Inkin' The Valley Tattoo Convention Wilkes-Barre, PA

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CxCx
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Location: Pennsylvania

Mon Nov 05, 2007 2:01 pm

I have a friend with a somewhat local shop that does conventions regularly. His quote on the matter : "I can make in a weekend what it takes 3 full weeks to make at the shop".

I've been to a handful of conventions (only 6, so I'm nowhere near an experienced pro), but at EVERY convention, I notice when I walk by booths/talk to artists/hear the artists talking to potnetial customers that they are pricing extremely high. I'll glance at the piece in question and think "Man, I can get that piece done in around 2 hours and charge between 200-250 for it", and here the guy proceed to tell the person "Oh yeah, this'll be around 350 bucks at least". Every time, without fail, i see this kind of thing happen repeatedly through the day.

Now, it makes sense to pay more from an artist at the convention if he's :
A. Really famous for doing a specific style, and you'd like said style.
or
B. He's not local. i.e. You'd have to travel across 5 states to get work done by them. You're paying a little more because you're getting convenience and saving on gas money and, more importnatly, travel time.

This being said, seeing local shops (within 2-3 hours of the convention) price gouging makes me a little sick.

Speaking of sick, it also made me feel a bit uneasy when I walked in and noticed roughly 65% of the artists eating breakfast/lunch in their booths, not by a foot or 2 away from the proceedure area (and, more than a few times, while another artist was doing a Tattoo a foot or 2 away from them). As i've said before, tattoo conventions are fun, but it would take a lot for me to personally get something done there.
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green_girl
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Mon Nov 05, 2007 2:46 pm

It stands to reason that some could charge more at conventions.

I've been to NIX twice and I couldn't answer the question, because I've never seen rates posted!

I met Glen at NIX, and he's charged the same rate between shop and convention. I would be willing to pay more, if it was someone from farther away that I wouldn't see any other way. Not a ridiculous amount though..
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Aivanne
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Mon Nov 05, 2007 2:52 pm

CxCx wrote: (and, more than a few times, while another artist was doing a Tattoo a foot or 2 away from them)..
Jumping dead chicken can be a real bitch !
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Tattude
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Fri Nov 09, 2007 4:37 pm

green_girl wrote:It stands to reason that some could charge more at conventions.

I've been to NIX twice and I couldn't answer the question, because I've never seen rates posted!
It's ALWAYS cheaper at conventions.
They never post prices.
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