No-show calculator
Your rate, the hours a lost session takes, how many no-shows you get a month, and the deposit you take. See what it costs, and what the deposit keeps.
7 no-shows a month at £560 a session (7 hours at £80).
The deposit kept per no-show is capped at the session, and the sums leave out the drawing time and the client who would have taken the slot.
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Common questions
What does a no-show cost a tattoo artist?
The session you set aside, the drawing you did for it, and sometimes the client who would have taken the slot. At £80 an hour and three hours a session, two no-shows a month is £480 a month and £5,760 a year. Put your own figures in above.
How much of the deposit can I keep after a no-show?
CMA guidance says keeping a prepayment is more likely to be fair when the client is at fault and you keep what you reasonably need to cover your unavoidable costs or the profit you lost. A no-show on the day, with no time to fill the chair, costs you the session, so keeping a modest deposit is far easier to justify than for a cancellation three weeks out.
How much notice is reasonable for a cancellation?
There is no legal rule. We found no law, court decision or official guidance that sets a window for tattooing, so 24 or 48 hours is a business choice, not a legal standard. Pick a window that matches how long it really takes you to fill a slot, and be ready to explain it.
What you can fairly keep is in our guide to no-shows and cancellations. Write the policy with the deposit policy generator.
Where this comes from
The pages the guide reads, checked on 30 October 2026.
Take the deposit without the chasing.
TattooInn takes the deposit for you through your own booking link, at 0% on your own clients.
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