Tattoo Shop Tricks of the Trade in San Antonio: Your Complete Guide to Avoiding Common Pitfalls
At Final Touch Tattoo, we are frustrated to see and hear customers talk about the bait and switch practices of the tattoo industry. If we had it our way, we would eradicate the dark cloud surrounding the industry, caused by countless scams, bait-and-switches and misinformation. Due to the massive influx of tattoo artists since the pandemic, brought on by the online "tattoo guru", promising 6 figure careers in the first year, there are a lot of scratcher shops and inexperienced artists. Below we will provide some clarity around the top pitfalls so you can avoid them.
Who We Are
We are Final Touch Tattoo, the first and only state-of-the-art tattoo studio in San Antonio, where you will find the best collection of artists in the city. What makes us better?
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What Are The Top Deceptive Practices of Tattoo Shops in San Antonio and Beyond?
Today we will discuss the 5 main deceptive, and sometimes outright fraudulent, ways tattoo shops will get one over on their perspective clients. The issues outlined below range from outright scams to morally suspect and everywhere in between. We will discuss:
- Social Media Scams
- Portfolio Hiding
- Deceptive Discounting
- Review Purchasing
- Deceptive Jewelry Practices
Below will your comprehensive guide on what to watch out for and how to navigate the tattoo industry as a whole. While this guide is specific to what we tend to see in tattoo and piercings San Antonio tattoo shops have to offer, it can be applied anywhere in the world. If you find any additional deceptive practices or outright scams, please feel free to contact us and we would love to help. We are in business to make money but we truly believe our time spent helping others will assist in our business goals in the end.
How to Avoid Scammers When Booking an Appointment
We at Final Touch Tattoo San Antonio have experienced over a dozen instances of Facebook and Instagram scammers pretending to be us. This is not something we can control. All we can do is offer a discounted tattoo in order to help recoup the cost of the lost deposit amount. Luckily these deposit amounts haven't been all that much so we do not mind helping out those who were scammed. So, what are the ways to confirm you are working with an actual tattoo shop San Antonio offers? Here is how you make sure you don't get scammed:
1. Portfolio - Simply go to the tattoo shops website to verify the artist is on their artist list. If you don't see them on there, ask them why and then reach out directly to the tattoo shop to verify their story, if they even respond. They may just block you right then and there
2. Payment Red Flag - If you are speaking directly with an artist on a social media platform that is perfectly fine. However, when it's time to make a deposit, a cash app, Venmo, or any of the like should raise suspicion. All of the reputable tattoo shops in San Antonio have a major payment processing platform they use. When the tattoo design and price is agreed upon, offer to call, DM or walk in directly to the tattoo shop to make a payment. See how fast you get blocked and/or ignored.
3. Verified Communication Channels - Only work directly with the tattoo shop through verified means. Legitimate businesses typically don't have a gmail as the business email. Make sure the email you are conversing with has their name in the domain. Call the number listed on the tattoo shops Google Business Profile. Lastly, you can DM the shops social media, which typically has thousands, or tens of thousands of followers. Not tens or hundreds.
What to Look Out For When Browsing a Tattoo Shops Website
One trick that we see often is a tattoo shop will simply have a "gallery" to view the tattoos that have been done at their tattoo studio. This will definitely be their best tattoos and not the average user experience. The tattoos will be shot with a yellow tinted light, CPL filter and a bit of extra contrast in post production. We'll push the filtering to the side and speak about how the gallery is the root of this particular problem.
If a tattoo shop gallery does not tell you which piece of art belongs to which artist, this is a huge red flag. What the tattoo shop is doing is trying to balance out their bookings and using the clients lack of understanding to do so. There is a chance that the tattoo shop will pass you along to a lesser artist in order to "feed" everyone equally. This is a "customer last" mentality. They prioritize their business over the satisfaction of the client.
This all stems from decades long old tattoo shop practices. Until recently, tattoo shops had no issues with booking clients. It's been a sellers market for decades. A tattoo shop with 4-6 artists could generate 2-3 million dollars in annual revenue. At that rate they become desensitized to the client as it feels a lot more like herding cattle. In the past 2 years or so this has flipped on its head as the amount of tattoo artists and tattoo shops has more than tripled, making the industry a buyers market for the clients.
