Tattoo removal is priced by size and sold by the session, and it takes more sessions than anything else on a med spa menu, so the gap between the advertised figure and the finished job is the widest in aesthetics. The published figures in this record start at $30 for a tattoo under a square inch and rise with area, and the honest number is that figure multiplied by a session count in double figures.
What clinics publish by size
Bluepoint in Las Vegas publishes the most granular menu in this record: X Small under one square inch at $30, Small under four square inches at $60, Medium under nine at $120, Large under sixteen at $160 and X Large under twenty five at $220, all per treatment. Chicago Aesthetic Surgery publishes laser tattoo removal by Picoway starting at $149 per session, and its menu states $149 for the first square inch per session and $50 per additional square inch. Three of the six clinics in this record publish nothing for tattoo removal at all: Skinography, La Jolla Cosmetic and Chic Med Spa were each read on the same pass and none of their menus carries the line. That is recorded as an absence rather than filled in from elsewhere.
The two pricing structures, and why they differ so much
A size band menu and a per square inch menu give very different answers for the same tattoo. A four square inch tattoo is $60 a session on Bluepoint's Small band. On Chicago Aesthetic Surgery's structure it is $149 for the first square inch plus $50 for each of the other three, which is $299 a session, five times as much. Neither is wrong and the devices differ, but it means the structure has to be established before any comparison. Ask which of the two your clinic uses, and if it is per square inch, ask it to price your actual tattoo rather than quoting the starting figure.
What cheap tattoo removal usually leaves out
A low per session figure is usually honest and usually incomplete, because it is quoting one session of a course that will run to eight, twelve or more. At Bluepoint's $60 Small band, twelve sessions is $720. At the $299 worked figure above, twelve sessions is $3,588. The advertised number is a twelfth of the job in both cases. What a course will actually achieve on a particular tattoo depends on ink colours, depth, age and skin, and that is a clinical assessment rather than a pricing one. This page prices the sessions and passes an enquiry to clinics; it gives no guidance on whether a tattoo will clear.
How to price a removal course
Get the price by size, as the clinic measures it. Menus price by square inch or by size band. Ask which and ask where your tattoo falls. Ask how many sessions the clinic expects. This treatment takes the most sessions of anything on an aesthetic menu, and the count drives the whole cost. Ask what a per additional area charge is. Some menus price a first square inch and then charge per extra one. That structure changes the arithmetic completely. Ask what happens if it does not clear. Ink colour and depth affect how far a course gets. Ask what further sessions cost beyond the plan.
Questions people ask about how much is tattoo removal
How much is tattoo removal per session?
Bluepoint in Las Vegas publishes $30 for a tattoo under one square inch, rising to $220 under twenty five. Chicago Aesthetic Surgery publishes $149 for the first square inch per session and $50 per additional square inch.
What does a full tattoo removal course cost?
The session figure multiplied by a session count that is usually in double figures. At $60 a session, twelve sessions is $720. Ask the clinic for its expected count before comparing quotes.
Why do quotes for the same tattoo differ so much?
Because menus use two structures. A four square inch tattoo is $60 on a Small size band and $299 on a first inch plus per inch structure. Establish the structure before comparing.
What does cheap tattoo removal leave out?
Usually the session count. A low per session figure is quoting a twelfth of a course, not a job. It may also be pricing a smaller size band than your tattoo falls into.