deposits.tattoo

Do non‑refundable tattoo deposits hold up?

In nearly every state, a kept deposit holds when it was a reasonable estimate, made when the client agreed, of a loss that is hard to measure. It fails when it works as a penalty. The words differ from state to state, and so does who has to prove it. No state has a deposit rule written for tattoo shops.

Find your stateHow a card dispute over a no-show is decided

What the states share

2 things
  1. 1

    A reasonable estimate

    The deposit is a reasonable estimate of a loss that is hard to measure, agreed before your client paid.

  2. 2

    Never a penalty

    A deposit that works as a penalty fails, in every state, whatever the policy calls it.

Where the states differ

In most states the rule comes from the courts; a few write it into a statute, among them California, Georgia, Louisiana, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota. Where the research settled who has to prove it, the client carries that burden in 16 states and the shop in North Dakota and Texas; in the rest, the cases read do not say. Some look at the actual loss too: in New Hampshire a deposit can fail when the actual loss is minimal and easy to prove, Missouri wants some actual harm shown, Wisconsin’s courts weigh the actual loss as well, and in Hawaii a kept sum has to bear a reasonable relation to the actual loss. Only 4 state body-art rules touch a client’s money at all: Minnesota, Missouri, South Carolina and Washington.

Where a card dispute is decided

For a card dispute, the card networks matter more than any state.

When a client disputes a no-show deposit with their bank, the card networks’ rules decide the card dispute. Visa asks a shop that limits refunds to show its cancellation policy before checkout, with a box the client ticks. Visa’s and American Express’s rules both require a full refund when the shop cancels. And when a client disputes the charge, the bank asks for proof that the policy was shown and agreed to before they paid. Visa Core Rules 5.4.2.5 and 5.8.11.1

  • Your policy, ticked before Pay. Every client ticks your whole deposit policy, and Pay stays off until they do. The deposit keeps the exact words and the moment they agreed.
  • A dispute reaches you. When a client disputes a deposit, you get an email with the date to respond by, and you answer it from your dashboard.
  • deposits.tattoo refuses a policy that signs disputes away. One that asks a client to give up their right to dispute the charge with their bank is refused when you save it.

Find your state

51 written up

Refund law is a state’s law on posting or showing a refund policy: reaches services means its words cover a service such as a tattoo deposit, goods only means it is written for things a shop sells, such as jewelry and aftercare, and not a deposit, and none found means the research found no such law. A city’s own rule, such as New York City’s, is on the state’s page.