This one red flag can tell you all you need to know about what that tattoo shop thinks of its clients!
How Can Discounting Be Bad In San Antonio Tattoo Shops?
Saving money can only be a good thing, right? Well, yes, if you are truly saving the money mentioned. In the tattoo industry there are two major ways around any offered discount:
1. Flat rate discounting - Pricing a tattoo at a flat rate varies by the tattoo design, size and placement. Tattoo artists can come to any price that pops into their heads. If a tattoo shop has a 20% discount then the artist can simply raise the price to the point the 20% discount will be the real price they would have charged in the first place. Do not simply run to any shop that has an ongoing discount. Do your research and find the best VALUE for your forever tattoo. Find the tattoo shop that puts the design needs of their clients first.
2. Hourly rate discounting - If we use the example above, then we can apply the same logic in two ways:
a. The hourly rate will jump up to then be lowered to the right amount
b. The tattoo will simply take 20% longer
One thing you can do to verify these practices, if you are able and willing, is to get pricing for your design during tax season when discounting is not happening, then come back during the slow season (Nov/Dec) and get the tattoo then, using the previous quote.
How Do Tattoo Shops In San Antonio Purchase Reviews?
Something we have heard is happening at a newer San Antonio tattoo shop is review purchasing. What review purchasing is, is they will offer you a discount on your piercing or tattoo if you give them a glowing review BEFORE the service is rendered. If this happens, run for the hills! If a tattoo shop needs to bribe people for good reviews it's because they are failing to get them otherwise.
Why Jewelry Matters When Getting Your Piercing in San Antonio
We have talked about this quite a bit on our blogs but this needs to be shouted from the rooftops and repeated until everyone knows. "Surgical Steel" is NOT a real thing and it is not good for piercing jewelry. You'll see a side-by-side below of "surgical steel" and Titanium. It is clear as day that titanium is the superior product to put into your body and is the only hypoallergenic material between the two. Not to mention, most stainless steel (which is what "surgical steel" really is) jewelry is loaded with nickel and 20%+ of humans are allergic to it. Bad jewelry is the cause of the below issues with piercings:
1. Soreness beyond healing date
2. Heal time is dramatically extended
3. Rejection
4. Irritation and redness
5. Swelling
The only jewelry that should go inside human bodies should be titanium or gold. There are other hypoallergenic materials that are used to do things like hip replacements and such, but those aren't available for jewelry. So, if this is the case then why do they use a lesser product? Money. Surgical Steel jewelry is around 10x less expensive as titanium or gold. This means the piercing shop thinks their profit is more important than your health.
If are looking for a piercing shop San Antonio offers, make sure they do not use "surgical steel" for their jewelry.
Titanium on the left, steel on the right
Conclusion
Do. Your. Research - Go to the tattoo shops google business profile, click on the lowest reviews and read through them. If you still feel confident going to that tattoo shop then you're good to go.
Ask questions - It is the tattoo shops responsibility to educate you because they are the professionals. If the tattoo shop seems annoyed or reluctant to give up information, then they might not be the place for you.
Final Touch Tattoo is a very client centric tattoo studio. If you have questions or concerns regarding your tattoo you can always check out our YouTube channel where we discuss these topics and more, or you can email us using the contact form below. We do not mind helping out anyone who reaches out, whether they plan to work with us or not. Education is key to being the client centric tattoo studio we aim to be.
Best of luck and happy stabbing!
Piercing done at Final Touch Tattoo San Antonio
Directions and Shop Hours
You can find us at 227 E Cevallos St, Suite 202, San Antonio, TX, 78204. We're conveniently located in the heart of San Antonio and easily accessible from all parts of the city.
Our Hours:
Daily: 12:00pm - 8:00 PM
Meet Our Artists
At Final Touch Tattoo, we're proud to host some of the most talented tattoo artists in San Antonio. Each of our artists brings their unique style and expertise to the table, ensuring that no matter what kind of tattoo you're looking for, we can bring your vision to life.
CONTACT US
Leave a Message
Phone: 210-248-9682
Email: Contact@FinalTouchTattoo.com
Address: 227 E Cevallos St, Suite 202, San Antonio TX, 78204