Terms of Service

1. Agreement

These Terms of Service form a binding agreement between you and HolmesLabs LLC ("STNCL", "we", "us"). By creating an account, posting a tattoo request, sending a proposal, or otherwise using STNCL, you accept these Terms and the Privacy Policy and Community Guidelines referenced in them.

If you do not agree with any part of these Terms, do not use STNCL.

2. What STNCL is — and is not

STNCL is a tattoo marketplace, used in two directions. Customers can describe the tattoo they want so that tattoo artists and studios review the request and send proposals, and the customer chooses who to work with. Customers can also browse directly: search artists, look through portfolios and Available Flash, follow artists, see published availability and Guest Spots, and send a booking request for a specific time.

STNCL does not tattoo anyone, does not employ artists, does not set prices, does not supervise or inspect the work performed, and does not guarantee any outcome. Artists and studios are independent professionals responsible for their own licensing, hygiene, insurance, taxes, pricing, scheduling and creative decisions. Any contract for tattoo work is between the customer and the artist or studio.

STNCL does not provide medical, dermatological or legal advice. Tattooing carries health risks. Discuss allergies, skin conditions, medication, pregnancy and aftercare with your artist and, where relevant, a medical professional.

3. Eligibility and accounts

STNCL is an 18+ platform. You must be 18 years of age or older to hold any STNCL account — customer, artist or studio. You confirm this at signup, and we record that confirmation; accounts that have not confirmed it cannot post requests, send proposals, message anyone or upload photos.

Being 18 or older is our platform rule, and it is separate from your local law on the minimum age to be tattooed. Where local law sets a higher age or requires additional consent, that law also applies to the session itself.

You must provide accurate information, keep your credentials confidential, and use your account yourself. One person may hold one account. You are responsible for everything done through your account.

Artist and studio accounts must represent a real person or business. Where verification is offered, you agree that submitted license details and documents may be reviewed by STNCL staff for the sole purpose of assessing verification.

4. Customer requests

When you post a request you grant STNCL permission to show that request, including your idea, placement, size, styles, budget band, timing, city and reference images, to artists and studios on the platform so they can decide whether to send a proposal.

Requests must describe tattoo work you genuinely intend to have done. Requests that are abusive, sexualise minors, promote hate symbols, or solicit anything unlawful will be removed and may result in account termination.

You may edit, close or delete a request at any time. Closing a request does not cancel an appointment you have already agreed with an artist.

5. Proposals, prices and bookings

Prices, session counts, session lengths, deposits and dates shown in a proposal are the artist's own estimates. They may change after an in-person or professional consultation, once the design is finalised, or if the scope of the tattoo changes.

Selecting an artist on STNCL creates a pending booking and opens a conversation. It is not a legally binding appointment until you and the artist confirm the details together, and it is not a payment.

A deposit is the artist's own figure, set by them on a booking, and is credited against the final price of the tattoo. The rest of the price is always settled in person with the artist or studio.

Where card deposits are switched on, STNCL shows a card payment step on the booking and the deposit is taken through a payment processor. STNCL never receives or stores your card details. Refunds inside the window in the Refund & Cancellation Policy can be triggered from the app. Where card deposits are not switched on, the deposit is arranged and paid directly between you and the artist, and STNCL neither holds nor refunds that money.

STNCL never charges for a tattoo itself and does not charge for using the app. Sending, accepting, declining or rescheduling a booking request never takes money on its own.

6. Discovering artists, portfolios and availability

As well as posting a request, you can browse STNCL directly: search and filter artists, look through portfolios and Available Flash, follow or save artists and work, see artists' Guest Spots, see when an artist has announced that their Books are Open, view the availability an artist has published, and send a booking request for a specific time.

Artist and studio profiles, portfolio images not marked sensitive, Available Flash, Guest Spots, Books Open announcements and published availability are public marketplace listings. They can be viewed by other users, are reachable by a shareable link, and may be shown in search results, discovery sections and the STNCL Weekly edition. Artists choose what to publish and can unpublish it at any time; unpublishing does not recall copies other people have already saved or shared.

Locations shown on public listings are approximate: a city and region, plus a coordinate deliberately rounded so distance can be calculated without revealing a street address. An artist or studio may choose to publish a full studio address; that is their decision, not something STNCL does by default.

