Quotes already given keep their price; the next inquiry gets the new one.
PRICING
Raise your rate when new requests arrive faster than you finish sessions. Artists split between steps of about $20 an hour held six to twelve months and one bigger jump. Quote new inquiries the new rate, honor quotes already given, and give regulars an end date or an in-between rate.
Three years ago you told a client you'd do their sleeve at $100 an hour. Now you charge $200, you're booked months out, and the sleeve is still going at half price. One artist posted exactly that and said they dreaded every session.
One letter a week, on the business side of tattooing.
Deposits, no-shows, pricing, and getting bookings out of the DMs. Free.
How do you know it's time to raise your tattoo prices?
The usual signs are in how to price tattoos: full books, coworkers saying you're low, clients asking "oh, that's it?" These are easier to miss:
You take money off at checkout. One artist quotes $200 an hour to weed out price shoppers, then usually takes some off at the end.
You keep a reason ready to charge less. An artist eight years in listed theirs: a loyal regular, tight cash, "I didn't nail this piece." Every time they tried to raise their rate, one of those talked them back down.
Your number reads as new. The top reply to an artist at $100 an hour, licensed a year and a half, said some people see $100 and think "new and not very good."
Should you raise tattoo prices in one jump or in steps?
Artists split, and most of the advice is steps: add about $20 an hour, hold it six to twelve months, repeat. $100, then $120, then $150. One artist started at $140, went to $200, then $225 between 2022 and 2025, and says they're still busy.
The other side says make one move. The top reply to that $100 artist was to go straight to $150, and it got far more votes than the small-step answers.
The threads behind this piece give no numbers on how many clients a raise cost. The top reply said the people you scare off are the most difficult to work with anyway, and one artist at a $1,000 day rate says bookings went up. Those are single stories.
Put last month's sessions through the new rate before you tell anyone.
Should you announce a tattoo price increase?
Both ways are common. Announcing is a short heads-up: "as of next month prices go up." The quiet way is to quote every new inquiry the new rate, say nothing, and let the old rate fade out with the old clients. One artist's case for quiet is that an announcement "usually does nothing but alienate people for no reason." Another said new inquiries are a safe place to test the number: if they balk, you can step back without having spooked your regulars.
What happens to booked tattoos and quotes when you raise your prices?
Every quote you've already given keeps its price. On a big piece already under way, keep the old rate for a reasonable time. The sleeve thread is the worked example:
The top reply, with 263 upvotes: finish it as agreed and treat it as a lesson in setting up deals better. Several people pushed back on calling the old rate charity.
Next time, give the rate a finish-by date. One artist's line: "if we can do this before February it will be $100 an hour."
No date was set? Commenters leaned toward standing by your word. One suggested agreeing a finish date now, a couple of months out, and changing the rate after it.
When the piece is done, a few commenters say, tell the client the old price belonged to that deal and new work is at the new rate.
Finish it as agreed upon and take it as a lesson to outline deals like this better.
How do you raise tattoo prices for regular clients?
Give them time. The top-voted advice is a grace period at the old rate, or an in-between rate, $125 on the way to $150, for about six months. If a regular notices before you tell them, the answer is short:
A regular notices: Yes, my rate went up to [new rate] on [date]. You're at [in-between rate] through [month], and anything I've already quoted you stays as quoted.
A long piece in progress: I can finish it at our rate if we're done by [month]. After that it's [new rate].
This is your old rate with an end date, not a discount on the new one.
One artist who had given long-term clients a price break had to raise after inflation and a shop change. Some clients complained.
New clients only ever see the new number. When one says it's too much, say the price once, offer a smaller piece or more sessions, and stop explaining. The wording is in how to answer tattoo inquiries in your DMs.
What if you're afraid to raise your tattoo prices?
Several of the threads behind this piece came from artists who dread this. What commenters say helps:
One adds 20% to whatever number first comes to mind.
One puts the price in an online booking link, so they don't have to say the number out loud.
One commenter's math: if you have enough clients, raise even if you'd lose one a week. You still earn more.
How does a raise change your tattoo shop minimum and deposit?
At $200 an hour, a $100 minimum is half an hour of your time. One artist at $200 has a $150 minimum, and a shop that set $200 for everyone made the minimum $200. One commenter's rule of thumb: raise every year or two, the hourly one time and the minimum the next. If your deposit is one hour of your rate, it moves up on its own. A flat $100 deposit needs a second look (deposit numbers). Day rates, half-day rates and flash prices move with it.
Should you lower tattoo prices in slow months?
Artists split, and the louder side says no. In a thread on adjusting prices through the year, the top comment said regulars feel overcharged once you drop, and others said it teaches people to wait for the next sale. A few artists do cut. One who tried it through a dry spell called it a short-term fix that brought bargain hunters.
What some artists do instead: a small, fixed-price flash sheet, so regulars don't expect a discount on custom work. If you're timing a raise, one commenter said to do it going into your busy season and not wait until November. Check last year's calendar for yours. More in tattoo slow season.
Pick the start date from last year's calendar, not from this month's empty weeks. Photo: Eric Rothermel / Unsplash.
Quick answers
How do you raise your tattoo prices without losing clients?
You can't promise to keep everyone. Raise in steps of about $20 an hour or in one jump, quote new inquiries the new rate, and keep every quote already given.
When should you raise your hourly rate as a tattoo artist?
When new requests outpace the sessions you finish, or your books are full months out. Hold each step six to twelve months.
What do you do about a client still on your old rate?
Give regulars about six months at the old rate, or an in-between rate such as $125 on the way to $150. On a piece in progress, finish it at the agreed rate and set an end date.
Should tattoo artists lower prices in slow months?
Artists split, and the louder side says no. Regulars feel overcharged and people learn to wait for the next sale. Try a fixed-price flash sheet instead.
Start with one. Pick your new rate and the date it starts, then save the regular-client message above in your notes with those numbers in it.
Checked October 2026. Based on r/TattooArtists threads from 2024 to 2026: three where artists are afraid to raise prices or undercharge, one on adjusting prices through the year, one on low budgets (where the $1,000 day rate comes from), and several rate threads. Upvote counts are for single comments. It's what artists say, not a survey.
Read next
How to price tattoos: hourly, by the piece or a day rate: rates, minimums and how to find your real hourly.
Tattoo slow season: what to do when the books go quiet: how to fill quiet weeks without cutting your rate.
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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