Mississippi
Yes, when the amount is reasonable and proportionate to what a missed appointment costs the shop. Mississippi lets the parties’ intent decide whether an agreed sum is damages or a penalty, so a written policy the client agrees to before paying, with the deposit amount stated, shows that intent. The shop does not have to prove how it arrived at the number; a client who disputes it has to show it is unjust, oppressive or disproportionate. Sizing the deposit to the cost of a missed appointment, rather than to the full price of the tattoo, keeps it proportionate.
Does a non-refundable deposit hold up in Mississippi?
The law’s word for a set sum agreed in advance is liquidated damages.
No Mississippi statute governs liquidated damages in a service contract, so the common law, the rules courts build case by case, does, and the parties’ intent comes first. In Hovas Construction, Inc. v. Board of Trustees of Western Line Consolidated School District, a contractor agreed to pay $500 for each day a school building ran past its completion date, and the Court of Appeals upheld the $19,500 the school withheld, holding the $500 a day reasonable and proportionate to the project’s overall costs and not a penalty. An agreed sum stands unless there is evidence that it is unjust, oppressive or disproportionate to the damage a breach would cause, and the side keeping it does not have to show how it estimated the amount.
“According to Mississippi law, the intention of the parties will control to determine whether a provision of a contract is for liquidated damages or for a penalty. ... Mississippi law does not require such evidence of a pre-estimation, only that the amount be reasonable and proportionate.” Hovas Construction, Inc. v. Board of Trustees of Western Line Consolidated School District, 111 So. 3d 663 (Miss. Ct. App. 2012)
Showing your refund policy
No refund-policy disclosure statute was found. The chapter list of Title 75 of the Mississippi Code, which holds the consumer statutes, and the full list of practices the Consumer Protection Act prohibits were read, and web searches were run for a return-policy posting law; Title 75 has no refund-policy chapter, and the Act lists no refund-policy practice.
Body-art rules and money
Nothing about deposits or refunds in the Department of Health’s rule for registering tattoo artists and body piercers. Its only money is the registration fee paid to the Department and fines, and the consent form it requires, kept 2 years, asks for 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.