Georgia
Georgia enforces a kept deposit that is a reasonable estimate, made in advance, of a loss that is hard to measure. As the Court of Appeals quotes it, its statute holds the parties to the damages they agree on unless the agreement violates some principle of law, and its Supreme Court looks at 3 things: whether the loss was hard to estimate, whether the parties meant damages rather than a penalty, and whether the sum was a reasonable pre-estimate. The label “non-refundable” decides nothing; the client who breaks the booking has to prove a penalty. A deposit that is the whole remedy for a no-show, sized to what one costs the shop, fits the test.
Does a non-refundable deposit hold up in Georgia?
The law’s word for a set sum agreed in advance is liquidated damages.
Georgia’s statute, O.C.G.A. § 13-6-7, as the Court of Appeals quotes it, binds the parties to the damages they agree on unless the agreement violates some principle of law. The Georgia Supreme Court’s test, from Southeastern Land Fund v. Real Estate World, asks whether the injury was difficult to estimate, whether the parties intended damages rather than a penalty, and whether the sum was a reasonable pre-estimate of the probable loss; the label on the payment does not decide it, and a forfeiture plus actual damages is a penalty. In Turner v. Atlanta Girls’ School, a family paid a $1,823 enrollment deposit that the contract called nonrefundable, then withdrew; the Court of Appeals enforced the clause, which kept the deposit and made the year’s tuition owed, as liquidated damages, and held that the party who defaults has to prove a penalty.
“First, the injury caused by the breach must be difficult or impossible of accurate estimation; second, the parties must intend to provide for damages rather than for a penalty; and third, the sum stipulated must be a reasonable pre-estimate of the probable loss.” Southeastern Land Fund, Inc. v. Real Estate World, Inc., 237 Ga. 227 (1976) · Turner v. Atlanta Girls’ School, Inc., 288 Ga. App. 115 (2007)
Showing your refund policy
No general refund-policy disclosure statute was found. The Fair Business Practices Act, O.C.G.A. §§ 10-1-390 to 10-1-408, in the Attorney General’s copy current through the 2023 session, was searched in full for “refund,” “cancellation policy” and “return policy”; its only refund-disclosure rule is for health spas, which does not reach a tattoo shop. The Attorney General’s consumer answers, both about goods, say stores are not required by law to offer refunds and that online sellers are required to state their return and cancellation policies clearly, naming no statute.
Body-art rules and money
Nothing about deposits, refunds, cancellations, prices or client receipts in Georgia’s Body Art rules, Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. ch. 511-3-8, all 22 rules read in full. Their only money is permit and certification fees and an exam fee, and the client file rule asks for identity, consent, health history and signatures, nothing about payment.
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.