Google “good honest tattoos hamilton” and the studio’s own card looks great: 4.9 stars from 187 reviews, photos of full sleeves and back pieces. Scroll down to the ordinary results and something odd happens. There are Facebook group posts, a booking site, and two posts from Futureink, a rival studio across town. Goodhonesttattoos.com isn’t among them. You can only reach it through the small Website button. We read all 187 Google reviews, went through the website page by page and checked what people find when they search the name. This review is for anyone choosing an artist, and for a studio whose clients clearly love it. It follows our Skinks Tattoo Studio review in our series of Hamilton business reviews.
In a nutshell
- Good Honest Tattoos is in Lovegrove Lane, 394 Grey Street, Hamilton East. Felipe Rapucci and Adym Kohi founded it in 2014. Five artists are on the team page.
- Google: 4.9 from 187 reviews, 179 of them five stars. Reviewers keep coming back to the crew and the banter, and to artists who listen.
- Felipe is named in 25 reviews, Garsing in 14, Charlie in 11. Over a third of all reviews name an artist.
- No hourly rates are published. Consultations and designs are free; deposits run from $50 to $300 depending on the artist and are non-refundable.
- SEO4 Audit Score: 16 out of 30. Reviews 7, marketing 7, search 2. People who already know the name will find the studio. Hardly anyone else does.
Contents
What 187 reviews say
Almost everything is five stars: 179 of 187. Only five reviews give three stars or fewer, which is 2.7%. Of the 138 reviews with text, nearly half talk about the people before the tattoo. Friendly, welcoming, “good banter”, a family vibe, a studio where you chat with other clients while you’re being tattooed. That is the studio’s own pitch too. The About page calls it a small shop where you can talk to your artist and other clients.
Next come the artists listening: bringing a rough idea and getting back a better design, or a reference that gets changed slightly, with the client’s agreement, before it goes on. Clean lines and detail get 24 mentions. Sixteen reviews mention how clean the place is, which fits the website’s offer to show clients the sterilisation room and the autoclave. Then there are the regulars, 17 reviews from people who have been coming “for the past 10 years” or have lost count of their visits.
Small details say a lot. One client watched TV through a two-hour session. Another got a coffee from the café next door during a break. A third was given a privacy screen and a blanket for a hip and chest piece.
The timeline has a clear jump. Between 2016 and 2024 the studio collected two to 23 reviews a year. In 2025 it got 67, and 22 more so far in 2026. More than half of the 2025 total, 36 reviews, came in June and July, with three days that brought five or six reviews each. That pattern usually means a request went out to past clients, which is a good idea. Google, though, prefers reviews spread over time, and a big batch on one day can trip its spam filter and hide reviews. Asking each client after their session gives the same result with less risk.
Replies changed at the same time. Before 2025 the studio answered 19 of 98; since then it has answered 86 of 89, using the client’s first name and the artist’s. The replies are warm, but they sound alike: 77 of 105 say “thrilled”.
Artists people ask for
Seventy reviews, 37% of all 187, name an artist. Tattoo clients choose a person more than a studio, and Good Honest’s reviews make that easy to see. Felipe, a co-founder, is named in 25, many of them for big work: a sleeve and chest piece, three back-to-back day sessions, a cover-up that “absolutely nailed it”. Garsing (14) gets praise for long sessions and for taking a loose idea and running with it. Charlie (11) is “efficient without making the process feel rushed”. Cameron (8) also does personalised prints. Adym (8), the other co-founder, is credited with detail.
Tavia is named in six reviews between October 2024 and January 2026, two of them for a first tattoo, but she isn’t on the website’s team page. Google’s AI summary of the studio, meanwhile, names an artist who isn’t on that page either. When the people clients ask for and the people on the site differ, the booking form has to do extra work.
Honest by name
A studio called Good Honest Tattoos has a head start in reviews. Anyone who wants to complain first has to get past the name.
Prices and deposits
Good Honest doesn’t publish hourly rates. The About page and FAQ set out how pricing works:
| Good Honest Tattoos | |
|---|---|
| Consultation | Free |
| Design | Free; you agree a price before booking |
| Deposit | Set by each artist, from $50 to $300 |
| Refunds | Deposits are non-refundable; the deposit covers the design if you miss the appointment |
| Walk-ins | Welcome, but not always possible at peak times; the studio points to the Walk-ins app to check |
| Age | 18 and over; under 18 only with a parent or guardian and original ID |
| Hours (website) | Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm; closed Sunday |
| Hours (Google) | Tuesday to Saturday, 11am to 5pm |
Price comes up in only three reviews. One recent long review calls the pricing “very reasonable”. A 2019 review complained about a $150 minimum. In reply, the studio said an apprentice charged $50. Both figures are seven years old. The shop sells gift vouchers ($50) and artist T-shirts ($60). Google suggests “good honest tattoos afterpay”, so people are clearly asking about paying in instalments, but the website doesn’t say whether Afterpay is accepted.
