How to read a tattoo quote before accepting it

A message arrives with a figure and a question about whether it works for you. Almost everybody replies by looking only at that number, and it is the part that tells you least, because a price with no scope attached cannot be compared to anything: not to another studio, and not to what you had in your head.

What can be read is the structure. A complete quote answers six questions, and the ones missing are exactly the ones that will produce an awkward conversation later.

The six fields you are looking for

The document does not have to be formal. A well-written message with these six things is worth more than a PDF with a letterhead and no scope.

"Expected" is the key word

If the quote says "2 expected sessions", it is saying something honest: the artist reckons on two and a third might be needed. That is not a trick; on large pieces it is impossible to know in advance.

What you do need to ask is what happens in that case: whether the third is charged separately, at what rate, and whether it is decided with you before being booked. With that answer in writing, the uncertainty stops being a risk.

An example, with invented figures

The quote below is fictional and only shows the shape. The amounts are not a market reference and not guidance on what you should pay in Chile: every studio works out its own from its time and its costs.

Quote · Example Studio · 11 November 2026

• Work: floral composition in black and grey, based on the references sent on 8 November.
• Placement: outer left forearm.
• Approximate size: 18 × 10 cm.
• Expected sessions: 2 of 3 hours each.
• Design revisions included: 2, up to 5 days before the first session.
• Total: 260,000 CLP, includes design and materials.
• Deposit to hold the date: 80,000 CLP, deducted from the total.
• Validity: 30 days.
• Date changes: with 72 hours notice or more, the deposit carries over.

The questions that complete an incomplete quote

If something is missing, it does not need redoing from scratch. Just ask:

• "Does the total include the design, or is that charged separately?"
• "Are the 2 sessions an estimate or a commitment? What would happen if a third were needed?"
• "How many sketch changes are included, and until when can I ask for them?"
• "How long do you hold this price for?"
• "If I have to move the date, how much notice do you need and what happens to the deposit?"

These are ordinary questions and a studio that works tidily answers them in one message. Finding them hard to ask is normal; a studio finding them annoying to answer should not be.

Signs it is worth slowing down

• The quote is a figure and nothing else, and asking for detail produces none.
• You are pressed to pay the deposit the same day because "it is the last slot".
• The amount changes between messages without the work having changed.
• You are asked to pay an account in the name of somebody with no apparent connection to the studio, with no explanation.

None of these on its own means something is wrong. All of them justify one more question before transferring.

Accepting, and what happens next

When you reply to accept, do it in writing and on the quote message, not in a separate conversation. Keep a copy outside the social media chat: those conversations get archived and sometimes lost.

From there, what normally happens is that they ask for the deposit to hold the date and send back a message with the day, the time and the artist. That message is your confirmation; your payment receipt, on its own, is not.

• ✓The six fields are there, or you have asked about the ones missing
• ✓You know whether the sessions are an estimate or a commitment
• ✓You know how many design revisions are included
• ✓You have checked that the total minus the deposit adds up
• ✓You know how long the quoted price holds
• ✓You have a copy of the quote outside the chat

About currency and payment

A quote being in Chilean pesos tells you which currency the studio calculates in, and nothing more. It does not tell you how you will pay: that is the studio decision and it is usually a transfer, payment at the studio, or whatever method they use. Ask which they accept before assuming anything, and do not take a formal-looking quote as evidence that a payment gateway exists.

Related: what to send when you ask for a quote, what to ask before paying the deposit, how to choose an artist beyond a single photo, and what changes between a flash and a custom design.