The platform

EVERYTHING
YOU NEED.
NOTHING
YOU DON'T.

TheRoom.ink is a booking platform built for independent tattoo artists in the UK. No AI. No per-booking commission. No bloat. A flat monthly subscription and every tool you need to run your practice — without giving a cut of every session to a platform that doesn't understand your craft.

This page explains how the platform works in full — for both artists and clients. Everything from signing up to getting paid, how bookings move through the system, and what each feature actually does in plain terms.

FOR ARTISTS

TheRoom.ink is built around a simple idea — the platform should do the admin, and you should do the tattooing. Everything in this section explains how that works in practice, from your first login to a fully booked calendar.

It works out of the box. Advanced settings are there when you want them.

One of the traps with "flexible" software is that you end up spending more time configuring the tool than using it. TheRoom.ink is built to avoid that. The moment your account is verified, your booking page is live. You don't need to set up anything complicated to start taking requests.

Every setting has a sensible default. Your availability defaults to Monday to Friday, 10am to 6pm. Your deposit defaults to on-confirmation — meaning you set the amount when you review each booking, rather than having a fixed upfront charge. Your session lengths default to common durations for each size. Your flash, consultations, and touch-up options are all off by default — they only appear on your booking page when you switch them on.

The advanced settings exist for artists who want more control — but they're layered. You don't have to touch them to have a working booking page. You only go deeper when a default doesn't suit how you actually work.

The philosophy is simple — if you're a busy artist who just wants bookings to work, you won't be buried in settings. If you're particular about how you run your schedule and want fine-grained control, it's all there.

Getting started

Creating your account

Sign up at theroom.ink/signup. Select "I'm an artist", enter your name, email, and choose a username. Your username becomes your booking URL — theroom.ink/book/yourname — so pick something that matches how you're known. You can change it later in your settings, but any existing links will stop working, so choose carefully.

Verify your email when the confirmation arrives and your account is active. Your booking page won't be public yet — that happens after verification.

Verification

To make your booking page live, DM @theroomink.app on Instagram from your artist account. We check you're a real, practising tattoo artist and verify you within 24 hours. This step exists to keep the platform genuine — it's not a gatekeeping exercise. Apprentices are welcome.

While you're waiting, set everything up in your dashboard — your availability, profile, deposit settings, flash catalogue. Everything can be configured before you go live.

Your 30-day free trial

Your first 30 days are completely free. No card required. Full access to every feature. After the trial, a subscription keeps your booking page active. If you don't subscribe, your page is deactivated — but your data stays intact and your page comes back the moment you do.

Your public profile

You have two public-facing pages on TheRoom.ink. Your booking page at theroom.ink/book/yourname is the link you share — it's where clients submit requests. Your profile page at theroom.ink/@yourname is your presence on the platform — it shows your work, portfolio, posts, and lets people follow you.

What your profile shows

Your profile displays your avatar, cover image, name, city, bio, Instagram handle, and the tattoo styles you work in. It shows whether your books are open or closed, a Book Now button when you're open, and a Follow button. As you use the platform over time, your Work tab fills up with tattoo posts, your Portfolio tab shows your uploaded work organised into collections, and your Posts and Blog tabs let you share content with your followers.

Edit profile

From your dashboard, go to Edit Profile to update your display name, bio, avatar, and cover image. Your city, Instagram handle, and styles are also editable there. The page shows nudges if you've left fields empty that clients commonly look for — not enforced, just a heads up.

Setting your availability

Working days and hours

In your dashboard settings, pick which days you work and set your default start and end times. This is the simple version — one set of hours that applies to every working day. If you work different hours on different days, switch to advanced mode and set them per day individually. For example — shorter hours on Mondays, longer on Thursdays and Fridays.

Date overrides

Add a date override for any day you want to close or adjust. Bank holidays, the week you're at a convention, a day you're running short — add the date, mark it closed or set different hours, and clients won't be able to book those slots. Overrides take priority over your regular schedule.

Buffer time

Set a gap between sessions. If you book a 3-hour piece ending at 3pm, a 30-minute buffer means the next bookable slot is 3:30pm — not 3pm. Useful if pieces often run longer than planned, or if you need time to clean down properly between clients. Configurable from 15 minutes to 3 hours.

