Laser Tattoo Removal Guide

At this point, you are probably aware of the expensive prices for laser tattoo removal treatments. The high cost associated with this procedure often scares people away, leading them to other **tattoo removal methods** that might be, dollar for dollar, a cheaper method (but not necessarily as effective.)

The good news is that laser treatment specialists understand that the expense of the procedure is often something people are not wanting to pay for up front. Most laser treatment centers allow for many different models of paying for their services, such as:

1. Pay As You Go. In this model, a patient simply pays for each treatment session as they occur. Since laser treatments must be spaced out with 6-8 weeks passing in between each session, this payment model makes paying the perceived overall cost much easier to deal with, as you have nearly 2 months in between each visit to allot for the expense of the laser treatments. This usually means coming up with a couple hundred dollars every 2 months.

2. Discounts for Bulk Payments. If you and your doctor or laser specialist determine that it will likely take a little more than 5 session to remove a tattoo, you can often save money by paying for the first 5 sessions all at once. This can translate into a savings of maybe 10% off the cost of paying as you go, which is a decent amount of money when the overall cost is high or in the thousands of dollars. Of course, companies like getting paid all at once and so they can create the incentive to do so buy offering a small discount.

3. Tattoo Removal Financing and Loans. Many clinics offer the benefit of financing directly to their patients. This means that you are able to space out your payments over a predetermined amount of time, paying the treatment clinic back over time and on a schedule that may or may not go beyond the time frame in which you are receiving treatments. Additionally, many laser tattoo removal clinics can refer you to a company that specializes in loans for medical or surgical purposes. Be warned that these loans might come with very high interest rates, so it’s usually in the best interest of the patient to pay directly to the clinic, if the clinic can accommodate such a payment model.

Another related option in this regard would be to approach your bank for a personal loan. If you a member of a credit union, you will likely find interest rates that are far more economical than those offered by medical loan companies.

Because of the high expense of laser tattoo removal, the people and companies offering these services are usually more than willing to work with you to come up with a solution that allows you to have your tattoo removed.

One of the biggest hurdles facing anyone with has a tattoo they no longer wish to have and are ready to take some action on having it removed is dealing with the expense of tattoo removal.

It’s no secret: tattoo removal isn’t cheap.

Or rather, tattoo removal methods that are safe, proven, and effective are not cheap.  (See *Overview of all Tattoo Removal Methods” and “What About Tattoo Removal Cream“.)

With that in mind, the expense of laser tattoo removal can be a serious expenditure to most people. Let’s take a closer look at the pricing and cost of laser tattoo removal.

Factors Influencing the Prices and Costs of Laser Tattoo Removal

The price of laser tattoo removal depends on a few different factors. Obviously, where you live is going to make a difference. This factor is true at the large scale level of price differences in different countries all the way down to a fluctuation in prices in different towns and cities.

The prices below reflect the fact that the majority of laser tattoo removal clinics operate in medium to large size cities in Western countries.

That being said, they offer a good guideline for what to expect when researching the cost of laser tattoo removal in your own area.

How Doctors and Specialists Price Laser Tattoo Removal Services

Laser tattoo removal services are nearly always priced by these factors:

1. By how many square inches of tattoo ink are to be removed
2. By how many treatments it’s required to remove them
3. And sometimes by how many laser pulses are emitted in the treatment session

As you can see, this introduces many variables into the equation, making it hard to give a general figure for laser tattoo removal cost.

For our purposes here though, and to give you a good idea of how this plays out, say you had a tattoo that was 3 square inches. That’s about the size of 3 postage stamps. It’s a good idea to expect 5-10 treatments to have it fully removed. This translates to about $150 a visit, meaning the total cost would be $750-$1,500.

As you can see, the expense of removing a small tattoo is considerable, and removing a large tattoo will easily cost in the thousands of dollars.

Most clinics will not expect payment up front for the totality of treatments, allowing the patient to “pay as you go”, paying for the treatments one at a time. Additionally, many clinics will give a discount to those who are able to pay in advance for a set amount of treatments, such as paying for the first 5 treatments in one purchase and receiving 10% off the total cost.

Additionally, many clinics offer 100% for tattoo removal. For more information on this, please see Paying for Tattoo Removal: Financing and Loans.

Addendum: A Note on Cheap Laser Tattoo Removal Services

If you find a specialist offering prices that are obscenely lower than the competition, be sure to do your research before committing to their services.

Unreasonably low prices are often a red flag or warning sign that the services are not of high quality, or worse yet, that the individual or company is operating some kind of scam.

Using low quality services is not going to benefit anyone, save for the laser tattoo removal specialist who might pocket some money before moving on to someone else. The pain and expense involved in correcting bad removal work is far worse than paying the right price the first time around.

That being said, some places might offer really good deals, especially if they are a new laser tattoo removal clinic in town. If that’s the case, and they appear to be legit and can prove it with a portfolio and a good sales pitch, then congratulations on saving some money AND getting your tattoo removed!