[Note: For those who find this experience too link-intensive, links are archived at the end of this story, here.]
At A Glance Author Rebekah Contact [email protected] IAM rebekah When N/A
tip n. 1. A small sum of money given to someone for performing a service; a gratuity. 2. A relatively small amount of money given for services rendered (as by a waiter) [syn: gratuity, pourboire, baksheesh, bakshish, bakshis, backsheesh]
gratuity n. 1. A favor or gift, usually in the form of money, given in return for service.
[French gratuit�, from Old French gratuite, from Medieval Latin grtuts, probably from Latin grtutus, voluntary. See gratuitous.] 2. an award (as for meritorious service) given without claim or obligation (emphasis added)Giving a tip, or a gratuity, is a financial or otherwise tangible sign of appreciation, generally not included in the original price of an item or service. In the United States, we tip service people such as waiters and hairdressers. We're taught to do this from a very young age. Because our parents generally don't bring us to get tattooed the way they'll take us for lunch or for a haircut, they don't have the opportunity to teach us that other services may also deserve a gratuity.
There are businesses that pay their employees less than minimum wage (most specifically, the wait staff of restaurants) because they assume that the employees will make it up in tips. The US Department of Labor acknowledges this under Title 29, Chapter V, Part 531, Subpart C: Wage Payments Under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938. Specifically:
29 CFR 531.59 - The tip wage credit
..under the provisions of section 3(m) the amount paid to a tipped employee by an employer is deemed to be increased on account of tips by an amount which cannot exceed 50 percent of the minimum wage applicable to such employee in the workweek for which the wage payment is made.It's a bit confusing to me, an employee paid hourly without gratuities, but I do understand that this exists and, therefore, usually tip quite well. As stated above, however, a gratuity is given without obligation. It is in addition to the fee paid, and is usually based on the quality, or lack thereof, of service. (I once had such bad service at a "family restaurant" that I made up my tip in coupons, cut from the newspaper, for a national chain of fast food restaurants.)
Tips in US restaurants are usually, at a bare minimum, 15% to 20% of the bill. A list of percentages for restaurants in other countries can be found here. Whether you tip before or after tax is added will depend on the guide from which you're working.
But this guideline only covers restaurants. Sometimes servers pool their tips for the chefs and maitre d' and sometimes they don't (depending on the company policy). Some restaurants automatically add a tip to the check, if there are more than a given number of people at the table. The server's salary is part of the price of the food. He or she isn't doing the preparation, but merely delivering it.
So how do you tip a body artist? An entire session is work by the artist (as opposed to the abovementioned restaurant, where the work is shared by several people). A tattooist has overhead (for example, the costs of supplies, the autoclave and spore tests, and certifications where necessary) and the twenty minutes to six hours (or more!) you're sitting there is work on the part of the artist. (And that doesn't necessarily count the time the artist spent drawing up your design before your session.) A piercer also has overhead (for example, rent, needles and jewelry, the autoclave and spore tests, and certifications where necessary) but a large part of the price of a piercing includes jewelry.
What does one tip? BME did a poll back in June of 2003; the results are here:
Have you ever tipped your body artist with the following:
Money: 75%
Food: 14%
Computer services: 5%
Other body art (ie. trade jewelry/piercing for tattoo): 6%
Drugs: 9%
Sexual favors: 14%Also note that, as in the case of a physician, a body modification specialist may have also had a very expensive learning period (in the case of a body artist, an apprenticeship).
Often, the tattooist or piercer will set the price of the service. However, they also have to pay the owner of the establishment (unless they are themselves owners). It is not uncommon for a tattooist to have to pay the owner of the studio 40% to 50% of each tattoo s/he does. Etiquette does not require that one tip the owner of an establishment; however, it's often appreciated.