Books open and closed

Toggle your books open and closed from anywhere in your dashboard. When closed, your booking page tells clients your books are shut and gives them the option to follow you. You can also set an auto-close — pick a date and time, and your books close themselves automatically. Useful for holidays or periods when you know you'll be away and don't want to remember to do it manually.

Booking window Soon

Set how far ahead clients can book. If you set a 3-month window, the calendar on your booking page only shows available slots within the next 3 months. Useful if you open your books in blocks — you plan the next quarter, open bookings for it, and clients can only book within that period. When you're ready to open the next block, you extend the window.

Size tiers and session lengths

You define the sizes you work in and how long each one typically takes. You give each size a label — "Under 2 inches", "Half sleeve", whatever makes sense for how you describe your work. Behind each label, you set the session duration in minutes.

When a client picks a size on your booking page, the calendar only shows them time slots long enough to fit that session — accounting for your buffer time. If your last slot of the day starts at 4pm and you close at 6pm, a 3-hour session won't show as available for that slot. The calendar does the maths so you don't have to.

You can create as many size tiers as you like and give them any labels you want. The defaults cover the most common sizes — you can replace them entirely or add to them.

The booking system

This is the core of what TheRoom.ink does. Here's exactly how a booking moves from a client request to a confirmed appointment — and what happens at each step.

How clients book

A client visits your booking page. They see your name, city, styles, any booking note you've written, and a calendar showing your available dates. They pick a booking type, select a date and time from the available slots, fill in their brief, upload any reference images, and hit submit. That's it from their side — the request lands in your dashboard for you to review.

The booking status flow

Every booking moves through statuses as it progresses. Here's the full journey:

A request starts as Pending — it's in your queue, waiting for you to review it. When you confirm it and the client receives a payment link, it moves to Awaiting Payment. When the client pays, it becomes Confirmed — the appointment is locked in. After the appointment date passes, it moves automatically to Recent for 48 hours, then completes to Completed. You can mark it complete manually before that if you prefer.

If you decline a request, it's Cancelled. If you cancel a confirmed booking, it's Cancelled. If a client doesn't show, you mark it as No Show.

How multiple clients can request the same slot

This is one of the more important things to understand about how TheRoom.ink works, because it's different from how most booking tools operate.

On most booking platforms, when a client selects a slot, it's blocked immediately — no one else can request it while you're reviewing. This sounds logical, but in practice it means you lose bookings. A slot gets held by someone who never follows through, while other interested clients moved on because the slot looked unavailable.

TheRoom.ink works differently. Multiple clients can request the same date and time simultaneously. Your calendar isn't blocked while you're reviewing. You see all the requests, pick the one you want to confirm, and the others are automatically cancelled — with an email sent to those clients explaining the slot was filled by someone else, not that their request was rejected.

Reviewing a request

In your dashboard, each Pending booking shows the client's name, booking type, requested date and time, size, description, placement, and any reference images they uploaded. You can open images full size. You can add a private artist note visible only to you. Then you confirm or decline.

Requests expire automatically after a set number of days if you haven't actioned them — configurable in settings, default 7 days. The client receives a notification. This keeps your dashboard clean and prevents old requests from piling up.

Confirming a booking

When you confirm, you set the deposit amount and finalise the session length for that booking. Both are pre-filled from your settings — adjust them if this particular booking warrants it. A payment link is sent to the client automatically. They have a set window to pay (48 hours by default, adjustable in settings) before the booking expires and the slot opens back up.

Once the client pays, you both receive a confirmation email. The booking is confirmed. A 48-hour reminder goes to the client automatically before their appointment — you don't send this manually.

The five booking types

Your booking page can show up to five types of booking. Each one has a different form tailored to the information that type of appointment actually needs. You control which ones appear — consultation, touch-up, and flash are all off by default and only show when you enable them.

Deposits and payments

How deposits work

When a client pays their deposit, they pay two things — the deposit amount you set, and a small card processing fee that covers Stripe's cost of processing the transaction. This fee is shown clearly to the client before they pay. You receive exactly the deposit amount you set. TheRoom.ink takes nothing from any transaction. Our revenue is your subscription fee — nothing else.

On-confirmation deposits

The default mode. You review the booking, decide the deposit amount for that specific appointment, and set it when you confirm. The client then receives a payment link for that amount. This gives you full flexibility — you can charge a higher deposit for a large piece, a lower one for a regular client, or adjust based on anything you know about the booking.

