Leaving a tattoo shop: what happens to your clients

Most clients follow the artist, not the shop, but put some money aside for a slower start. Read your agreement, then sort out your client list, your Instagram and your deposits. Tell the owner face to face, about two weeks ahead, then tell your own clients where you're going.

You've decided. There's a chair across town, or a room of your own. Now you have to work out who hears it first and what happens to the sessions already on your books.

Before you give notice, sort out four things.

Maybe, and it depends on your state. There's no federal ban in force: the FTC dropped its appeal in September 2025, and the rule came out of the federal regulations in February 2026. Some states limit or ban non-competes and others enforce reasonable ones.

Find these in your agreement: the notice period, whether you can take your equipment and flash, any non-compete or non-solicit (how long, how far), and any exit fee. One artist was offered a spot with a one-year commitment and $1,000 for each month left if they quit early. The top replies said to walk away, and others called it unenforceable. Nobody cited a law. Have a lawyer in your state read any non-compete or exit clause. This isn't legal advice.

Face to face, on your own, with thanks, about two weeks before your last day. That's what most artists say in these threads. If your agreement names a notice period, go by that.

I've sat on the owner's side of this conversation, and what I'd add is simple: don't let the owner hear it from anyone but you. Not on the shop floor, and not from a client.

If the owner trained you, how long you owe them is where artists split. Some say three to five years, others say you don't owe anyone loyalty.

Your own clients, yes, in practice. Most people book the artist, not the building. Tell them where you're going and when, and leave the old shop out of it, since the scene is small.

The gray area is the clients the shop sent you, the walk-ins and phone bookings. Artists disagree on whether those are yours to take, and nothing in the threads settles it. Check what your agreement says about the client list and about contacting clients after you leave. If clients reach you through the front desk or the shop's phone, give them another way.

Send your message after the owner has heard it from you:

If the owner has been abusive, or you expect them to hold your equipment, the two-week sit-down stops being the advice. Commenters in threads on leaving shops like that say to take your machines home first, leave after hours, and bring a friend as a witness. If you signed a notice clause, ask a lawyer what skipping it costs.

Plan for a slower start. One artist who moved told someone weighing a switch to save money in case bookings run slower at first. That's one voice, and nobody put a number on it.

How much you feel it depends on where your clients came from. People who found you on your own page come with you. People who came through the door may not, since they never picked you. Count last month's sessions that came from your own page or referrals against the ones from the front desk, and put money aside before you give notice. Tattoo slow season has a way to size it.

No thread we read answers this, so what follows is a suggestion, not something artists agree on.

Before your last day, list every session you have booked, the deposit on each, and who holds it. Settle with the owner in writing which sessions go with you and who refunds a client who won't follow you. Stop booking dates past your last day at the old shop, and hold new clients for the new address.

When an artist cancels a date, the usual line is that the client gets the deposit back or moves it, their choice. I'd treat a client who won't follow you to a new shop the same way. How deposits move is in how much a tattoo deposit should be.

Read your agreement, then sort out your client list, Instagram and deposits. Tell the owner face to face about two weeks ahead, and your own clients where you're going.

Your own clients, yes, in practice: most people book the artist, not the shop. Walk-ins and phone bookings the shop sent you are a gray area where artists disagree.

About two weeks, unless your agreement names a different period. With an abusive owner, artists say to take your machines home first and leave on a quiet day.

There's no federal ban right now, so it's a state question. Read your agreement. Have a lawyer in your state read any non-compete or exit clause. This isn't legal advice.

Checked October 2026. Based on artist threads on r/TattooArtists about leaving shops (2025 to 2026) and the Federal Register for the non-compete status. It's what artists report, not a survey. No thread answered what happens to deposits already paid. None of this is legal advice.

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.