Massachusetts
Yes, when the amount was a reasonable forecast, on the day the client agreed, of a loss that was hard to pin down. Massachusetts looks only at the moment of contracting, not at what happened after, and the client who challenges the deposit carries the burden. A no-show’s cost is hard to measure in advance, since the slot may not refill and work may already be prepared, which fits the rule’s first test; the amount still has to be a reasonable forecast of that loss on the day the client agrees. Separately, the Attorney General’s rules want the exact cancellation policy disclosed before the client pays, and a shop that promises a refund when it cancels has to pay it.
Does a non-refundable deposit hold up in Massachusetts?
The law’s word for a set sum agreed in advance is liquidated damages.
No Massachusetts statute governs liquidated damages in a service contract, so the common law, the rules courts build case by case, does. In Kelly v. Marx, a home purchase deposit, the Supreme Judicial Court judged the clause as of the time the agreement was made and refused a second look at actual damages after the breach. In NPS, LLC v. Minihane, a consumer who defaulted on a 10-year license for Patriots seats, the court put the burden on the party challenging the clause and held that, for an enforceable clause, it does not matter whether the loss was later reduced, so refilling a slot afterward does not undo a valid deposit; where damages are easy to measure and the amount grossly out of proportion or unfairly excessive, it awards no more than actual damages.
“A liquidated damages provision will usually be enforced, provided two criteria are satisfied: first, that at the time of contracting the actual damages flowing from a breach were difficult to ascertain; and second, that the sum agreed on ... represents a 'reasonable forecast of damages expected to occur in the event of a breach.'” Kelly v. Marx, 428 Mass. 877 (1999) · NPS, LLC v. Minihane, 451 Mass. 417 (2008)
Showing your refund policy
The Attorney General’s rule 940 CMR 3.13(4), in the Code of Massachusetts Regulations (CMR), makes it unfair and deceptive to fail to disclose, clearly and conspicuously and before the transaction, the exact nature and extent of a seller’s refund, return or cancellation policy, to misrepresent that policy, or to fail to keep a promise made to a buyer about refunds, returns or cancellations. It reaches services, because 940 CMR 3.01 defines a product to include them, and 940 CMR 3.13(1)(a) makes it unfair to fail to disclose to a buyer, before any agreement, the price or cost of any services to be provided. A client can sue under Chapter 93A, the state’s law against unfair and deceptive practices, for actual damages or $25, whichever is greater, or 2 to 3 times that for a willful or knowing violation, after a written demand mailed at least 30 days before filing.
“To fail to clearly and conspicuously disclose to a buyer, prior to the consummation of a transaction, the exact nature and extent of the seller's refund, return, or cancellation policy” 940 CMR 3.13 · 940 CMR 3.01 · M.G.L. c. 93A, § 9
- Your whole deposit policy is on the pay screen above a box your client ticks, and the Pay button stays off until they tick it. The deposit keeps the exact words and the moment they agreed.
- The default deposit policy says your client gets the whole deposit back if you have to cancel, and a full refund from your dashboard returns everything they paid, the fee included when they paid it.
- The receipt does not carry the price of the tattoo or piercing itself, and the pay screen says the final price is set at the appointment and the deposit comes off it. A shop that wants the price in front of the client before they pay, and on the receipt after, writes it in the note on that client’s own deposit link: the pay screen shows the note, and the receipt carries it.
Body-art rules and money
Nothing about client deposits, cancellations, refunds, receipts or prices in the 2 body art regulations read, Boston’s and Haverhill’s. Massachusetts has no state permit; each city or town’s board of health adopts its own body art rules, and the only money in these 2 is permit and exam fees, fines, and invoices or packing slips kept as the record of supplies.
Read: Boston Public Health Commission, Body Art Regulations · Haverhill Board of Health, Body Art regulation
What reaches your deposit page
The total price, every fee included, must be the most prominent price
940 CMR 38.00, the Attorney General’s rule on fees in the price, makes it unfair and deceptive to leave out the Total Price, the most a consumer must pay with every fee and charge included, whenever a price is shown; to ask for any personal information, billing details included, before showing it; or to show any other price more prominently. At the final price screen, the amount of the transaction has to be the most prominent number.
“at the time of the initial presentation of the price of any Product, or any subsequent presentation thereafter, the Total Price” 940 CMR 38.04
- You can pay the $3.99 fee yourself: it is one switch in Set-up, the second tab of Deposits in your dashboard. Then your client pays exactly the deposit and sees no fee anywhere, so every amount on your deposit page is exactly what your client pays. When your client pays the fee instead, the pay screen lists the deposit, the fee and the total, and the Pay button says the total, but the buttons on your deposit page show the deposit alone.
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.