Here are a few things that you should pay careful attention to:

1. Check that the tattoo artists wear gloves

This small sign should let you know that the tattoo artist at very least cares about their own safety, and thus it is a reasonable assumption that they’re going to care about yours too. On the flipside, an artist who doesn’t care about their own safety certainly won’t care about yours.

2. Are there autoclave sterilizers with certification?

Most tattoo shops use these machines to sterilize some of the tattoo equipment. Be sure to keep an eye out for these, and also be sure to check their certification to make sure that they’re still valid. Certification that has expired could be a sign that the sterilizers aren’t working properly, and so you definitely want to be on top of this.

3. New sterile needles must always be used

Keep an eye out especially for this. If a tattoo shop isn’t using new sterile needs removed directly from an autoclave bag, then you should get out of there really, really fast.

So long as you pay attention to these three telltale signs of tattoo shop safety, you should find that you’re able to spot what you need to and avoid the more dodgy tattoo shops.

So instead, what you should concentrate on doing is looking around and trying to find out as much as you can about as many tattoo artists as possible!

If you haven’t a clue where to start, then try your friends, or the internet. Surely someone among your bunch of friends has had a tattoo done before, or known someone who had a tattoo done before, and they may be able to give you some valuable pointers as to where you should go. In fact, they may even be able to recommend a particularly good tattoo artist, or warn you about a particularly bad one.

Similarly, for finding anything at all searching the internet for listings of tattoo parlors in your area would be a great place to start getting tons of addresses to scope out.

After that all that’s left to be done is to actually get out there and start seeking out these tattoo artists. Walk around, explore tattoo parlor after tattoo parlor and watch some of the artists at work if they allow you too. Ask them questions about their experience and request samples if you really are interested.

Basically, do whatever it takes to find out as much as you can about all the tattoo artists in your area, and then, once you’re done – pick the one that you feel suits your purposes best!

1. Size of the Tattoo – In general, the bigger the tattoo the more it is going to cost, as large tattoos often can take a lot of time to complete and involve a lot of work.

2. Detail of the Tattoo – Even small tattoos that have very intricate details which take time to complete could end up being expensive. Bear in mind that large tattoos with intricate details would be even more expensive!

3. Experience of the Artist – Needless to say, more experienced artists who have a better reputation are bound to charge more for their work than relatively unexperienced tattoo artists.

4. Custom Design – As you would very well expect, custom designs by an artist would cost more than just the regular types of tattoos. After all, if you want the best, you’re going to have to pay for the best.

End of the day, these are the four main factors that would play important roles in determining how much a tattoo actually costs. If you feel that a certain tattoo shop is giving you an unreasonable quote, then shop around and it should become obvious as to whether or not that quote really was unreasonable, or just the norm.

Remember though, don’t get so caught up with price that you forget that sometimes, paying extra is worth it. Would you rather pay a little bit more and end up with a tattoo that is exactly the way that you envisioned it? Or would you like to save a little and end up with a distinctly disastisfying tattoo that doesn’t even resemble what you wanted?

The choice is yours.

Frankly speaking, the ‘what happens’ question is most easily answered by the simple fact that different tattoo studios have different policies.

Some tattoo studios have been known to guarantee their work, and these studios are, needless to say, among the most reputable in the business! However, the guarantees themselves do tend to differ at times, so you’ll want to make certain that you are fully versed in their guarantee policy before you actually go under the needle.

Normally, the type of guarantee that is most commonly offered is that the tattoo studio will fix any tattoo that you’re unsatisfied with for free. That means that if you find that your tattoo does not live up to your expectations, you’ll be able to get it done up without having to shell out an extra cent.

Some other tattoo studios offer the refund variety of guarantee, whereby if you aren’t satisfied with your tattoo your money will be refunded in full.

Which type of guarantee is better? Well, that’s largely a matter of preference. On one hand, just offering a refund means that you’re still stuck with a tattoo that you’re not satisfied with. But, on the other hand, would you really want your tattoo fixed by the same studio that gave you the disappointing tattoo to begin with?

All things said and done though, having a guarantee is at least going to help ensure that you’re not ‘losing’ anything if you don’t like your tattoo.

Among the questions that you should be asking, are:

1. Samples of previous work

Almost every tattoo artist will have some samples of their previous work, mostly in the form of pictures taken of previous clients. Looking at these samples will give you an idea of what you can expect from the tattoo artist that you’re talking to, and that makes it very important indeed. Also, you may be able to gauge from the samples as to whether or not their work is similar to what you had in mind.

2. Past experience

Without a doubt, you won’t want a complete beginner working on your tattoo, unless of course they happen to be a real genius or something. Still, asking about a tattoo artists past experience should give you an idea of how long they’ve been in the business. Generally speaking, more experienced tattoo artists would also have developed a reputation and so they probably would have tons of references and previous clients.

If for some reason a tattoo artist doesn’t appear to have done many tattoo’s over the last few years, it would seem rather suspicious, and you should query why.

By asking these two simple questions, you’ll be finding out a lot about your tattoo artist and his past experience. All things said and done, this is the best way to go about choosing a tattoo artist, so remember: Don’t be shy to ask!