where it goes and roughly how big, and we’ll get back to you with a number and a date. Everything else that applies to getting tattooed here, from the ID rule to healing, is in How to Get Tattooed at The Custom Tattoo Company.
123 Roosevelt Blvd, Havelock, across from the main gate at Cherry Point. (252) 447-0511. We’d rather you know the number than guess at it.