Delaware
In Delaware a kept deposit holds when the loss from a missed appointment was uncertain when the client agreed and the amount is reasonable, the parties’ best guess of that loss. It fails if the amount is unconscionable, meaning grossly unfair, or not rationally related to any loss the shop might suffer, and then it is void and the shop is left proving its actual loss. So a policy that ties the amount to the held time and the drawing work, and says so, is on firmer ground than a flat forfeiture of a large prepayment.
Does a non-refundable deposit hold up in Delaware?
The law’s word for a set sum agreed in advance is liquidated damages.
The Delaware Supreme Court, in Delaware Bay Surgical Services v. Swier (2006), applies a 2-part test: the damages from a breach must be uncertain or impossible to calculate accurately, and the amount must be reasonable; to fail, the amount must be unconscionable or not rationally related to any damage a party might conceivably suffer. Swier draws the line this way: liquidated damages are the parties’ best guess, agreed when they made the contract, of the loss a breach would cause, while a penalty is a punishment for default, owed whatever the damage, and is void, leaving only actual damages. The court cited the same test again in a 2025 order, Caruso v. Barton.
“Where [1] the damages are uncertain and [2] the amount agreed upon is reasonable, such an agreement will not be disturbed. ... [T]o fail the second prong ... the amount at issue must be unconscionable or not rationally related to any measure of damages a party might conceivably sustain.” Delaware Bay Surgical Services, P.A. v. Swier, 900 A.2d 646 (Del. 2006) · Caruso v. Barton, No. 350, 2024 (Del. May 2, 2025) (order)
Showing your refund policy
No refund-policy disclosure law was found. Every page of Title 6 of the Delaware Code (Commerce and Trade, 209 chapter and subchapter pages) was searched for “refund policy”, “return policy”, “refund or exchange”, “exchange policy”, “no refund” and “cancellation policy”. The only hits are in the telemarketing chapter, where a telemarketer must disclose its refund and cancellation terms before asking for payment; that covers telephone sales calls, not a shop’s deposit page.
Body-art rules and money
Nothing about deposits or refunds in the state’s Body Art Establishments regulation (16 Del. Admin. Code 4451, sections 1.0 to 7.0). Its only money is the $100 permit fee and a plan review fee, paid to the Division of Public Health, which issues the permit.
Read: 16 Del. Admin. Code 4451
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.