Availability shown on STNCL comes from the artist's own calendar. STNCL does not create appointments. A booking request is a request only: the artist decides whether to accept it, decline it or propose another time. Estimated prices, rates and minimums shown on a profile, design, guest spot or books-open announcement are figures the artist entered themselves.

Sending or accepting a booking request through STNCL does not charge anyone. A deposit is only taken if your artist has set one and you choose to pay it; the final price of the tattoo is always settled with the artist or studio under their own terms.

Search results, discovery sections, saved searches and STNCL Weekly are ordered using information you have given us (your chosen browsing area, distance, styles, follows and saves) together with published marketplace data such as distance, availability and how recently work was posted. Ordering is not paid placement; if paid promotion is ever introduced it will be labelled.

7. Artist and studio obligations

Artists and studios must hold every license, registration and permit required where they work, comply with all applicable health and hygiene regulations, only upload portfolio work they personally tattooed, and describe their pricing and availability honestly.

Artists must not use customer contact details or reference images for anything other than responding to the request and delivering the agreed work. Reference images uploaded by customers remain the customer's; they may be used only to plan and discuss that customer's tattoo.

Artists must not send proposals they cannot deliver, misrepresent verification status, or steer customers off-platform in order to avoid STNCL's reporting, moderation and review systems.

8. Content and license

You keep ownership of the content you upload. You grant STNCL a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to host, store, resize and display that content for the purpose of operating and promoting the platform, and to keep copies as needed for backups, safety review and legal compliance.

You confirm you have the right to upload each image you post, and that it does not infringe anyone else's rights. Portfolio images must be your own tattoo work. If you believe content infringes your rights, report it and we will review it.

9. Prohibited conduct

Do not: harass, threaten or discriminate against anyone; impersonate another person, artist or studio; post another artist's work as your own; scrape, reverse engineer, overload or attempt to bypass the security of the platform; collect other users' personal information; post spam or off-platform advertising; or use STNCL for anything illegal.

The Community Guidelines are part of these Terms. Breaking them can lead to content removal, loss of verification, suspension or permanent termination, at STNCL's discretion.

10. Reviews and moderation

Reviews may only be left by a customer about work that was actually booked through STNCL. Reviews must be honest and first-hand. Paying for, trading or pressuring anyone for a review is prohibited.

STNCL may remove content, hide reviews, restrict features or terminate accounts where these Terms or the Community Guidelines are broken, where there is a credible safety concern, or where the law requires it. Where practical we will tell you why.

11. Fees

Using STNCL as a customer is free. Paid plans and platform fees for artists and studios are planned; nothing is being charged today. If fees are introduced, you will be told the price and terms before you are asked to agree to them, and no charge will apply retroactively.

12. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

STNCL is provided "as is" and "as available". We do not warrant that the platform will be uninterrupted or error-free, that matching will produce a suitable artist, or that any artist, studio, price, estimate, license claim or portfolio image is accurate.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, STNCL is not liable for the acts or omissions of artists, studios or customers; for the quality, safety, legality or outcome of any tattoo; for injury, infection, scarring or dissatisfaction arising from work arranged through the platform; or for indirect, incidental or consequential loss. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

You agree to indemnify STNCL against claims arising from your own content, conduct or breach of these Terms.

13. Suspension, termination and changes

You may stop using STNCL at any time. You can delete your account yourself in Profile → Settings → Account → Delete account, which takes effect immediately and signs you out of every device; if you cannot sign in, request deletion at https://getstncl.com/delete-account or by emailing help@getstncl.com. What is deleted, anonymised and kept is set out in section 11 of the Privacy Policy. We may suspend or close an account for breach of these Terms, for safety reasons, or if we stop operating the service.

We may update these Terms as the product changes. When we make a material change we will update the date on this page and notify account holders in the app. Continuing to use STNCL after a change means you accept the updated Terms.

14. Governing law and contact

These Terms are governed by the laws of Washington State, and disputes will be handled by the courts of Washington State, unless local consumer law gives you the right to bring a claim where you live.

Questions about this document can be sent to help@getstncl.com, or raised through the in-app report and support tools.