Guides / Studio Haven
How to take tattoo deposits online in Canada
E-transfers work until they do not: wrong amount, no name, no hold on the chair. Here is the setup a lot of Canadian artists use when they are done chasing $50 at midnight.
Why e-transfer starts to hurt
Interac is how a lot of us still get paid, and it is fine for a walk-in who is already in the chair. It is a bad hold on a Saturday. The money can show up with no name. It can go to the shop instead of you. It does not block the calendar. It does not send aftercare. Tax season becomes a folder of screenshots and a prayer.
A booking link that collects a CAD tattoo deposit, writes the name down, and syncs Google Calendar or Apple Calendar closes that loop. The person who paid is the person on the chair. The time is gone for everyone else.
Stripe Connect, in plain language
Studio Haven uses Stripe Connect so deposits land in your Stripe account, in CAD. You do identity verification once when you go live. Payouts follow Stripe's normal schedule to your Canadian bank. We are not a middle wallet. We are the page in front of Stripe.
- The client pays your deposit. On some plans a small checkout fee can show for the client. While Pro is active, they do not pay a Studio Haven platform fee.
- You get the deposit minus Stripe's card processing, same as any card.
- GST/HST fields live in the finance ledger so you are not reconstructing April from a camera roll.
Square works too if that is already how the shop takes cards. Pick one. Connect it. Stop inventing a third way in DMs.
A setup you can finish in an evening
- Make a Studio Haven account. The 14-day free trial starts right away, no card needed.
- Connect Stripe in live mode on studiohaven.net when you are ready for real money.
- Upload flash, or edit the starter design we drop in so the page is not empty.
- Publish a couple of weeks of slots, or keep the hours we seed and change what is wrong.
- Put studiohaven.net/s/your-name in your Instagram bio. That is the whole ad.
You do not have to kill e-transfer on day one. Run both. The next person who would have sent "how much for Saturday" gets the link instead. When that feels normal, the bio changes and the DMs get quieter.
Cross-border clients and tax questions
US clients can still pay a Canadian artist through Stripe. The deposit is still yours. What you owe on GST/HST, and whether you need to register, is between you and whoever does your taxes. We are not going to pretend a booking page is legal advice.
Practical questions about the product itself are on the FAQ or you can write us. We read it. There is no ticket bot.
Keep reading
Questions people ask before they switch
Can I still take e-transfer if I want?
Yes. A lot of shops keep Interac for people who refuse cards. The booking link is for everyone else, and for the Saturday you do not want sitting on a maybe.
Whose Stripe account is it?
Yours. Studio Haven uses Stripe Connect, so the deposit lands in your Stripe, in CAD, then pays out to your Canadian bank on Stripe's normal schedule. We do not hold the money.
What about GST and HST?
The finance ledger has GST/HST fields and exports you can hand to whoever does your taxes. We are not your accountant. We just stop the year from living in screenshots.
$15 a month. No cut of your deposits.
14-day free trial starts when you sign up. No card needed. Flash, customs, deposits, calendar, aftercare.