How to offer tattoo payment plans without keeping the ledger

A large piece stalls when the whole number is due at once. Tattoo payment plans, in this app, mean the client splits that charge with a provider while you are paid in full. On November 8, 2026 this post read the pay-over-time help and the Pay Over Time page. Stripe’s rate card was not opened.

What you are offering

Pay Over Time uses Affirm, Klarna, or Afterpay on the secure online payment page Stripe hosts. The provider fronts the money and collects the installments. You receive the full amount up front, the same as a normal card payment. Your studio is not in the repayment.

Help’s illustration is a $1,200 sleeve written as four payments of $300. That is an example in the help article, in dollars, with no tax. It is not a published Affirm, Klarna, or Afterpay plan.

The same names show up in a second place, and that place is different. In the checkout menu, Afterpay is a recorded method: you type the amount, and nothing is sent to a processor from that row. Pay Over Time is the hosted page. Turning on the menu row does not start installments.

How to turn it on

The steps are in the help article.

1. Stripe Connect in Settings, then Payments, needs the status Complete.
2. Open the Pay Over Time section on that same screen. It lists Affirm, Klarna, and Afterpay for your account.
3. For a method that is not active, click Enable in Stripe. That opens your studio’s own Stripe dashboard.
4. Switch on the methods you want, then save.
5. The next online checkout or deposit link can offer them.

The panel can show a method as available before Stripe has it toggled on. If clients do not see it, check the Stripe switch, then the amount, then the region. A very small sale stays under the provider’s minimum. Help does not print that dollar floor.

It stays off until you do this. Card-reader payments and cash never pick up these options. The in-person reader is unchanged. Clients still reach the hosted page from a phone browser. You manage the switch from the web app.

Country limits are the studio’s, first. Affirm is available to studios in the United States and Canada. Klarna and Afterpay cover a broader set. A method your account cannot offer is hidden or greyed out. The client also has to be in a region the provider supports. Provider country lists past that sentence were not opened.

The product page is Pay Over Time, and deposit links are covered with online deposits. Point of sale uses that same hosted page. Clients can read tattoo financing.

What it costs the studio

Help says standard Stripe processing applies. On the Pay Over Time page, these methods carry their own Stripe rate, higher than a standard card, and Tattoo Studio Pro adds no markup. Read the current rate in Stripe. This post did not open that card on November 8, 2026, so it quotes no percent and no tax.

FAQs

What are tattoo payment plans in this app?

Affirm, Klarna, or Afterpay on the online payment page. The provider approves the client, pays the studio in full up front, and collects the installments. You are not the lender.

Do I get paid up front?

Yes. Help says you receive the full amount up front, the same as a normal card payment. The client repays the provider.

How do I turn payment plans on?

Stripe Connect has to read Complete. From Settings, then Payments, open Pay Over Time and click Enable in Stripe. Saving the switch happens in your Stripe dashboard, and the next online checkout or deposit link can show the methods.

What does this cost me?

A Stripe processing rate for that method. On the Pay Over Time page, that rate is higher than a standard card, and Tattoo Studio Pro adds no markup. Stripe holds the percent, which was not copied here.

Does this work on the card reader?

No. Pay Over Time stays on the hosted online page and on deposit links. Card-reader payments and cash are left alone, and you manage the switch from the web app.

Is the Afterpay row in the payment menu the same feature?

No. That row records a payment you already took. You type the amount. Pay Over Time is the Stripe-hosted page, and the studio is paid in full up front.