Percentage deposits

An alternative mode. Set a default percentage in your settings — for example, 20%. When you confirm a booking, enter the estimated session total. The deposit calculates automatically. Still adjustable per booking if a specific session calls for something different.

Stripe Connect Soon

Currently, deposits are processed through TheRoom.ink's Stripe account and the full amount is passed to you. With Stripe Connect, you connect your own Stripe account directly to the platform. From that point, deposits go straight into your Stripe account the moment the client pays. TheRoom.ink never holds your money, never has access to it, and is not a party to any transaction. You connect once and it works automatically from then on.

Refunds Soon

Refund decisions are entirely yours. TheRoom.ink does not mediate, guarantee, or process refunds — we provide the tools and stay out of it. Once Stripe Connect is live, a refund button will appear on any paid booking card in your dashboard. Enter the amount (the full deposit is pre-filled, but you can refund any amount up to the total paid), confirm, and Stripe returns the money to the client's card. Stripe's processing fee from the original payment is non-refundable — that goes to Stripe, not to you, and it doesn't come back regardless of whether the booking happens.

Refunds can only be issued within 180 days of the original payment. After that window, any resolution has to be arranged directly with the client outside the platform.

The flash system

Flash on TheRoom.ink isn't an afterthought — it's a full catalogue system. Here's how it's structured and how each part works.

Folders

The top level. Create a folder for each series or theme — "Summer Flash", "Traditional Series", "Creepy Crawlies". Folders can have a cover image, a payment mode (client pays on the platform or pays on the day), and can be set up as a drop with a scheduled release time.

Sets and sheets

Within a folder, you can create sets. A set represents a flash sheet — upload an image of the full sheet, then add individual designs within that set. Useful if you work in sheets and want clients to be able to browse the full sheet image as well as select individual pieces.

Individual designs

Each design has its own title, price, size, session duration, and image. You set the quantity:

• Unlimited — the design can be booked as many times as you like. Open edition.
• One of one — the design is permanently retired the moment it's tattooed. One booking, ever. The system handles this automatically — the moment a one-of-one is confirmed, it disappears from your booking page.
• Limited run — you set a number. The remaining count is shown to clients on your booking page and decrements as bookings are confirmed. When it hits zero, the design retires automatically.

Flash drops

Mark any folder, set, or design as a drop and set a release date and time. Before the release, clients visiting your booking page see the design listed as "upcoming" with a countdown showing how long until it drops. At exactly the scheduled time, it goes live automatically — no manual intervention needed. The booking page updates in real time.

Flash days

A flash day is a specific date where flash is the focus. Create one in your dashboard, pick the date, choose which folders are available, and decide whether to block custom bookings on that day so it's flash-only. You can announce it immediately or schedule the announcement for a later time — useful for building anticipation before the reveal. On the day itself, a flash day banner appears on your booking page.

What the platform handles automatically

A significant part of what TheRoom.ink does is run in the background without you having to think about it. Here's everything that happens without any input from you once it's set up:

• New booking notification — you receive an email the moment a client submits a request
• Payment link email — sent to the client automatically when you confirm a booking
• Booking confirmed email — sent to both of you the moment the client pays
• Booking declined email — sent to the client if you decline their request
• Slot taken email — sent to clients whose pending request was cancelled because you confirmed someone else for that slot
• 48-hour reminder — sent to the client automatically before their appointment
• Pending request expired — sent to the client if their request times out without you actioning it
• Payment link expired — sent to the client if they don't pay within the window
• Auto-cancel pending requests — requests past their expiry date are cancelled automatically, no manual cleanup needed
• Auto-cancel expired payment links — unpaid bookings past the payment window are cancelled and the slot freed up
• Auto-close books — if you've set an auto-close date, your books close at exactly that time
• Flash drop goes live — scheduled flash releases at the exact time you set
• Flash design retires — one-of-ones retire on confirmation, limited runs retire when they hit zero, designs with an expiry date retire at midnight
• Booking moves to completed — confirmed bookings that have passed their appointment date move through Recent to Completed automatically
• Old booking cleanup — cancelled and completed bookings are cleaned from your dashboard after a configurable period, keeping things tidy without losing the data

None of these require any action from you. Set up your account once and the platform runs the routine admin.

FOR CLIENTS

How to find artists, submit a booking request, pay your deposit, and manage your appointments on TheRoom.ink.

Finding an artist

Right now, you find artists on TheRoom.ink the same way you find them on Instagram — they share their booking link in their bio, and you click it. The booking link takes you directly to their booking page where you can see their availability and submit a request.

