I've got an all black tattoo. As the tattoo healed some of the black ink did not stay so I now have a couple of spots in my tattoo that are flesh tone. I've spoken to several tattoo places and they keep telling me they will have to re-outline the whole thing and they want to charge me 300 bucks. I have 2 chinese symbols that are just a couple of inches . Am I out of touch, I had the tattoo done about 7 years ago? I think I paid about 100 the first time. I can't go back to the place that did it they closed.

If you've lost some color they will do touch ups if you want them to. 300 bucks for a touch up on a chinese symbol does seem a bit steep though. Keep in mind though, no tattoo will stay as bright as it is the day you get it, it will fade a little over time due to sun exposure and some other things :)

Thank you. The tattoo is on my lower back so fading from the sun isn't really an issue. I thought 300 bucks for a touch up was a little steep considering we are talking about an all black tattoo. Do really have to re-outline or can they just do a touch up?

Since there is already an outline there I would think they would just do a touch up. You can do an outline if you want to, to make it look a little more updated, but if all you want is a touch up then they will do that.

I think that there's something your not saying because you say the tat only cost you 100 the frist time. Some of my tat faded too, but the guy told me that was normal and to wait a while to come get it touched up so in case it lost more. Usually color fades more than black so that's another reason why I can't believe $300. Tell them that someone else offered to do it for a price your comfortable with and see if they'll match it because you know they have a better rep or whatever. THat might work.

You said that the piece is on your lower back, is there any pieces missing? Maybe from rubbing on your pants or something... that happened to a friend of mine...

I guess it is possible that is some rubbing from my pants, but it had "holes" in the minute it healed. I was told by another tattoo guy that the artist who did it had a heavy hand and that was why the ink didn't stay. It doesn't make sense to me but I'm not an expert. I will try your suggestion to see if they can match the price. I've decided I'm not paying 300 bucks to get it fix so if I can't get it fixed then it's staying the way it is.