Custom Tattoo Design in Hoi An

How much does a custom tattoo cost in Hoi An?

Custom work is charged by the hour, at 3,750,000₫ (about $150). The drawing itself is not billed separately and neither are the revisions — you pay for time under the needle, not for time at the desk. A sleeve, a back piece or anything spanning more than one sitting is quoted as a whole after the consultation, once the drawing exists and the number of sessions is known rather than guessed.

Small custom pieces are often quoted flat rather than hourly, at the mini or fine line rate — an hourly figure makes no sense for forty minutes of work. The chart for every style is in our guide to tattoo prices in Hoi An, and whichever way yours is quoted, the number is fixed in writing before the machine starts.

How does the custom design process work?

1. Consultation, about ten minutes, free. Over coffee at the studio or on WhatsApp before you fly. We want the idea, the placement, roughly the size, and your dates — the dates matter more than people expect, because they decide what is finishable.
2. The drawing. Drafted digitally and sent to you. If it is not right, say so: revisions are free and there is no limit on them. Nothing is scheduled until you have said yes to a drawing.
3. Stencil on skin. On the day, the stencil goes on your body and you look at it in a mirror, standing up, with the limb where it will actually be. Placement changes here more often than the drawing does — a design that is perfect flat can sit wrong on a moving forearm, and moving it costs nothing at this point.
4. The session. Sterile single-use needles, breaks whenever you want them, and a fixed price you already agreed to.

How far ahead should I send my idea?

A week before you arrive is comfortable. Two days is usually workable. Walking in and asking for a custom sleeve the same afternoon is not, and that is worth knowing before it is your last day in Hoi An.

Message the idea on WhatsApp from wherever you are now and the drawing can be waiting when you land — then the consultation is about placement and dates rather than about starting from nothing. High season fills the calendar, so the constraint is often the chair rather than the drawing. Walk-ins work fine for small flash and fine line work; custom pieces want a head start.

Can you cover up an old tattoo?

Usually, and the honest constraints are these: a cover-up has to be darker than what is underneath, it is generally larger than the original, and solid black or heavy saturated colour is easier to hide under than a faded grey wash is. What cannot be done is a delicate pale design over a dark old one — the old ink comes through within a year and you have paid for the same problem twice.

Send a clear photograph of the existing piece in daylight and we will tell you which of three answers it is: cover it, rework it into something new using the dark that is already there, or leave it and put the new piece elsewhere. Blackwork and black and grey realism are the two styles that do most of the covering here.

What should I bring to the consultation?

• References, as original files. Three or four images that show what you like — and, just as useful, one that shows what you do not.
• The placement, not just the idea. Point at it. Size on a screen means nothing; size on your own forearm means everything.
• Your dates. Especially your departure and anything involving the sea. Healing takes about two weeks of staying out of the water, and that fact reshapes plans more than any other.
• What it is for. Not required, and it changes the drawing more than anything else on this list.

If you have never done this before, getting your first tattoo in Hoi An covers what the day itself is like. Still deciding what style the idea should be drawn in? Start with choosing a tattoo style in Hoi An.

What people ask us to draw

• Something from the trip. A lantern, a boat on the Thu Bon, a conical hat, the buffalo from the ride out to the rice fields — see Vietnamese tattoo work and our lantern guide.
• A photograph. A pet, a relative, an animal — drawn up as realism in grey or in colour.
• Handwriting. A line from a letter, copied exactly, usually in fine line.
• Ornament built to the body. Mandala and geometry mapped to a shoulder or a spine, in blackwork.
• Cover-ups and reworks. Including holiday tattoos from other towns that did not go well.

Book a consultation

We are at 15 Nguyen Hoang, An Hoi, open daily 9:00 to 22:00. The consultation is free whether or not you book anything, and it is the fastest way to find out what your idea costs and how long it takes. You will not be asked for a deposit to see a drawing.

Rated 5.0 on Google across 122 reviews. Book a free consultation, or send your idea to WhatsApp +84 777 594 908 and have the drawing waiting when you arrive.