The Show-Me Ink Standard

The standard every artist on Show-Me Ink is held to — and every client can hold us to.

Show-Me Ink matches people with tattoo artists in Missouri. Anybody can build a list of artists. A standard is what makes a match mean something. This document states, in plain language, what an artist must be to receive Show-Me Ink clients, what a client is promised on every match, and what happens when the standard isn't met.

I. The Artist Standard

An artist may receive Show-Me Ink matches only while all of the following are true:

  1. Licensed. The artist holds a current Missouri tattoo license and works in a licensed establishment. No license, no matches — no exceptions.
  2. Personally vetted. Every artist is reviewed and approved by a working tattoo artist — not an algorithm and not a salesperson. The portfolio is examined for consistent, healed-quality work in the styles the artist claims.
  3. Honest specialty. An artist is matched only to work inside their demonstrated strengths. An artist who does not do a style well does not get sent clients for it.
  4. Stable practice. The artist works from an established shop with a real address and a track record — clients are never sent to a moving target.
  5. Standing. The artist's reputation with clients and shops is checked at approval and kept under review. Completion matters: an artist's history of finishing what they start is part of their standing, always.

II. The Client Standard

Every client matched through Show-Me Ink is promised:

  1. A qualified match, free. Matching costs the client nothing. The client describes the piece; Show-Me Ink qualifies the request and sends it only to artists who fit it.
  2. Real quotes, honored. Quotes come from real artists who have seen the request. The price quoted is the price charged, absent a design change the client agrees to.
  3. Honest deposits. A booking deposit is optional, is credited in full toward the price of the tattoo, and is refunded if no match is made. It is never a fee for matching.
  4. Aftercare in hand. Every completed match includes professional aftercare provided at the appointment, so the work is cared for from day one.
  5. A person accountable. If something goes wrong — a no-show, a misquote, work that doesn't match the promise — there is a named human being responsible for making it right. That accountability is the platform's job, not the client's problem.

III. The Artist's Commitments

In exchange for receiving matched clients, the artist commits to:

  1. Respond in the window. Quote requests expire (24 hours; 12 on rush matches). Silence loses the lead.
  2. Honor the quote. The price given through the platform is the price at the chair.
  3. One client, one commitment. A matched appointment is kept. A cancellation is communicated to the client and to Show-Me Ink immediately.
  4. Licensed premises, professional practice. All work under a match is performed in the artist's licensed establishment, to professional hygiene standards, with single-use needles and sterile practice.
  5. Aftercare delivered. The client leaves with the aftercare product and instructions — every time.

IV. Enforcement

  1. The standard is kept by review: client outcomes on completed matches are logged, and complaints are investigated by Show-Me Ink directly.
  2. A first violation is addressed with the artist. A pattern — or a single serious violation of licensing, safety, or honesty — ends the artist's access to matches.
  3. Removal under this standard is final at Show-Me Ink's discretion. The standard exists to protect clients and the artists who do right by them.

V. The Giveback

$2 from every completed match fee goes to a vetted veterans organization, tracked per match and reported quarterly. It is written into this standard so it cannot quietly disappear: serving veterans is part of what a Show-Me Ink match is.

Show-Me Ink · Branson, Missouri · (417) 386-0216 · Standard v1.0 — November 2026