How to quote a tattoo: ranges, hours and the session split

To quote a tattoo, guess the hours, multiply by your hourly and pad the top of a range. Flash gets a flat price. At $150 an hour, a three-hour guess becomes $450 to $750. If you guessed wrong, most artists eat the extra. If the client held back, artists split.

You quoted $300 for three hours. It took six, and the client mentioned a skin condition only afterward. You're eating the difference, and you want to word the next quote so it doesn't happen again.

Quote after you have the size, placement and references, not before. How to ask for all three is in how to answer tattoo inquiries in your DMs. Then:

Say you charge $150 an hour and the piece looks like three hours. That's $450 at the bottom. Add two hours of padding and the top is $750, so the quote is $450 to $750. It's wide on purpose.

Most artists use all three, depending on the job:

Some studios post ranges the same way. A Denver studio's pricing page lists small tattoos at $100 to $200, medium at $350 to $850 and large at $1,000 to $1,900.

A flat price only holds for the piece as described. If the client wants a flash design bigger or somewhere else, it's a new quote, so say that in the same message. One artist's menu in a thread shows the mix: $250 flat under a palm (about an hour), $500 flat for hand-sized (two to two and a half hours), and $200 an hour from three hours up. That's one artist, not a standard.

Start from what pieces like it have taken you before. In another thread an artist quoted $600 for linework that ran five hours. One reply said to accept being a slow tattooer and quote a price you'd be happy with.

Then decide which hours you're counting. Artists who bill only tattooing time build the stencil and setup into the rate. When the clock starts is a split: in one thread, needle on skin got the most votes, and others started at the booked time or when the client reached the chair. Whichever you use, say it in the quote, so "three hours" means the same thing to both of you. One commenter tells the client how many hours of tattooing they're aiming for that day and what that comes to.

If you simply guessed wrong, artists mostly honor the quote: one experienced artist says going over doesn't mean charging more. When the client held something back, artists split. Two commenters (7 and 6 upvotes) say eat it this time, and one adds to warn the client next time. Others bill the hourly: one quotes a range and then charges their hourly (23 upvotes), and the top reply in that thread (152) is "I charge 180$ an hour. It costs what it costs."

That's why artists pad. "I always, always over estimate by 2 hours," wrote one commenter (30 upvotes), who also always gives a range.

If it comes in under, you may charge a little less. Two commenters say clients are happy when a tattoo ends up cheaper than the estimate. Billing for the hours it took is fine. Knocking the price down because the client asked is the discount to skip.

One commenter shared policy wording (59 upvotes; our notes mark it as written from the client side) that calls the quote a best-case estimate, says skin conditions "may require additional time" at the artist's hourly, and asks clients to disclose them at booking. Most artists don't raise the rate for hard skin. They quote a wider range at the normal hourly. A big change to the design is a new quote. Design changes are covered in their own piece.

Add one line to the quote: if you're working to a budget, we can split it into sessions so you pay as you go. Offering sessions is the most common answer to a tight budget, and one artist puts the line on every estimate. One artist charges for tattooing time only and splits a $600 job into $300 a session.

If the number still doesn't fit, say it once, offer a smaller version or more sessions, and stop explaining. Don't drop the price. There are six replies for that in what to say when a tattoo client's budget is too low.

Artists split: some won't name a number before a consult, and others give a wide range up front. Wide is normal at this size. A Denver studio's page puts sleeves and multi-session work at $1,500 to $12,000 and up, and a San Antonio artist's page puts full sleeves and back pieces at $1,500 to $15,000 and up.

Most artists quote this work hourly or by the day. One charges hourly for bigger work, caps the hours and always estimates at the high end. Add the sessions line here, and take one bigger deposit that comes off the last session.

Point to the quote they agreed to, which means it has to be in writing before the session. Put the range and your hourly in the booking message and the confirmation. One commenter uses a booking form with a rates acknowledgment, so there are "receipts" if a client gets upset about price later.

If the final number is inside the range, say it once and hold. If it ran over because you guessed wrong, you honor the quote, as above.

Fill the brackets. These are built from what artists say they send, not from one artist's template.

Guess the hours of tattooing, multiply by your hourly and give a range with the top end padded. Flash and small pieces get a flat price.

For custom work you haven't drawn yet, yes. Most artists give a range and estimate high, and studios post ranges too: one Denver page lists $350 to $850 for a medium tattoo.

If you guessed wrong, most artists eat it. If the client didn't mention something at booking, like a skin condition, artists split: some eat it, some bill the hourly, and one popular policy wording does the second.

You can. Billing for the hours it took is fine. Dropping the price because the client asked is the discount to avoid.

Checked October 2026. Based on r/TattooArtists and r/TattooApprentice threads (2024 to 2026) on quoting, pricing and difficult skin, plus a Denver studio's pricing page and a San Antonio artist's. The wording box is built from what artists say they send. It's what artists report, not a survey.

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.