If you've ever gotten a tattoo, you know good work can be expensive. But now a growing number of tattoo artists are offering deep discounts for work done at home.

Owners of legitimate tattoo businesses, employing licensed tattoo artists, say you're risking too much trolling places like Craigslist for discount ink. We found many people posting these ads were eager to trick you with lies to get your business.

A NewsChannel 3 employee called tattoo artists advertising cut-rate ink on Craigslist. These artists say they cut their expenses by working at their homes. Sometimes they'll even come to your home. That's illegal and may be unhealthy.

"Some bad stuff can happen. It can be life altering. Not only for your skin, but for your body itself" says artist Cliff Evans of Fuzion Ink in Norfolk. A Virginia Beach townhome is where one operator has set up shop, against all the rules. It's the address he gave us to come for a bargain tattoo."You come to my house. I have it set up in my living room." Matt Hopkins told NewsChannel 3 he just left All-Out Tattoo in Norfolk to make more money at home.

"That's a lie. Big time."

Kirstie Williams manages All-Out Tattoo. She said Hopkins applied to be a tattoo apprentice. But after just one week, he walked out. "He's not licensed at all."

The state database confirms that, no license for Matt Hopkins, who also posts Craigslist ads under his nickname, Kricket.

A person who answered the door at the town house said Hopkins doesn't live there, and was not there at the time. But guess whose motorcycle is parked right on the sidewalk, with his nickname 'Kricket' painted across the windshield.

Cliff Evans works for Fuzion Ink on Granby Street in Norfolk. Just about every week, he's asked to fix a botched tattoo job done at someone's house.

He says most of those artists don't keep their equipment clean.

A woman named Shannon Sherman found out the hard way. She found an artist on Craigslist.

"I told him time and time again that he was hurting me, and that he was digging the needle too far into my leg. He said ... he knew what he was doing."

After a night of excruciating pain, she went for treatment.

"I went to the urgent care at my doctor's office. I was told I have a skin infection, that he punctured too many layers of my skin....It made my whole ankle and foot swell up. It's very hot, very red, and is oozing."

Ever since tattoo stores were legalized in all of Hampton Roads, NewsChannel 3 has been tracking a growing and shady underground business. Tattoo artists who offer to come to your house, offering cheap tattoos.

Craigslist is filled with offers like that. All are illegal.

Now, it is possible under state rules for a licensed and legitimate artist to set up a studio in their own home, provided they follow all the health laws, and get all the proper permits.

But we found out many of the home-based artists were lying about their licenses.

Draven Vaughn has posted ads on Craigslist, offering discount tattoos.

State records show Draven Vaughn has no license.

When a NewsChannel 3 crew showed up with our camera, we could see someone shuffling around inside, but no one came to the door. A little while later, Draven sent us a text message saying he meant he has a business license.

"Just registered as a small business owner," he typed. "Still in training. But I do my own thing."

So we called Portsmouth to see if he is registered as a business owner. He's not.

You might wonder, where are the state regulators in all this? We called Barbers and Cosmotology in Richmond, the licensing group that oversees tattooing. They said they never heard of this problem, and besides, they only respond to complaints. NewsChannel 3 found at least a dozen ads for illegal tattoos here in Hampton Roads, and another dozen in Richmond, where the regulators are.

STORY PROVIDED BY NEWS CHANNEL 3. THIS STORY IS THE OPINION OF THE AUTHOR AND IS IN NO WAY ENDORSED BY STEEL QUILL TATTOO OR ITS AFFILIATES. IT IS MERELY AN ATTEMPT TO ASSIST YOU IN MAKING AN INFORMED DECISION ABOUT PROFESSIONAL TATTOOS VERSUS TATTOOS PERFORMED IN A NON REGULATED ENVIRONMENT!!

We are a fully licensed shop that only employs professionally trained artists. So next time you consider that "cheap tattoo" remember, good tattoos are not cheap and cheap tattoos are not good. Why take the risk?