Hi Everybody

[Mr.Taboo]

All this talk about being passionate about tattooing and all that jive and then not knowing jack about the trade, so what exactly is your backround in tattooing ?
Watched Miami Ink a few times ? Have one or two tattoos ? What ?

[gangstajay]

Again I thought they kicked this ass muncher off the page.. hey buddy Kick rocks

[Ta2GeezerUK]

Well as good as your intentions may be by now removing your Tattoo training courses from your website Its still not gonna make things right as the fact is you obviousley thought this was the right way to earn your dollars in the begining and F**k what anyone else thinks. It is only by being on here you get the general consensus of what those in the Tattoo community think about what you do. I wouldnt bank on getting any buyers off here any time soon No matter what you now do.

[Gabetexas]

Well then....

[Administrator]

I was AFK for most of the weekend and Alie was working all weekend. Starting a fire on here is not the way to try to get my attention or Alie's. I think I have posted this before but there is a REPORTED POST BUTTON! USE IT! it sends a message to all the forum staff to alert us. The inmates do not run the asylum, you don't pay anything to be here and there is currently no advertising even.

I have no issues with distributors being on here as we have a few that have been very helpful to many of you. You are welcome to not support his business. I am not impressed with the way they conduct things and try hard to stay ethical with who's coffers I line. You are getting mad about their presence here but not about the folks that are supplying them. If you have such an issue why have you not contacted the builders they distribute for and ask why they sell them.

For the record I have blocked probably over a dozen other supply companies from signing up because they did not support any of the products that many of the members here support. When I looked at website initially I saw that they where resellers of Stigma, Dragonfly and Bishop.

[Inkslingers]

I was AFK for most of the weekend and Alie was working all weekend. Starting a fire on here is not the way to try to get my attention or Alie's. I think I have posted this before but there is a REPORTED POST BUTTON! USE IT! it sends a message to all the forum staff to alert us. The inmates do not run the asylum, you don't pay anything to be here and there is currently no advertising even.

I have no issues with distributors being on here as we have a few that have been very helpful to many of you. You are welcome to not support his business. I am not impressed with the way they conduct things and try hard to stay ethical with who's coffers I line. You are getting mad about their presence here but not about the folks that are supplying them. If you have such an issue why have you not contacted the builders they distribute for and ask why they sell them.

For the record I have blocked probably over a dozen other supply companies from signing up because they did not support any of the products that many of the members here support. When I looked at website initially I saw that they where resellers of Stigma, Dragonfly and Bishop.

If you'll read my post, and others like it that I have put up...you'll find that I for totally disagree with builders like the Dragonfly selling their machines through suppliers like Killer Ink. I've already sent all 3 of the companies you mentioned an email. Will it do anything? I don't know. I know what would, if other...many other artists stepped up and boycotted any supply house that sold to the general public and/or conducted themselves like Killer Ink. It has worked in the past.

I for one don't have a problem with distributors being on this site, I don't agree with the other members who have said something along those lines. But the line should be drawn with Killer Ink. Here is a supplier, who KNOWINGLY sells to customers as young as 14 years of age. If you have taken the time to look through their site I'm sure I don't need to argue the position I have taken about them.

It's clearly up to you (The Administration) what to do about this guy, if anything, but as I said, if you support places like Killer Ink, don't expect me to support you.

[Administrator]

I appreciate your actions to back your words. I was watching the thread when it first went up but was mostly off line for this past weekend. When I talked to Alie about it she wanted them gone, I wanted to at least have a chance to answer people's issues to be fair.

[Alie K]

Ok. I am going to make the final post on this thread before I lock it down.

As much as I would like to be on this forum and check on things for several hours a day, I am first and foremost, a Tattooer. I take my job to heart, and try to take care of the needs of my clients. I can't blow off drawings or take time at work to muck around on the computer to monitor things 24/7. Tattooing is my job, this forum is something I care for in my spare time.

