Tattoo cancellation policy template, and how to stick to it

Most artists ask for 48 hours' notice to move a session. Inside that, the deposit is kept. One reschedule is free, then it takes a new deposit. Twenty minutes late with no word and the session is off. A no-show loses the deposit. Send all of it in writing before the client pays.

Nine in the morning. The station's set up, the stencil's printed, and your phone lights up: "So sorry, something came up, can we do next week?" That was your whole day, and you can't fill six hours by eleven.

Forty-eight hours is the most common answer by far. Of 17 studio policies we read, nine ask for 48 hours, three for 24, one for 72, two for five days and two for a full week.

It comes down to how long you need to fill the slot. Forty-eight hours is enough to message a waitlist or a regular who's been asking for a spot. If you mostly do long sessions, or you're booked months out, a week is fair, because a full day is harder to fill than a two-hour piece.

Pick one number and use it everywhere: website, DMs, booking form, confirmation. Say what the clock counts from (the start time of the session) and how the client has to tell you. One channel, in writing. A voicemail at midnight to the shop phone shouldn't count as notice.

Most artists move them once, for free. They'd rather lose the day than catch the flu, or pass it to the next five people in the chair.

A lot of artists build that into the policy as a one-time pass. Every client gets one late move without losing the deposit, and they're told about it up front. After that, the normal rule applies. Not everyone agrees. Some keep the deposit on any same-day cancel, sick or not, and point out that the morning after a big night out produces a lot of sudden flu. Decide which camp you're in before the sick call comes, not while you're reading it.

One line worth writing down: if a client cancels sick and then doesn't show for the new date, the deposit is kept. The pass covers one date, not two.

One free move is the most common rule. Two is next. After that, the next move takes a new deposit, and some artists double it.

Put a time limit on the moved deposit, too. Artists use anything from three weeks to six months. Three months is a sensible middle. Without a limit you end up holding money for someone who drifts back a year later expecting last year's price.

The rule only works if you enforce it early. One thread that got a lot of heat was about a regular who'd moved more than ten times in two years. The artist had a policy, and let it slide again and again because it was a regular. When they finally asked for a deposit, the client went public calling the artist unprofessional. The first time a regular moves twice is the cheapest time to hold the line.

Most studios give 15 to 30 minutes. The policies we read use 15, 20, 20 and 30. Inside that window the lost time comes off the session, not the end of your day: "You were 25 minutes late, so we'll get as far as we can in the time we have." Past it, the session's off and the deposit is kept.

A text matters. A client who messages "stuck in traffic, 15 out" is not the same as one who strolls in half an hour late without a word, and treating them the same is how artists end up in a review fight. Write the rule around no-contact lateness.

One fix that costs nothing: clients coming from out of town get the last slot of the day, so a late flight or a jammed highway doesn't wreck everyone after them.

The deposit is kept. Many artists also ask for the full price up front before they'll book that person again, and a second no-show usually ends it.

Keep the message short and leave the anger out of it:

Free bookings get no-showed too, consults and touch-ups especially. One artist charges a $20 rebooking fee for a missed free slot and admits they almost never collect it. Having it written down was enough to make people message first.

Same rule for the stuff that makes a session impossible that day: showing up drunk or high, a fresh sunburn on the spot, a brand-new design idea that morning. Some artists list these in their policy as reasons the deposit is kept.

Artists who use them say yes, and it's the cheapest fix on this page. Those who send an automatic reminder a day or two before the session report very few no-shows. One sends it 30 hours out and said they hadn't had a no-show in over a year. Another sends reminders at 30 days, 14 days and 48 hours. Any booking app or calendar can do this. A manual text the day before works too, if you'll remember to send it every time.

Send it before the deposit, and tie the payment to it: paying the deposit means you've read this and you're good with it. Say it three times: with the quote, with the payment link and in the confirmation. Artists who do this say they rarely have to enforce anything. As one put it, a good rescheduling policy is one you don't have to enforce.

Strict on paper also leaves you room to be kind in person. If the rule says the deposit is kept and you move it anyway for a client whose kid got sick, that's a favor, and they know it. If the rule is vague, the same move is just what they expected.

Some shops skip deposits and keep a card on file instead, charging it on a no-show. It's easier on the client up front, but a charge they didn't see coming is the easiest kind to dispute with the bank.

And if cancellations keep coming, look at the deposit before you rewrite the policy. Raising it, to $100 or $200 or close to half the price, is the change artists credit most with cutting cancellations. The numbers are in how much a tattoo deposit should be.

48 hours' notice to move the session and keep the deposit, one free reschedule, and the deposit is kept for late cancels and no-shows.

Not the first time, if they give 48 hours' notice. A second reschedule usually needs a new deposit.

Most artists allow 15 to 30 minutes. The lost time comes off the session. Later than that without a message, the session is cancelled and the deposit is kept.

The deposit is kept, and many artists ask for the full price up front before booking that client again.

Checked October 2026. Notice, lateness and reschedule rules come from artist threads on r/TattooArtists (2022 to 2026) and 17 US studio cancellation policies. 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.