METHODOLOGY
Shop rate:
Many tattoos shops charge an hourly rate that varies from shop to shop and sometimes from artist to artist. In some instances, the artist will charge a flat fee, usually decided upon prior to commencing the tattooing. I considered this to be one of the most important factor because money affects our decisions a lot of the time. The hourly shop rates are as follows:
The Fall Tattooing: $125/hour
Adrenaline Professional Body Piercing & Tattoos: $150/hour
Sacred Heart Tattoo & Body Piercing: $160/hour
Liquid Amber Tattoo: $135/hour
West Coast Tattoo: $160/hour
Next! Body Piercing & Tattooing: $140/hour
Craftsman Tattoo Parlour: $160/hour
Electro Ladylux: $145/hour
Shop hours:
For the most part, tattoo parlours tend to open in the later morning or around noon and close in the late evening, but not all shops follow this schedule. In order to transform the hours or operation into a quantifiable number to work with, I simply computed the total business hours per week for each shop.
The Fall Tattooing: 56 hours/week
Adrenaline Professional Body Piercing & Tattoos: 89 hours/week
Sacred Heart Tattoo & Body Piercing: 44 hours/week
Liquid Amber Tattoo: 50 hours/week
West Coast Tattoo: 30 hours/week
Next! Body Piercing & Tattooing: 46 hours/week
Craftsman Tattoo Parlour: 42 hours/week
Electro Ladylux: 30 hours/week
Shop artists:
This category may not seem important but having more artists in the shop allows for more portfolios to look at and usually means shorter waiting period before the appointment. I realize this factor may not affect those who have their regular tattoo artists or who decide spontaneously to get a tattoo the day of, but for those putting a little research and thought into it, I would recommend a shop with more artists.
The Fall Tattooing: 6 artists
Adrenaline Professional Body Piercing & Tattoos: 10 artists
Sacred Heart Tattoo & Body Piercing: 4 artists (at each location)
Liquid Amber Tattoo: 6 artists
West Coast Tattoo: 1 artist
Next! Body Piercing & Tattooing: 4 artists
Craftsman Tattoo Parlour: 3 artists
Electro Ladylux: 2 artists
Skytrain distance:
The last two factors are a great deal more subjective, but I am going by my own preference and experiences so I decided to rank the shops closer to skytrain stations higher. I realize some people do not take the skytrain, but there are many that do. All of the shops are located on major bus routes therefore I chose not to compute the distance from bus stops as a factor. All distance measurements and calculations are in meters to closest skytrain station.
The Fall Tattooing: 554 m
Adrenaline Professional Body Piercing & Tattoos: 748 m
Sacred Heart Tattoo & Body Piercing (Nelson St.): 774 m
Sacred Heart Tattoo & Body Piercing (Davie St.): 2076 m
Liquid Amber Tattoo: 1100 m
West Coast Tattoo: 1048 m
Next! Body Piercing & Tattooing: 848 m
Craftsman Tattoo Parlour: 434 m
Electro Ladylux: 528 m
Shops with tattooing and piercing:
It is quite common for people getting a tattoo to bring their friends along for support and sometimes these friends decide they want in on the action and decide to go for something less drastic and permanent. Shops that offer tattooing and piercing are ranked higher for being more dynamic.
The Fall Tattooing: Yes- piercing
Adrenaline Professional Body Piercing & Tattoos: Yes- piercing
Sacred Heart Tattoo & Body Piercing (Nelson St.): Yes- piercing
Sacred Heart Tattoo & Body Piercing (Davie St.): No- piercing
Liquid Amber Tattoo: No- piercing
West Coast Tattoo: No- piercing
Next! Body Piercing & Tattooing: Yes- piercing
Craftsman Tattoo Parlour: No- piercing
Electro Ladylux: No- piercing