Say who you are, which dates you'll be in town and whether the shop takes guests.
GUEST SPOTS
Look for an application on the shop's site. If there isn't one, message the shop with your style, your dates and whether they host, and offer your license and BBP. One Brooklyn shop plans guests at least 2 to 3 months ahead.
You've got a free stretch in March and a shop in another city whose feed you've followed for a year. The DM is open on your phone. Every version you write is either one line with nothing in it or a page about your career.
One letter a week, on the business side of tattooing.
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What should you send a tattoo shop to ask for a guest spot?
Some shops post an application, and the form is how they want to hear from you. If there isn't one, send a short DM or email. The guest spot guide has wording for that first message.
These are the six shop pages we read and how each says to apply:
Shop page | How to apply | What else it says |
|---|---|---|
Yarrow Studio, Brooklyn | Online form | Replies in 1 to 2 weeks. |
Axiom Tattoo, San Diego | Application | Dates confirmed on approval. |
The Shop, Fowlerville, MI | Online form, plus an online portfolio | Guests bring a card processor. |
Folk Vala, Denver | Email: Instagram, website, a short blurb | Length of stay is "case by case." |
RedTree, Columbus | Email copies of license, BBP and CPR, plus a guest questionnaire | Asks for photos of your work before you arrive. |
Patch, Tarzana | Lists no paperwork. Guests handle their own bookings. |
The pages are written by the studios, so they show what hosts ask for, not what guests do. When the shop answers, send the second message:
Thanks for getting back to me. I'll be in town [dates] and can send my license, BBP and work photos today. What's the split, and does it include tips? Do you get walk-ins, or should I bring my own clients?
The shop's own page and feed show whether it has hosted guests before. Photo: Austin / Unsplash.
What do tattoo shops ask guest artists for?
A BBP certificate. Four of the six host pages we read ask for it, in Columbus, San Diego, Fowlerville and Denver. The other two list no paperwork.
License. Columbus asks for a copy, San Diego wants you currently licensed, and Denver wants a Denver license.
Insurance, CPR and a questionnaire. One page each. Fowlerville wants your own liability insurance or a request to be added to the shop's. Columbus asks for CPR and a guest questionnaire.
Work. Columbus asks for web-ready photos of your work before you arrive, for its social posts. Fowlerville asks for an online portfolio, and Denver for a strong portfolio and shop experience.
Some of this is the health department's rule, not the shop's. Columbus's page says its local health department requires license, BBP and CPR copies from every artist. Rules differ by county and state, so ask the shop and the county health department what yours needs. What guests in the threads say they were asked for is in the guest spot guide.
We typically plan guest spots at least 2-3 months in advance.
How far ahead should you ask for a tattoo guest spot?
Yarrow Studio's page, the only one we read that gives a lead time, says it typically plans guest spots at least 2 to 3 months in advance. Ask early. The same page says to check your spam for the reply, and to message the shop's Instagram if it's urgent.
Axiom confirms dates once it approves your application, then asks for a $100 deposit to hold them. Its FAQ says the deposit is nonrefundable on a percentage deal and counts toward your payout. That's your deposit to the host, not your client's.
Ask the shop what its county needs before you pack. Photo: Dmitry Kropachev / Unsplash.
Quick answers
How do you ask a tattoo shop for a guest spot?
Look for an application on the shop's site. If there isn't one, message the shop with your style, your dates and whether they host, and offer your license and BBP.
What do you need for a tattoo guest spot?
A BBP certificate is on four of the six host pages we read. Some add a license, CPR, liability insurance or a portfolio. Ask what the shop's county needs.
How far ahead should you ask for a tattoo guest spot?
One Brooklyn shop says it plans guest spots at least two to three months ahead and answers its form in one to two weeks. No other page we read gives a lead time.
Does a tattoo guest spot need an application?
Some shops want one. Of the six pages we read, three have an application form, and the others take an email or a questionnaire.
Start with one. Put your BBP, license, photo ID and healed work photos in one folder on your phone, so the second message takes one tap.
Checked October 2026. This is our method for asking a shop; the details named come from the guest pages of six US shops (Columbus, Tarzana, San Diego, Fowlerville, Denver, Brooklyn), read October 2 and again October 8, 2026, and none of it is a survey. The pages show what hosts ask for, not what guests do, there's no standard packet, and licensing varies by state and county. Not legal advice.
Read next
How tattoo guest spots work: splits, asking, booking: who asks whom, what hosts provide, what goes wrong.
Tattoo guest spot percentage: split, day rate or weekly rent: the host's cut and when a flat fee beats it.
Gal, founder of Collabo.ink, the booking app for tattoo artists. For 15 years I booked sessions for dozens of artists, some of them among the best known in the world. Collabo.ink takes your bookings and deposits, so you can focus on what matters: tattooing.
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