Artist/shop question -deposits

[Deb Yarian]

I'd like to hear your policies on deposits. I've had a rash of reschedules and no shows and i'm thinking of changing the way I do business.

Thank you for your input and replies

Deb

[cltattooing]

At our shop, we take a $50-100 deposit depending on the size of the piece. I think it's pretty fair to take a deposit of one hour's time. Our policy is that the deposit is not refundable under any circumstances, it is credited toward the total cost of the tattoo, and changes in appointment date/time must be made 48 hours in advance to keep the deposit in effect.

[Diehardonvhs]

We take £20 deposit per hour the customer is booking - so 5 hours would be £100 deposit. £40 minimum deposit however. Non-refundable. 48 hours to rearrange any appointment or they lose the deposit, unless in very specific circumstances where the space can definitely be filled, so the artists time is not wasted. No bookings without a deposit, ever, unless its short notice and a VERY reliable, long term customer. Deposit comes off the final price of the tattoo.

[el twe]

(Speaking as a client and not an artist here, so feel free to ignore)

For larger pieces (with multiple sittings), most shops I've been in require a deposit that is applied to the last sitting of the tattoo to ensure the customer actually returns to finish the piece. Makes perfect sense to me from both the artist's and customer's perspetive!

[Eskimette]

I'd like to hear your policies on deposits. I've had a rash of reschedules and no shows and i'm thinking of changing the way I do business.

Thank you for your input and replies

Deb

At our shop we tke $40 deposits.. I feel it out. if it's a small tat and i know its scheduled for the day after someones payday or it's a regular client i'm lenient - but for days like saturday and friday that are big money earners its a definite must. we do a $40 deposit that comes off the overall cost of the tattoo. If we get 24 hours notice we move the apt, less than that they lose the deposit..we're pretty fair about it, but we need to make a living too :) I think it's fairly standard.. Kind of unavoidable ...at the end of the day if it wasnt about money on some level we would all be just painting at home or doing it for free..lol..

[fizz7283]

Also speaking as a customer....

You definitely need to take deposits. At least a minimum of $40 or $50 and have it go towards the price of the tattoo.

The two artists I go to don't make me put down deposits anymore, but I've been going to them for years now. Especially the main artist I go to for most of my tattoos, he's been tattooing me for six years now. I don't think I've given him a deposit since the third tattoo he's done on me?

Last year I had to cancel an appointment literally last minute. I went to the appointment and everything, but had to leave due to my blood pressure being through the roof. If I sat through the tattoo session I think I would have died, it was that damn high. I felt so terrible about it so I gave him $100 for having to cancel last minute.

Reasons like that are why you need to take deposits. Neither of the artists I go to make me leave deposits so I could have easily walked away and not have lost any money for canceling last minute. It would have screwed him over bad though because he had NO notice about the cancellation.

And just because you're tattooing a friend or a client who has been going to your shop for years doesn't mean they won't have an emergency all of a sudden and have to cancel an appointment. I wasn't expecting to cancel that appointment. I don't mind putting deposits down, but the artists don't think it's necessary because we've established a relationship and trust each other, but I also respect them enough that if I have to cancel and it doesn't give them enough time to schedule other people then I will at least pay them the cancellation fee they charge their normal customers who stumble in the shop for the first time.

[Brock Varty]

We take a deposit equal to 1 hour of tattoo time for anything that could take an hour or more. Everything else is either no deposit or half the hourly rate. I prefer to take a full hour deposit for everything, as we have had problems with some folks not showing up. The higher the deposit, the more likely someone shows up.

[slayer9019]

Every shop I've been to uses the 1/hr deposit rule (here in NYC that is usually $200) which is applied to the last session. Only once was there no deposit, but that was due to a traveling artist coming from overseas. I actually even asked if he wanted a deposit.

[David Flores]

We take deposits for all appointments, usually it's $60-$120, if it's multi session work the deposit goes towards last session, if you no show you forfeit your deposit, and we will allow on reschedule with 48 hour notice, after that any subsequent rescheduling will require a new deposit.

I have had clients that I have been instructed, don't get to make appointments, because they are notorious flakes. I still take deposit for any custom drawing work, then they have to come in when they have time and hopefully there is some walk in time that day. Then once they prove they can show up for tattoos they get appointments again. It's not as harsh as it sounds, there are very few days, especially mid week where there isn't some walk in time.

[Perspectivez]

deposits are definitely necessary IMO, i think $50-100 is fair depending on the size of the tattoo. For some reason a lot of people who get tattoos seem to be flaky as fuck for some reason lol

[cltattooing]

Deb, I know you write for the TAM blog, maybe you've read this article?

http://tattooartistmagazineblog.com/2012/08/07/larry-brogan-scheduling-appointments-and-taking-deposits/

[Old Rose Tattoo]

I think deposits are very necessary! I have had so many people flake on me because they didnt have money at the time they booked their appointment so couldnt leave a deposit. after about 5 of those i stopped doing that because I was wasting my time. Now I take $40 for every $100 the tattoo is gonna be. So a $300 tattoo will be $120 deposit. And also I agree with most on here that its non refundable and one reschedule should be allowed with at least 48 hour notice. Otherwise you are SOL