Artist discovery — a page where you can browse all verified artists by style, city, and availability — is coming soon. For now, if you've found an artist you like and they're on TheRoom.ink, their link is the entry point.

Creating an account

You don't need an account to submit a booking request. But creating one means your booking history is all in one place, you can follow artists, and you get a public profile. Sign up at theroom.ink/signup, select "I'm a client", and fill in your details. Verify your email and you're in.

If you made a booking before creating an account, your history links automatically when you sign up with the same email address you used when booking.

Submitting a booking request

Step one — choose a booking type

On the artist's booking page, you'll see the booking types they offer. Not every artist offers every type — flash and consultations are optional. Select the type that matches what you want:

• Custom work — you have an original idea you want tattooed
• Cover-up — you want to cover existing ink with something new
• Consultation — you want to talk through an idea in person before committing
• Touch-up — an existing tattoo needs refreshing
• Flash — you've seen a design in the artist's catalogue and you want it

Step two — fill in your brief

Depending on the booking type, you'll be asked different questions. For custom work and cover-ups, describe what you want as clearly as you can — placement, size, style references, any specific details. The more specific you are, the better the artist can assess whether your request is a good fit for them. For flash, the design is already chosen — you just leave any notes about sizing or colour.

You can upload up to three reference images to support your request. These go straight to the artist's dashboard for them to view before making any decision.

Step three — pick a date and time

The calendar shows the artist's available dates — only dates where they have open slots long enough for the size you've selected. Click an available date to see the time slots for that day, then pick the one that works for you.

Something important to know — you can request a slot that another client has also requested. TheRoom.ink doesn't block slots while requests are under review. Multiple people can request the same date and time, and the artist confirms the one they choose. If your request isn't selected, you receive an email explaining the slot was filled by another booking — not that your idea was rejected. You can request a different date or follow the artist to keep an eye on their availability.

Step four — submit

Review your details and submit. Your request is now Pending in the artist's dashboard. There's no set response time — artists manage their own queues. Requests expire after the artist's configured window (typically 7 days) if they haven't been actioned — you'll receive a notification if that happens.

Paying your deposit

The payment link

When the artist confirms your request, you receive an email with a secure payment link. The payment page shows the deposit amount the artist has set and a card processing fee that covers the cost of processing the card payment — this fee is shown clearly before you pay. You pay both. The artist receives the deposit amount.

Payment links expire after a set window — 48 hours by default. If your link expires before you pay, the booking is cancelled and the slot opens back up. Contact the artist directly if you still want to book.

After payment

Once paid, you both receive a confirmation email with your booking details. Your appointment is confirmed. A reminder email goes out to you 48 hours before your appointment automatically — you don't need to do anything to receive it.

Your account

Booking history

Your account page shows all your bookings split into upcoming and past. Upcoming shows confirmed appointments and any that are awaiting payment. Past shows completed and cancelled bookings. Everything in one place, no digging through emails to find appointment details.

Following artists

Follow any artist from their booking page or profile. Right now this adds you to their follower count. Notification features — alerts when artists open their books or drop new flash — are coming soon. Unfollow at any time from your account page or from the artist's profile.

Requesting a refund Soon

If you need a refund, you'll be able to submit a refund request from your account page on any paid booking. This sends a notification to the artist — it does not trigger an automatic refund. Refund decisions are entirely at the artist's discretion. TheRoom.ink does not mediate refund disputes and will not intervene. If the artist does not respond, your recourse is to contact your card issuer and initiate a chargeback.

Your public profile

Your profile at theroom.ink/@yourname is public. It shows your avatar, display name, bio, and follower count. Posts and Blog tabs will show your content once those features are live. Edit your profile from the Edit Profile page — accessible from your account page.

THEROOM.INK VS THE ALTERNATIVES

Most booking platforms take a percentage of every deposit — on top of a monthly subscription fee. At 20 bookings a month with a £50 deposit, a 10% commission costs you £1,200 a year just in commissions, before you've paid the subscription. TheRoom.ink costs £300 a year at standard rate. We take nothing from your bookings.

PRICING

One flat monthly subscription. No per-booking fees. No commission. No hidden charges. Early artists lock in a reduced rate for their first 24 months.

Apprentices join at £5/month. Full access, no feature restrictions, verified manually by the team via Instagram DM.