Anyone searching for tattoo supplies has at some point come across discounted kits that are priced so low you can't not buy them.
The problem with this is that they are inexpensive for a reason. Cheap machines, low quality components, sub-standard needles and fake inks all drive down the costs of production allowing wholesalers and discounters to make a profit even with prices 70% lower than quality products.
Essentially a tattoo machine is always going to be a tattoo machine. Anything with at least one coil or rotor, an armature bar and vice will perform as it should. With cheap machines performance is really left open to interpretation and many details that make a difference in quality are overlooked. It's common for discount companies to offer machines made with cheap frames and cheap coils. Again, these parts are cheap for a reason. Mass produced parts and non precision construction are two things all cheap machines have in common. A good machine will have straight, tightly wrapped coils and proper frame angles and measurements. On one machine I purchased to check out the coil posts were so crooked that the armature bar only made about 40% contact with the front coil. This is a loss of machine efficiency by at least 60% assuming there are no other problems. If you buy ten machines for $20 a piece, even if you're lucky enough to find a perfect one it still won't perform as well as a properly made $200 machine.
But the machines are the least problematic aspect of a discount kit.
Another area discounters cut corners is in their needles. Pricing for needles is already low. Aside from gloves, caps, bands and machine and cord covers your needles are the least expensive pieces per unit for a tattoo procedure. How discounters acquire cheap needles is simple. They contact manufacturers and offer to buy their seconds needles. Seconds are needles that did not meet quality standards for any number of reasons. This could be that the groupings are slightly crooked on the bar, that the points are blunted or even that the needle didn't pass sterilization in blister packing. The companies agree to sell these seconds needles to discounters leaving it up to them to use their discretion about which needles to sell. Usually, they sell all of them. In one box of such needles I noted that out of 100 needles 36 (seriously) of them had needle groupings with blunted points and five were visibly misaligned on the bar. That is a 59% usability rate if there are not other problems. The needles are then put into a kit and (usually) shipped from China, a journey that will subject them to hot, cold, jostling and possible further damage.
The ink used in discount kits is almost always a counterfeit name brand or a very poor quality house brand. These inks aren't sterile and a study done by ERMA in New Zealand revealed that discount inks from China were contaminated with lead. That article is included below.
Tattoo Ink Potentially Contaminated - NZ Herald
To make you think you're getting a great deal they'll throw in a whole bunch of other stuff like practice skins, machine holders, cap holders, clip on lights and so on. You can guarantee those are inferior products as well.
In short, discounters don't care about you or who you're tattooing they of care about money and they'll give you low quality supplies to increase their profit margin.
It is far better to spend extra money on quality goods than to cut corners. If price is an issue keep in mind that you do not need ten machines and all the other stuff included in those discount "pro" kits. You need two machines, a power supply, a good switch and clip cord and the other obvious stuff like ink and caps and needles. Every legit tattoo supply house in America offers a kit with everything you need at a reasonable price. I've taken the guess work out of finding legit supply spots and produced a list of well known sellers to check out. Just look to the right of this page.
If you're after cheap supplies, keep in mind that everything cheap is cheap for a reason.
