Ohio
Ohio enforces a clear keep-the-deposit term when the shop’s loss from a no-show is hard to prove, the amount is in proportion to that loss, and the words are plain and placed where the client sees them before agreeing. In Lake Ridge Academy v. Carney, the Ohio Supreme Court made a parent pay a full year’s tuition after he cancelled past the contract’s deadline; the clause was in plain English and normal print, with its key sentence right above the signature. Ohio also has a deposit rule for services: a dated written receipt when the deposit is paid, stating what it is for, the price, the deposit and whether it is refundable.
Does a non-refundable deposit hold up in Ohio?
The law’s word for a set sum agreed in advance is liquidated damages.
The Ohio Supreme Court states its test in Lake Ridge Academy v. Carney: an amount the parties agreed on in clear terms is liquidated damages and not a penalty if the damages would be uncertain and hard to prove, the contract as a whole is not so plainly unfair, unreasonable and out of proportion that it cannot be what the parties truly meant, and they intended that amount to follow a breach. A penalty is marked by its lack of proportion to the damage a breach could actually cause. In Lake Ridge, a parent who reserved a private school place with a deposit and cancelled after the contract’s August 1 date owed the full year’s tuition: the school’s loss was hard to prove, and the clause was legible, in plain English and full-size print, with its key sentence right above the signature lines.
“Where the parties have agreed on the amount of damages ... and have expressed this agreement in clear and unambiguous terms, the amount so fixed should be treated as liquidated damages and not as a penalty, if the damages would be (1) uncertain as to amount and difficult of proof ...” Lake Ridge Academy v. Carney, 66 Ohio St.3d 376 (1993)
Showing your refund policy
Ohio Administrative Code 109:4-3-07, the Attorney General’s deposit rule under the Consumer Sales Practices Act, reaches a deposit for services, and a tattoo is a consumer transaction under section 1345.01 of the Ohio Revised Code. When the deposit is paid, the shop must give the client a dated written receipt stating clearly and conspicuously what the deposit is for, the cash selling price and the deposit amount, any discount, how long the booking holds, whether the deposit is refundable and on what conditions, and any added cost. Taking a deposit without one is a deceptive act, and the client can undo the transaction or recover 3 times their actual economic damages or $200, whichever is greater, plus up to $5,000 in noneconomic damages, for harm that is not a loss of money. It is a receipt rule, not a rule about posting a sign.
“At the time of the initial deposit the supplier must provide to the consumer a dated written receipt stating clearly and conspicuously the following information: ... The cash selling price and the amount of the deposit ... Whether the deposit is refundable and under what conditions” Ohio Adm. Code 109:4-3-07 · Ohio Revised Code 1345.01 · Ohio Revised Code 1345.09
- Your client’s receipt email goes out the moment they pay. It carries the deposit, the fee and the total when they paid it, the whole policy they agreed to, and the line saying until when they can reschedule and keep the deposit.
- The receipt does not carry the price of the tattoo or piercing itself, and the pay screen says the final price is set at the appointment and the deposit comes off it. A shop that wants the price in front of the client before they pay, and on the receipt after, writes it in the note on that client’s own deposit link: the pay screen shows the note, and the receipt carries it.
Body-art rules and money
Nothing about deposits, refunds, prices or payment records in Ohio Revised Code chapter 3730 or Ohio Administrative Code chapter 3701-9. The only fees are the board of health’s own, and the procedure record is the client’s name and address, the date, the inks, the jewelry and the placement.
Read: Ohio Revised Code chapter 3730 · Ohio Adm. Code chapter 3701-9
What reaches your deposit page
The 8-week rule reaches a session the shop pushes back
Ohio Administrative Code 109:4-3-09 makes it deceptive to take money for services, online or otherwise, and let 8 weeks pass without doing any of 4 things: delivering, making a full refund, telling the client how long the delay will be and offering a refund within 2 weeks if they ask, or providing a substitute the client agreed to. The rule is written about delay, and the clear case is a session the shop pushes back so that 8 weeks pass after the deposit. A shop that pushes a session back that far tells the client how long the delay will be and offers to send a refund within 2 weeks if the client asks, or makes a full refund.
“To accept money from a consumer for goods or services ... and then permit eight weeks to elapse without ... Making a full refund ... Advising the consumer of the duration of an extended delay and offering to send the consumer a refund within two weeks if the consumer so requests” Ohio Adm. Code 109:4-3-09
This 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.