Missouri
Missouri enforces a kept deposit as liquidated damages, a sum agreed in advance, but it adds a step most states skip. The amount has to be a reasonable forecast, made at booking, of a harm that is very difficult to measure, and before keeping it the shop has to show the no-show caused at least some actual harm, such as a slot that went unsold or drawing time spent. Calling a deposit “non-refundable” settles nothing; a Missouri court looks past the label to what the term does. For a shop’s policy, that means a deposit sized to what a missed appointment costs, and a note, for each deposit kept, of what that no-show actually cost.
Does a non-refundable deposit hold up in Missouri?
The law’s word for a set sum agreed in advance is liquidated damages.
No Missouri statute governs liquidated damages in a service contract, so the courts apply the test of the Restatement of Contracts, a legal treatise: a reasonable forecast of just compensation for a harm that is impossible or very hard to estimate accurately, not unreasonably disproportionate to the harm anticipated when the contract was made. Missouri adds a step: the business asking to keep the money must show at least some actual harm from the breach, or the clause becomes a penalty. In Arcese v. Daniel Schmitt & Co. (2016), a car sale decided under that same test, a buyer backed out after paying $7,000 on an order that called for a $1,500 non-refundable deposit, and the Court of Appeals upheld the $7,000 as liquidated damages, with the dealer’s roughly $11,020 in lost profit as the actual harm. The court said a label does not make a clause liquidated damages.
“In Missouri, before triggering a liquidated damages provision, our courts have 'consistently' held that the party requesting enforcement of the liquidated damages provision 'must show at least some actual harm or damage caused by the breach.'” Arcese v. Daniel Schmitt & Co., 504 S.W.3d 772 (Mo. Ct. App. 2016)
Showing your refund policy
No refund-policy disclosure statute was found. The Merchandising Practices Act (§ 407.020) was read, and so were the Attorney General’s rules under it on advertising, unfair practices and fraudulent or omissive practices (15 CSR 60-7, 60-8 and 60-9), none of which mentions refunds, cancellations or a return policy. A search for a Missouri posting law turned up none.
Body-art rules and money
The Office of Tattooing, Body Piercing and Branding’s rules (20 CSR 2267-1 to 2267-4) cover licensing, fees and establishment standards and say nothing about client deposits, cancellations, refunds or receipts. The licensing statute is where money comes in: the division can file a complaint against a licensee for obtaining, or trying to obtain, a fee by fraud, deception or misrepresentation, and for an advertisement that is false, misleading or deceptive.
“Obtaining or attempting to obtain any fee, charge, tuition, or other compensation by fraud, deception, or misrepresentation” RSMo § 324.523 · 20 CSR 2267-1
- 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.
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.