How to Buy Tattoo Flash Art

Walk into most tattoo shops and you'll find flash art hanging on the wall. These standard tattoo designs provide unsure customers with ideas for their next tattoo. So, besides offering custom designed pieces, it's very beneficial to a tattoo shop owner to have as much flash art on hand as possible.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Look through tattoo magazines. Search for advertisements where tattoo artists are offering their flash art for sale and compare the quality and price of the work available.
2. Contact tattoo suppliers. Many of them offer sets of tattoo flash for sale, some are downloadable and others mail it to you either on a disk or actual hard copies.
3. Shop online. There are tons of websites that offer different kinds of flash art sets or single tattoo flash pieces. You'll find some that are free, some that charge a membership fee to gain access to the entire site and some that charge for individual pieces.
4. Buy individual pieces. Several online sources offer individual pieces of flash that you or your customer can purchase when they decide what they want. You can browse through small thumbnails of the artwork available, but for the full size version, you'll have to pay a nominal fee. Tattoo Johnny and Tattoo Finder are two such sites.
5. Purchase flash at tattoo conventions. One of the many perks of attending tattoo conventions is visiting with tattoo artists from different locations, many of whom may offer their own tattoo flash for sale. Towards the end of the convention, some of them may also offer discounts on items that haven't sold out.
6. Visit tattoo shops. Many tattoo artists not only hang up standard tattoo flash they've purchased themselves, but some also design their own flash for display. Occasionally you'll find one such artist who not only creates his own flash, but who also keeps extra copies of it to sale or trade with other tattoo artists.

Tips & Warnings

• Whether purchasing flash art in person, from a magazine or online, make sure you're not only buying the completed piece of art, but also the line drawing to make it more usable and re-usable in your shop.
• Buy flash display racks to keep flash art in. These allow you to display more flash in less space and keeps the individual pieces from getting damaged.
• If you purchase flash art that isn't laminated and you intend to hang it directly on the wall, and not in a flash display, then take it to be laminated to help ensure it doesn't get ruined.
• If a customer picks a standard piece of flash, encourage them to let you change it up a bit, so they won't end up with the exact same tattoo as someone else.