Tattoo booth rent vs commission: compare the same month

Photo: Romain Noiry / RamOne Tattoo. The example costs below do not describe this studio.

By the needlz team. This is a worksheet for a tattoo artist comparing shop offers, or a studio owner explaining one. Romain Noiry, whose workstation is pictured, is a needlz cofounder. The dollar amounts in the worked example are invented for this guide.

Write down what the shop’s share buys

In a public discussion about shop rates, an artist asked whether to negotiate their split or move to booth rent. Their shop supplied almost everything except needles, and they asked what happens to rent when they take a week off. We replied there as the needlz team.

The supplies can change with the arrangement. Lunar Tattoo Studio lists weekly booth rent with artists supplying their own disposables, apart from named exceptions. Its commission option includes standard disposables and specified extras. That is one studio’s published offer, checked on 11 November 2026, rather than a rule for other shops.

• Name the supplies: needles or cartridges, inks, gloves, barriers, stencil supplies and aftercare. “Everything included” needs a list.
• Ask who answers enquiries, books clients and takes payments. If that work becomes yours, allow time for it alongside drawing and tattooing.
• Separate promotion from bookings. Ask what the studio actually provides: a listing, posts, paid ads or someone handling enquiries. Do not count promised appointments as booked work.
• Check the rent period, access hours, storage, notice, and what you owe during holidays or guest spots. Get those terms with the quote.

Use takings before the shop’s cut

For a first comparison, pick three actual months: quiet, ordinary and busy. For each, record the tattoo takings at that shop before its percentage was deducted. Use the same figure for every offer you are comparing. Your best week multiplied by four is a fairly optimistic month.

Write the split in words: “shop keeps 40%, artist keeps 60%”. A bare “60/40” leaves room for an expensive misunderstanding. Confirm how the shop treats tips, refunds, card fees, taxes collected from clients and deposits. Use that agreed basis throughout; a payment counted as a deposit must not appear again as a new payment in the final balance.

Keep guest-spot earnings separate if the home shop’s percentage does not apply to them. If the fixed rent still runs while you are away, leave that rent in the comparison. A week on the road can change the result even when your total month looks busy.

Run the offers through those months

Suppose you are comparing a 40% shop share, a proposed 30% share with the same inclusions, and $1,500 monthly booth rent. Under the rental offer, you would also buy some disposables the percentage shop currently supplies. In this invented example, those extra supplies cost $100, $200 or $300 as the work increases.

In the quiet month, rent plus the new supplies costs $400 more than the 40% share. In the busy month, it costs $1,800 less. Neither result tells you what the new studio will book for you. This comparison holds the tattoo takings constant so you can see what the offer itself changes.

Find where the two costs meet

For the ordinary-month assumptions above, rent plus extra supplies is $1,700. Divide by the shop’s share as a decimal: $1,700 ÷ 0.40 = $4,250. At $4,250 of tattoo takings, the 40% cut also costs $1,700. Against a 30% share, the same calculation gives about $5,667.

That crossing point assumes the extra supplies still cost $200. Recalculate when those costs change. It compares these two offers; working out whether your whole business covers its costs also needs your other expenses, taxes and pay. The SBA’s break-even guide explains the broader calculation.

Check for minimums and caps before using a straight percentage. For example, Thorns publishes a guest rate of 30%, with an $80 daily minimum and a $200 daily cap, checked on 11 November 2026. Those terms apply to guests. You would calculate each day under its terms, then add the days; multiplying the month’s takings by 30% would miss the minimum and cap.

Put the calendar beside the numbers

Before switching, look at where the appointments in those months came from. Which clients asked for you, and which were booked through the studio? Keep the source as unknown when you cannot tell. A shop that handles enquiries or brings clients may be doing work you will need to replace; put that question to the new studio before assuming the same takings.

Then check when payments leave your account. Weekly rent still has a due date when a client moves their appointment. Ask about the upfront payment and notice period, and leave time for drawing, ordering and booking when planning how many sessions you can take. For the price you charge the client, use the separate tattoo-pricing guide.

The app is available on the App Store, with Android coming soon. The product overview explains the workflow.

Take this sheet to the next studio