51 states
ALAlabamaKept deposit Holds only if it passes 3 tests; a doubtful clause is read as a penaltyRefund law none foundAKAlaskaKept deposit Holds only if the loss was hard to work out and the amount a reasonable forecastRefund law none foundAZArizonaKept deposit Holds if reasonable against the loss expected or actually taken; the client proves a penaltyRefund law none foundARArkansasKept deposit Holds if, judged when agreed, the loss was hard to measure and the amount proportionateRefund law none foundCACaliforniaKept deposit Void unless the loss is very hard to measure and the amount a reasonable estimateRefund law reaches servicesCOColoradoKept deposit Holds if a reasonable estimate when agreed; client proves a penalty unless lopsided on its faceRefund law none foundCTConnecticutKept deposit Holds if a fair estimate of the loss; a penalty can be illegal even when disclosedRefund law goods onlyDEDelawareKept deposit Holds if the loss was uncertain and the amount reasonable; void if unrelated to any lossRefund law none foundDCDistrict of ColumbiaKept deposit Holds only if proportionate to the foreseeable loss; courts are most skeptical of take-it-or-leave-it termsRefund law none foundFLFloridaKept deposit Holds as the whole remedy for a hard-to-measure loss, if not grossly out of proportionRefund law goods onlyGAGeorgiaKept deposit Holds as a reasonable pre-estimate of a hard-to-measure loss; the client must prove a penaltyRefund law none foundHIHawaiiKept deposit Kept only if reasonably related to actual loss, absent bad faith; real-estate cases onlyRefund law goods onlyIDIdahoKept deposit Holds if reasonably related to a hard-to-measure loss; the client must prove otherwiseRefund law none foundILIllinoisKept deposit Holds as a reasonable forecast of a hard-to-prove loss; “forfeit” points to a penaltyRefund law none foundINIndianaKept deposit Holds as fair compensation for a hard-to-measure loss; unclear wording reads against the shopRefund law none foundIAIowaKept deposit Holds only as a reasonable estimate of the loss, agreed up front, never as punishmentRefund law none foundKSKansasKept deposit Holds if reasonable when agreed and damages hard to work out; the client proves a penaltyRefund law none foundKYKentuckyKept deposit Courts favor it; struck if grossly disproportionate or unreasonably large for the lossRefund law none foundLALouisianaKept deposit Holds as agreed damages with no proof of loss; changed only if plainly unreasonableRefund law none foundMEMaineKept deposit Holds as a good-faith, reasonable forecast of a loss that is very hard to estimateRefund law none foundMDMarylandKept deposit Holds as a clear sum, reasonable when agreed; a $1,000 non-refundable deposit was upheldRefund law goods onlyMAMassachusettsKept deposit Holds if a reasonable forecast, at booking, of a hard-to-measure loss; the client must prove otherwiseRefund law reaches servicesMIMichiganKept deposit Holds if reasonable to the possible loss; 65 percent of a resort booking’s revenue was upheldRefund law none foundMNMinnesotaKept deposit Holds as a reasonable forecast of a hard-to-measure loss, not easy costs or overheadRefund law goods onlyMSMississippiKept deposit Holds if reasonable and proportionate; the client must show it unjust or disproportionateRefund law none foundMOMissouriKept deposit Holds only as a reasonable forecast, and only when the shop shows some actual harmRefund law none foundMTMontanaKept deposit Holds unless the client proves it one-sided and unfair; the statute still wants a hard-to-measure lossRefund law none foundNENebraskaKept deposit Holds if the loss is hard to pin down and the amount a reasonable estimateRefund law none foundNVNevadaKept deposit Holds unless the client proves it disproportionate to the shop’s actual lossRefund law reaches servicesNHNew HampshireKept deposit Holds if reasonable at booking; fails if the actual loss is minimal and easy to proveRefund law none foundNJNew JerseyKept deposit Holds only as a reasonable forecast of the real loss, not the full priceRefund law goods onlyNMNew MexicoKept deposit Kept only if the parties intended it, as compensation rather than a forfeitRefund law none foundNYNew YorkKept deposit Holds if in reasonable proportion to the probable loss; the client proves a penaltyRefund law goods onlyNCNorth CarolinaKept deposit Holds as written if clearly worded, the slot was held and the shop not at faultRefund law none foundNDNorth DakotaKept deposit A pre-set sum is void unless the loss is hard to measure; the shop proves itRefund law none foundOHOhioKept deposit Holds if the loss is hard to prove, the amount in proportion, the words plainRefund law reaches servicesOKOklahomaKept deposit Void unless the loss is impracticable or extremely difficult to measure and the sum reasonableRefund law none foundOROregonKept deposit Holds only if reasonable against the harm; a rule-of-thumb sum grossly above the loss failedRefund law none foundPAPennsylvaniaKept deposit Kept only where the amount is reasonable and the harm is hard to assessRefund law none foundRIRhode IslandKept deposit Holds if the whole agreement shows the parties meant compensation, not a penaltyRefund law goods onlySCSouth CarolinaKept deposit Holds if meant to measure the loss and not plainly out of proportion to itRefund law none foundSDSouth DakotaKept deposit Holds only where the loss is extremely difficult to measure; the client must prove a penaltyRefund law none foundTNTennesseeKept deposit Holds if a reasonable estimate at booking; refilling the slot later does not matterRefund law goods onlyTXTexasKept deposit Holds as a reasonable forecast of a hard-to-estimate loss; the shop shows it was oneRefund law none foundUTUtahKept deposit Presumed to hold; the client must prove a defense such as fraud or unfairly one-sided termsRefund law reaches servicesVTVermontKept deposit Holds only as compensation for a hard-to-calculate loss, never as pressure to show upRefund law goods onlyVAVirginiaKept deposit Holds, even labeled non-refundable, unless the loss was certain or the amount out of all proportionRefund law goods onlyWAWashingtonKept deposit Holds as a reasonable forecast of a hard-to-measure loss, even if the slot is refilledRefund law none foundWVWest VirginiaKept deposit Holds if reasonable when booked; a penalty if grossly disproportional to the real lossRefund law none foundWIWisconsinKept deposit Holds if reasonable in all the circumstances; courts look at the actual loss tooRefund law reaches servicesWYWyomingKept deposit Holds only if the loss is hard to estimate, meant as compensation, and a reasonable pre-estimateRefund law none found

Where a state’s law reaches your deposit page

20 states

In these states a statute or rule reaches the pay screen, the receipt or the written policy itself. Each page says what the law asks, what deposits.tattoo does about it wherever the pay screen or the receipt can answer it, and, where the product falls short of a rule, what a shop can do itself.

Each page summarizes public law in plain language, with the source each point comes from, read at the source on 2026-09-23. It is not legal advice.

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