How tattoo prices are estimated
Artists price by time. The calculator starts from a chair-time range for the size you pick (half an hour to an hour and a half for a small piece, up to a six to twelve hour session for a half sleeve or back panel), multiplies by the artist's hourly rate, then adjusts for placement and style. Difficult placements such as ribs, hands and the neck add 15% to 30% because the artist works slower; shading adds about a quarter and full colour or realism about half again over clean linework. The result is never allowed to fall below the shop minimum.
If an artist has already told you the hours, switch to "I know the hours" and the estimate is simply hours × rate, floored at the minimum.
Typical numbers
Shop minimums run $80 to $150. Hourly rates range from about $50 for an apprentice to $400 or more for a well-known custom artist, with $120 to $200 the common street-shop band in the US. A palm-sized shaded piece at $150 an hour therefore lands around $280 to $560; a detailed colour half sleeve at the same rate is several sessions and well over $1,500.
What the estimate leaves out
Custom design or drawing fees, deposits (usually credited to the final price), touch-ups, aftercare products and the customary 15% to 20% tip are not in the base range; the tip line shows what adding one would cost. Day rates, flash pricing and cover-ups are quoted differently by each artist. Use the range to budget and to sanity-check a quote, not to negotiate one.