It usually takes both a bad customer and a bad artist to come away with a truly awful tattoo, but I have no doubt that when these 24 people sat down in the chair for their fateful permanent [mess] up, both they and their ink-givers fit those descriptions perfectly. 

Tattoos are a lovely way for people to give a message or piece of art that's truly meaningful to them, a permanent place on their body. What they are not are opportunities to answer the question "I wonder if this would look cool?" in real time. The thing is, for the people with poor enough judgement to ask that question and follow through, they probably love what they got. (Let's see how they feel in 25 years.)

Car shopping, clothing store thrifting and house hunting are three activities where searching for the best deal is a great idea. You could potentially save yourself thousands! But when it comes to tattoos, the cheap way is rarely the way to go, and prices are what they are for a reason. Let the badly tatted people in this gallery serve as a deterrent from going with the cheapest parlor in town, or worse, the house of your friend of a friend who just bought a stick and poke. Here are 24 terrible tats of instant regret.