What To Expect
Costs
What removal actually costs and why the number you were quoted isn’t always the number you’ll pay.
Tattoo removal costs are quoted per session, but the number that matters is the total. And that’s a number that no one can tell you with certainty on day one. Size, color, and your own skin all affect the price. Plus insurance almost never touches it, since removal is considered cosmetic.
What tattoo removal actually costs will walk you through it in more detail.
Breaking down the numbers
$200–$500
Per session
The figure clinics advertise and the smallest true number they can print. Size and location of your tattoo will change the price.
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Six to twelve sessions
Nobody can tell you the number of sessions on day one. Your ink, your colors, and your skin will decide that.
$1,200+
What it actually totals
Do the arithmetic and a course runs from around a thousand dollars into five figures for a large, colored piece.
$0
What insurance covers
Removal is classed as cosmetic, so it mostly comes out of pocket. There are some narrow exceptions though.
The $200 to $500 range reflects everyday clinic and industry pricing across the US. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons puts its member-surgeon average higher, at $697 a session (surgeon’s fee only). Session counts are from StatPearls, “Laser Tattoo Removal,” published by the National Library of Medicine. Prices vary widely by region and by tattoo.
Everything in this section
Every variable that moves the price and who pays for what.
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Do You Qualify for Free Tattoo Removal?
Recently in the financing article I highlighted the fact that there are free tattoo removal programs out there. These programs are mostly for people with needs that go beyond your ordinary run-of-the-mill tattoo regret. The needs vary but some quick examples are former gang members, people coming home from prison, former members of hate groups who want […]
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Financing Tattoo Removal: Things to Know Before You Sign Anything
Tattoo removal costs add up. The reason is that the many sessions are spread across a year or sometimes more. How the clinics structure that price, per session or as a prepaid package, is something I recently wrote about. This article is about what else is available to you to help with costs: payment plans, medical […]
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Does Insurance Cover Tattoo Removal?
If you’re hoping insurance will help pay to remove a tattoo, I have news. It probably won’t. Health insurance is built to cover care that treats illness or injury and removing a tattoo you no longer want is considered cosmetic. And that one word — cosmetic — is what stands between you and insurance picking […]
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Per-Session vs. Package: How Tattoo Removal Is Actually Priced
Start pricing tattoo removal and you’ll quickly run into two very different ways of paying for it. One clinic quotes you a price per session and you pay as you go. Another offers a single flat price that covers however many sessions it takes. The two can produce very different totals for the same tattoo, […]
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How Tattoo Size Affects Removal Cost
Ask what tattoo removal costs and any provider will answer with a question of their own: how big is it? Jokes aside, of all the things that change the price, size is almost always the biggest factor. It’s bigger than the design or how complicated the tattoo looks. A small wrist tattoo and a full […]
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The Cost of Tattoo Removal from Beginning to End
“How much will my tattoo removal cost?” is the hardest thing to get a straight answer to from a clinic. I’ve noticed that it’s the status quo for most clinics’ pricing pages to show you a per-session rate that sounds manageable. I get it. One, they have no idea how many sessions it will take, […]
