Scroll the shop's feed for earlier guest posts before you send the DM. Photo: Austin / Unsplash.
GUEST SPOTS
You ask a shop to host you for a stretch and pay it 20% to 40% of what you earn there. 30% is the number artists quote most. Some shops cap the day fee at $200 to $500. Most guests ask by Instagram DM or email.
You've got a quiet stretch coming and a city you'd like to work in. A shop there hosted a guest last month, and you saw it on their feed. You've typed the DM three times and deleted it, because you don't know what they'd expect.
One letter a week, on the business side of tattooing.
Deposits, no-shows, pricing, and getting bookings out of the DMs. Free.
How do tattoo guest spots work?
The guest asks. Artists get their guest spots from a DM to the shop's Instagram, an email, or meeting someone in person. One host said they've never said no to a guest with realistic expectations.
A shop in Columbus, Ohio asks for copies of your license, BBP and CPR certificates and photos of your work before you arrive.
A shop in Tarzana, California says guests handle their own bookings and client messages.
Who goes? In r/TattooApprentice, replies said not as an apprentice. Fully fledged first, and one said two or three years out is about standard.
How do you ask a shop for a tattoo guest spot?
Say who you are, which dates you'll be in town and whether they take guests. Offer your paperwork and ask about the split. Built from one artist's description and what shops ask for:
Longer: Hi, I'm [name], a [style] artist from [city]. I love your work. I'll be in [city] [dates] and wondered if you take guests then. I can send my license, BBP and healed photos. What's your split, and what do you provide?
Shorter: I'll be in [city] [dates]. Do you ever host guests? Portfolio is in my highlights.
Some shops post their split and what they want from guests on their own page. Photo: Dmitry Kropachev / Unsplash.
How much does a tattoo guest spot cost?
In the numbers artists and shops post, 20% to 40% goes to the host, with 30% in the middle. There's no standard. This is what artists and shops quote:
Terms | Who |
|---|---|
20% to 40%, closer to 40% when the shop supplies basics and furniture | Artist who travels full time |
30% at most, $100 a day at the least | Guest in FL, VA, NC, NY and IL |
20% to 30%, capped at $200 a day | Artist from CA |
30%, paid after all sessions, 10% off supplies | Shop page, Columbus, OH |
Guest keeps 70%, studio fee capped at $500 a day | Shop page, Tarzana, CA |
The first three are from one 2024 r/TattooArtists thread, where one commenter said guests usually pay a smaller percentage than residents.
The host usually provides a chair or station and basic disposables: paper towels, barrier film, gloves, disinfectant. You bring your machines and, usually, your ink. Needles vary.
Tips stay yours, same as at home. One guest's 30% didn't include them, so ask the host to say so. Travel and lodging come on top, and no thread gave a US dollar figure. One artist picks cities where they can stay with friends.
Do you pay your home shop for a tattoo guest spot?
Most replies in the one thread on this said no. The exceptions were an artist on monthly rent at home, one who gets lower rent when the home shop books a guest into their station, and one who paid because they used the home shop's disposables. It's one thread, and the poster didn't say they were in the US. Check how your own shop deal is written before you plan a trip.
Who gets the client's deposit on a tattoo guest spot?
No thread settles it. Artists describe taking their own client deposits before the trip. The Tarzana shop recommends guests collect a deposit, and the Columbus shop's 30% is due once all the guest's sessions are done. That points to the deposit going to the guest and the host's cut coming out of finished sessions, but it's a pattern read off two pages, not a rule. Nobody covered a no-show deposit on the trip. Agree who holds the deposit, and what happens to a no-show one, in writing before you go. For amounts, see how much should a tattoo deposit be.
I always announce my guest spot location and then take the bookings that come before planned dates.
How do you fill the calendar for a tattoo guest spot?
Tell people where you're going before you go, then take bookings. One comment, with four votes, suggests asking followers where to go next and committing only when three or four clients from the same area are ready to book. A 20-year artist who hosts and travels contacts their own clients in the cities they visit.
Testing demand: Where should I tattoo next? Reply with your city. If 3 or 4 of you in the same place want in, I'll book dates and open deposits.
Announcing: Guest spot at [shop], [city], [dates]. [Flash, custom or both.] DM [one word] for the form. Deposit holds your day.
Don't count on the host to fill it. The Columbus shop's guest page says it will promote a guest but can't guarantee you'll be busy. The Tarzana page offers extra Instagram stories to help fill a schedule. Ask what yours will do.
How long should a tattoo guest spot be?
There's no number, only a single story: a week every month for three years. A few artists in one thread said not to count on a full book: one said guest spots don't reliably make money, another called them a good way to meet other artists and shops. None gave a figure for what a trip earns.
What goes wrong on a tattoo guest spot?
You expect a full book and get walk-ins, or nothing. A 20-year artist who hosts and travels said the average tattooer can't book guest spots without walk-ins. Another says guests usually have sessions set up ahead. It depends on the host, so ask whether the shop gets walk-ins before you pick dates.
You show up short on paperwork. BBP is the one hosts ask for most, though the top-voted guest in one thread said nobody ever asked for anything. After that it varies: photo ID, proof of your home-state license where your state licenses, liability insurance, CPR and first aid certificates, sometimes a rules list or guest agreement. One NJ shop owner said their county also wants three letters from the guest's clients. Check your state and county rules before you book travel.
Touch-ups. Your guest-spot clients live somewhere else. One artist, a year in, says make sure your work heals well before you guest out of your city.
You're gone too much. One commenter said people need to know where to find you.
Ask the host whether the shop gets walk-ins before you pick your dates.
Quick answers
How do tattoo guest spots work?
You ask a shop, usually by DM or email, to host you for a stretch. You pay the host a cut of what you earn there, usually 20% to 40%.
What percentage does a guest tattoo artist pay the host?
Artists report 20% to 40%, with 30% the most quoted. Some shops cap the day fee at $200 to $500, and one guest said the least they paid was $100 a day.
How do you ask for a guest spot at a tattoo shop?
Message the shop with your style, your dates and whether they host. Offer your license, BBP and healed photos, and ask about the split.
Do you pay your home shop for a guest spot?
In one thread, most replies said no. The exceptions were mostly artists on rent at home, and the poster didn't say they're in the US. Check how your own shop deal is written.
Start with one. Pick one city you'd work in and scroll one shop's feed there for earlier guest posts. If it has hosted, save the short ask above with your dates in it.
Checked October 2026. Numbers come from small artist threads on r/TattooArtists and r/TattooApprentice (2024 to 2026) and guest pages of two US shops in Columbus and Tarzana. It's what artists and shops report, not a survey. This covers guest spots inside the US. Licensing and who holds a guest's deposit weren't settled. This isn't legal advice.
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Tattoo slow season: what to do when the books go quiet: what artists do with the quiet weeks, guest spots among them.
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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