There are no standard rules for tipping a tattooist or body piercer. Twenty (20%) percent is often considered generous.( That's considered an acceptable tip for a hairdresser, according to Yahoo! and the sites it cites.) However, because I've gone to body modification artists who downright refuse tips, I've tried to become clever in my tipping. For the first session I had with my artist, Jay Crockett, on a large cover-up, I tipped 25% cash and a box of chocolates. For the second session, I felt that he severely under-charged me. I gave him two gift certificates to a favorite restaurant, which would have equaled 25% of the price I thought he should have charged me. (One was enough for him and his wife to go for dinner; the second was enough for his wife to go, alone, since that restaurant is the upcoming site of a BME event.) For the third session, I got a warehouse club membership for him and his wife to use, amended with enough cash to equal... 25% of the price I thought he should have charged me. (Hey, his wife shouldn't have to pay retail for books.) I'm now out of ideas, so the rest of the tips will be cash.
The above mentioned artist is an American artist. When Daniel DiMattia of Calypso Tattoo in Belgium tattooed me during a trip to the United States, he didn't expect a tip. I thought he was just being polite, but his muse, Marisa, told me that they don't get tips in Belgium -- the price may be rounded up to the next Euro. Nonetheless, he'd gone through a lot of trouble to make a custom design for me -- just what I wanted and in his style, so I tipped him 20%. As far as I know, he wasn't offended.
I'm not the perfect example of what you should or shouldn't do, because I overtip. Now that the holidays are nearly here, I'll be bringing coffee to the clerks at the post office. I just made a small donation in my family attorney's grandson's name, because my attorney has been really good to our family for the past sixteen or so years. (He's been our lawyer so long, he's one of the few people with whom I'm in contact who's known me since before I got my first real tattoo!) I bring coffee to my mechanic.
A gratuity, again, is not necessary. However, when you get an artist who goes above and beyond the basic job description, do what you can to say thank you. You don't have to hoard money like I do so you can leave a disgusting tip (which I wouldn't do if my artists weren't so darned generous with their time). If someone is touching your body for an extended period of time, you get to know him/her. Talking about books? Grab one you think the artist would like, or get a gift certificate. Get creative -- the artist put a smile on your face, so return the favor.
Can't get creative? Offer to bring lunch. Remember that a cup of coffee goes a long way to making someone smile.
Word of mouth, of course, is one of the most generous gifts you can give. If your artist makes you happy, spend as much time complimenting the work as you would spend complaining if you hated it. If you have the time and an inclination, write an experience for BME and, if it's accepted (and, beyond common sense, the criteria isn't all that strict!), by all means, send a copy to the artist. Submit photos to BME. Keeping our best artists in business isn't only a gift to them... it's a gift to the community.
Links:
Dictionary.com
The Original Tipping Page! http://www.tipping.org/
United States Department of Labor http://www.dol.gov
Spore tests - definition http://encyc.bmezine.com/?Spore_Test
Yahoo! - guide for tipping a hairdresser http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20040817.html
Jay Crockett http://www.jaycrockett.com/
Daniel DiMattia/Calypso Tattoo http://www.calypsotattoo.com/
BME's Legal Link Columns http://www.bmezine.com/news/legal-all.html
Submit your experience to BME http://www.bmezine.com/addstory.html
Submit your photos to BME http://www.bmezine.com/addpictures.html
Our Community: BMEZine.com http://www.bmezine.com
A Few Other Tip Sites:
about.com - To Tip or Not to Tip your Tattoo or Piercing Artist http://tattoo.about.com/cs/beginners/a/tipping.htm
CNN/Money: How much to tip http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/tipping/
eHow - How to Tip Properly http://www.ehow.com/how_108890_tip-properly.html
Hello America - How to tip properly in the United States of America http://www.hellousa.com/tipping.asp
National Catholic Reporter - Tipping: the difference between gratitude and expectation http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/fwis/fw061003.htm
Political Economy: Where Does Your Gratuity Go? http://george.loper.org/~george/trends/2003/Jul/954.html
Tipping Etiquette Guide at Findalink.com http://www.findalink.net/tippingetiquette.php
Washington BUZZ: Tips on Tipping http://www.washingtonian.com/inwashington/buzz/tips.html
Please note: neither the author nor BME specifically endorses any of these tipping sites. They are here for reference only.