We have many new members, and there are many posts - some of which move quite quickly. As I may have stated before, on occasion, I miss something. I get many, many new signups a day, and I delete the majority of them in order to keep our group a happy family of professionals. The admin helps me out, but we are only 2 people, and in order to try and make people happy by letting them have access to the site as soon as possible, we may miss something when going over a person's profile. Not every forum does this, but we do.

Seeing people arguing on here really bothers me. I hate trolls as much as the next person, and I try to nip things in the bud before they get out of hand when I come across them. I would like to remind all members that there is a 'report post' button at the bottom of each and every post. It's in the grey bar, on the left hand side above the smiley face. It looks like a little triangle. Please use it if you see angry things going on, or if there is something you have an issue with! There are times that it's the only way I know of something going awry.

We have several distributors on the forum. So far, they have been very helpful regarding information on their products, as well as giving us advance notice of new items before the general public knows about them - nice stuff like that. When I originally came across this particular supplier, I saw someone who sold machines like the Dragonfly, Hawk, Bishop and Stigma - not the shitty crap that the unsavory suppliers generally carry. I thought I'd give them the benefit of the doubt as many legitimate builders don't want their equipment able to be accessed by kitchen wizards. What I didn't know, was that they ran a tattoo school - something I do not agree with or promote.

Since many complaints seem to have reached this distributor, they seem to have removed the 'black spot' from their website. It's difficult to say whether or not they plan to continue with their tattoo courses. It appears to be a popular trend in England. Perhaps not advertising this online will deter people from using that 'service'. There are many distributors who sell 'good' products alongside crap. If I personally, don't agree with their ethics, I don't patronize them. There are companies like Mithra who are very popular. I don't hear an uproar about them selling tattoo kits. In the end, this is a company that sells legit stuff, as well as the lower-priced Chinese 'junk' that is still popular with people.

Tattoo schools, scratchers, legitimate artists doing dog portraits in people's kitchens are all VERY touchy subject matter with all of us on here. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, all I ask is that you use your inside voice when sharing them. It's not always as easy to get equipment in Europe, with the VAT and everything, so I don't necessarily have a problem having this supuplier on here - it gives European members an alternative to using the "other supplier from England who everyone complains about already".

Allowing them to be on the forum is not me supporting their practices, but I am allowing them to have a voice. I appreciate that their tattoo training program is no longer linked on their site, and I personally hope it stays that way (but that's just me).

This forum is mine. It cost me money to create it. It has grown exponentially in the last year, and now costs me more money on a monthly basis to keep it going. Right now, it is my gift to you! I'm sure everyone can agree that they have found at least one or two useful tidbits of information on here. From a new place to get their favorite machine, or a place to get a machine that neither they nor their friends have ever heard about, to sharing some information, learning a new technique etc. If you want to complain, please use Twitter. There are great suppliers on here with very unique products that I personally never would have found out about if I hadn't allowed them to be on here, or if my new internet 'friends' had not directed me to them. I may end up upsetting people by some of my decisions, but before you get your panties in a knot, please consider those facts before you storm away.

As always, I feel that I reserve the right to eliminate troublemakers from the site - however I never make any rash decisions before sitting down to discuss it with the forum staff. I will always make the executive decisions regarding the community. For my own and for everyone else's sanity, I cannot allow the inmates to run my asylum. If anyone has an issue with this, or even this post, or what has gone on in this thread, I welcome you to send me a private message so that we can discuss it.

Please remember that this is a tattoo forum. Yes, it's hitting the slow period for most of us, but if all we do is sit on the computer and complain about things and get angry at each other, we will stay not busy. Get to work on that painting, or teach yourself that new medium to work with or fix those coils you've been meaning to put up on ebay. Start creating and post your works! Keep it creative and positive, and move yourself forward before the kitchen wizards we don't let on here end up catching up and teaching you a thing or two.


Thank you all for your continued support and understanding.