The 5 things to capture before you quote a tattoo
A good quote isn’t a guess — it’s built on five facts. Get these before you reply and you price once, accurately, without the twenty-message back-and-forth.
Most underquoting, overquoting, and ghosting traces back to the same thing: quoting too early, on too little. A one-line “how much for a small rose?”isn’t enough to price, so you either guess or start the slow drip of questions. Here are the five details that make a quote solid every time.
The five
The idea
What do they actually want? Subject, mood, any meaning behind it. This sets the scope of everything else — a single small symbol and a full sleeve concept are different conversations.
The size
Roughly how big, in centimetres. Size drives time, and time drives price more than almost anything else. 'Small' means five different things to five people — a number doesn't.
The placement
Where on the body. Placement changes difficulty, session length, and how a design has to be drawn. Ribs, hands, and inner arms are not the same job.
The style
Fine-line, realism, traditional, blackwork, lettering. Style tells you whether it's even your lane, and how long it'll take you specifically to do it well.
Reference images
One or two pictures that show the direction. References close the gap between what they typed and what they're imagining — and they save you a round of guessing.
The bonus that helps your calendar
Add rough timing— when they’d like it done — and you can quote and slot them in the same reply. Budget is optional; many artists prefer to lead with their own number once they have the five above.
Capture them without the grind
Asking these one by one, by hand, on every DM is the part that burns you out. A guided link does it for you — it walks the client through the idea, size, placement, style, and references, then hands you the finished brief. You skip straight to the price.
FAQ
Should I ask for budget too?
It can help, but it's optional and many artists prefer to lead with their own price. Timing — when they'd like it done — is usually more useful for planning your calendar.
What if they don't know the size or placement yet?
Then that's the conversation to have before quoting, not after. A rough range is enough to start; you refine at consult. Quoting on nothing helps no one.
Isn't this a lot to ask in a DM?
In a manual DM, yes — it's exhausting for both sides. That's exactly why a guided intake works better: it asks one thing at a time and feels like a conversation, not a form.
Why this matters more than speed: answering faster won’t fix your bookings. The full model: how AI booking works.
Let the link gather all five
Bookink’s AI asks for exactly these — idea, size, placement, style, references — in a friendly chat, 24/7, then drops the finished brief in your WhatsApp. You quote in seconds.
Start free — 30 days, no card