The Numbers Don't Lie: What 1,300 Clients Really Think About Booking Tattoos

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The Numbers Don't Lie: What 1,300 Clients Really Think About Booking Tattoos

What 1,300 clients told us about what's broken in the booking process.

January 12, 2025

8 out of 10 people who love an Artist's work never book with them.

That's not a booking problem. That's a business crisis hiding in plain sight.

We surveyed 1,300+ clients to find out where the process breaks down. What we found challenges everything the industry assumes about how booking works—and reveals exactly where Artists lose money without knowing it.

The Two Problems Killing Bookings

Problem 1: Process Chaos

The booking process for most tattoo Artists looks like this: Instagram DMs for initial contact, scattered emails with pricing discussions, text messages about scheduling, then Venmo or PayPal for deposits. Each step is another opportunity for something to go wrong.

Our Client survey revealed the impact: 79% had not booked an Artist they wanted a tattoo from due to unclear pricing, slow Artist responses, overwhelming back-and-forth across multiple apps, and confusion about deposits. Meanwhile, Artists spend more time managing their inbox and chasing down deposits than tattooing. DMs get buried, emails go to spam, and potential Clients interpret slow responses as disinterest.

The administrative tools that work for casual transactions fall apart when applied to permanent art decisions that cost thousands of dollars. This is what professional booking systems solve: everything in one place with organized communication, clear policies, and streamlined payments.

Problem 2: The Client Confidence Crisis

But here's the bigger issue: only 22% of Clients feel confident booking a new Artist.

Think about that. Nearly 8 out of 10 people are nervous about moving forward, even when they love the work. They need reassurance about process, pricing, and legitimacy before they'll commit to something permanent.

We also learned that 13% of Clients have been targeted by tattoo scams. That anxiety follows them into every booking attempt with legitimate Artists.

Here's what that actually looks like: Scammers create fake Instagram accounts impersonating real Artists. They use email addresses one letter off from the legitimate Artist's email. They steal portfolios and pose as professionals, then collect deposits for tattoos that never happen. At least every week, a big-name Artist posts "This IG account isn't me!" or "This email address isn't mine!"