Guides
Tattoo studio service packages that sell
Seventeen tattoo studio service packages, each described by scope, sitting plan, deposit handling, and its pitfall, so a studio chooses formats, not prices.
What to take away
- Each of the seventeen formats below is a way of wrapping a session in an agreement about scope, sittings, deposit, and touch-up. None is a price, and none works in a studio whose artists do not do that kind of work.
- The formats that pay are the ones that fill the calendar in advance or reduce unbilled hours. The ones that fail are discounts with new names.
- Check each format against the studio's arrangement with its artists: a renter can leave with a half-finished package.
How the list is organized
The formats run from the simplest, which need almost no agreement, to the longest, which need a signed sheet and an exit clause. For each: what it is, what has to be written down, and what goes wrong. The rules of package-building are in how to package studio services; the service lines themselves are in the services and packages guide.
Short-form packages
Short-form package pitfalls
- Flash daychanges turn flash into custom
- Walk-in hourwindow runs into booked session
- Minimum bookingclient expects design work
- Consultationfee waived, unbilled hours return
- Design-onlydrawing walks to another studio
- Flash day slot.A booked slot on a day the artist tattoos only their pre-drawn designs at set sizes. Write down the design set and the sizes. Pitfall: clients ask for changes that turn flash into custom work.
- Walk-in hour.A published window in which small pieces are taken without booking. Write down the size limit and the cut-off time. Pitfall: the window runs into a booked session.
- Minimum-piece booking.The studio minimum, with a deposit that equals or approaches it. Write down the deposit rule. Pitfall: the client expects design work for the minimum.
- Consultation as a product.A timed consultation with a fee credited to a booking. Write down the time cap and the credit rule. Pitfall: the fee is waived on request, and the unbilled hours return.
- Design-only package.The artist draws a custom design for a fee, whether or not the client books. Write down ownership of the drawing. Pitfall: the design walks to another studio; decide in advance whether you mind.
Mid-length packages
Mid-length package pitfalls
- Two-sittingsitting two never booked
- Cover-upresult the old ink won't allow
- Reworkguarantee another artist's work
- Matching piecesone deposit holds both slots
- Letteringcustom requested at flash terms
- Seriesdeposit spent by client arithmetic
- Two-sitting piece.Common for medium custom work. Write down both dates at booking and the deposit's treatment across them. Pitfall: sitting two is never booked.
- Cover-up consultation plus plan.A paid assessment of the existing tattoo with a written statement of what can and cannot be hidden, then a sitting plan. Pitfall: the studio promises a result the old ink will not allow; the written statement is the protection.
- Rework of an old piece.Refreshing or correcting existing work, scoped as a single sitting with a touch-up clause. Pitfall: the client expects the artist to guarantee another artist's work.
- Matching pieces for two clients.Two bookings, one design, deposits from each. Write down what happens if one cancels. Pitfall: one deposit is expected to hold both slots.
- Script and lettering set.A defined style at defined sizes, often flash-priced. Write down the font set. Pitfall: custom lettering is requested at flash terms.
- Small-piece series.A client collects several small pieces from one artist over months, booked as a series with one deposit rolled forward. Pitfall: the deposit is spent by the client's arithmetic before the last piece.
Long-form packages
Long-form package pitfalls
- Half sleeveunplanned gap fades healing
- Full sleeveartist leaves, project walks
- Subscriptionstanding slot treated as optional
- Guest artistnobody does the touch-up
- Conventionvenue rules assumed not checked
- Apprenticeterms the studio sets
- Half sleeve, planned sittings.The full design approved up front, sittings booked in sequence, deposit held to the last. Write down spacing and the exit rule. Pitfall: an unplanned gap lets healing and enthusiasm both fade.
- Full sleeve or back piece.As above with more sittings and a longer calendar commitment. Write down what happens if the artist leaves; in a rental studio this is the clause that matters most, because the artist's book and the half-finished project both walk out with them.
- Sitting subscription.A standing monthly sitting for a large project, deposit per sitting. Write down the notice rule for moving a sitting. Pitfall: the standing slot is treated as optional by the client.
- Guest-artist booking.A session with a visiting artist, deposit paid to the studio or to the guest as the agreement says. Write down who holds the deposit and who handles the touch-up after the guest leaves. Pitfall: nobody does the touch-up. Whether the guest needs a local license is a question for the health department.
- Convention pre-book.Sessions booked for a convention appearance, usually flash or small custom. Write down that the venue's rules apply. Pitfall: the convention's own sterilization and licensing rules are assumed rather than checked.
- Apprentice piece.Work by an apprentice under supervision, at the terms the studio sets, with the supervision arrangement disclosed. Write down that the piece is supervised and by whom. Pitfall: the client is not told, which is both an advertising problem and, in many jurisdictions, a licensing one.
Before offering any of them
Before offering any package
- Confirm station carries the format
- Run the per-hour arithmetic
- Write copy as supportable claims
- Keep ink claims traceable to supplier
- Keep the signed package sheet
- Confirm the station can carry the format. Long sittings need a chair, lighting, and a power layout built for them; the equipment and setup guide and the opening-day equipment checklist cover what a station needs.
- Run the per-hour arithmetic. A format that fills the calendar at a lower rate while the design hours stay the same has moved the loss; the evaluation protocol for service lines shows how to check.
- Write the copy as claims you can support. The Federal Trade Commission's Federal Trade Commission: Advertising FAQs: A Guide for Small Business sets out that advertising must be truthful and substantiated; "finished in three sittings" is a promise about the client's tolerance, so write "planned as three".
- Keep the ink claims honest. The FDA's U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Tattoos, Temporary Tattoos and Permanent Makeup page explains that inks are regulated as cosmetics and how reactions are reported; any statement about ink contents should trace to the supplier.
- Keep the sheet. The signed package sheet sits with the consent form and deposit record, which the Internal Revenue Service: What kind of records should I keep? page treats as part of the records a business must retain.
Common questions
Which of these should a new studio start with?
The ones its artists already do. A studio with a flash-heavy artist starts with formats 1, 3, and 4; a studio built around one custom artist with a waiting list starts with 6, 12, and the consultation product.
Should the list be published as a menu?
Publish the formats the studio actually offers, each with its deposit and touch-up rule. Publishing seventeen invites requests for the ones nobody in the room does.
How is a package priced?
By the same rules as any session: a minimum, a session or hourly basis, and a deposit. A package changes when and how the money arrives, not what an hour is worth.
Can a renter offer packages the studio does not?
In a rental studio the renter sets their own terms, which is why the exit clause matters: the studio should know which of its chairs carry long projects it has not agreed to host.