Budget and booking planner
Tattoo budget and booking planner
Good Honest Tattoos doesn’t publish hourly rates: each artist quotes after a free consultation and sets their own deposit, from $50 to $300. Put in the hours your artist estimates and the rate they quote, and see what the booking looks like.
Studio rules from goodhonesttattoos.com, viewed 29 October 2026: free consultation and free design; each artist sets a deposit from $50 to $300; deposits are non-refundable and cover the design if you miss the appointment. The hourly rate is yours to enter: $200 is only a starting point, the hourly rate Skinks Tattoo Studio publishes for large work. A guide, not a quote.
How the planner works
The estimate is the hours your artist expects multiplied by the hourly rate you enter. The $200 default is a starting point only: it is the rate Skinks Tattoo Studio publishes for large work, not a Good Honest price. Sessions are the hours divided by the longest sitting you are comfortable with, rounded up. The deposit range and refund rule come from goodhonesttattoos.com on 29 October 2026.
Five low reviews, two lessons
Five reviews give one to three stars, the latest from September 2023. Three are stars only. The two with words, paraphrased:
- A would-be client emailed about a new tattoo and heard nothing back (2023).
- A complaint that small tattoos were expensive, with a $150 minimum (2019).
The studio replied to both, firmly. To the first it said its artists were booked four months to two years ahead and that messages arrive on five different platforms, so answers can take more than four days. Both replies questioned whether the reviewer had ever been a client. That may well be true. The first lesson is that future clients read the tone of these replies more than the facts in them. A calm reply with the waiting time and a link to the booking form does the same job.
The second lesson is in the facts. Long waits and five inboxes are exactly what a public page with “from” prices, deposits and current waiting times would help with. The calculator for studios further down puts a number on it.
How it compares in Hamilton
On a phone, “tattoo hamilton nz” gives Google’s top three as Futureink Studio Tattoo Art, Good Honest Tattoos and Skinks Tattoo Studio. Good Honest is in the middle in size and first on care. Futureink has 602 reviews and 122 new ones last year, with no replies to any of the 122. Good Honest had 25 and answered 24.
The real gap is volume. At 25 reviews a year, Good Honest adds in five years what Futureink adds in one. Jacob Cross Bridge City Tattoos reached 59 in six months, which shows what asking every client can do.
Pain scale
Clients rate tattoo pain by body part. Studio owners rate it by how many inboxes they check before breakfast.
SEO audit
From here the review is mostly for the studio and other tattoo businesses. If you’re choosing an artist, skip to the common questions.
What people see when they search the name
Google suggests “good honest tattoos photos”, “hamilton”, “reviews” and “afterpay”. For the name, and for the name with Hamilton, Google shows the profile and its 4.9 rating, then an AI summary, then web results. On 29 October 2026 the studio’s website wasn’t in those results. The first page had Facebook group threads, Fresha, TattoosWizard, Yellow, Felipe’s own Instagram and posts by Futureink on Facebook and Instagram. Google does know the site exists: a site: search lists its pages. It just doesn’t rank them for the name.
The Google card on desktop also invites the public to “add place’s phone number”, because there isn’t one.
The Google profile
The basics are right: the plain name, the Tattoo shop category, the address in Lovegrove Lane, real photos and a short video. Missing: a phone number, services, and any posts. The hours say 11am to 5pm; the website says 10am to 5pm. Google’s AI summary builds its answer from these sources, so when they disagree it can show a mix, as it does with the artist list.
The website
goodhonesttattoos.com is built on GoHighLevel, a marketing platform, with a booking form, a chat widget, a review widget and a shop. The first screen is strong: a full back piece, “The Perfect tattoo, Every Time!”, over 50 years of combined experience, and a Request a Booking button. Each artist has a page. For Google, the problems sit under that surface:
- The page title is a 136-character sentence (“Trusted tattoo studio in Hamilton, NZ. Specializing in…”), so Google cuts it off. The words are right; it needs to be shorter.
- The home page has six H1 headings. The main one, “The Perfect tattoo, Every Time!”, has no tattoo studio or Hamilton in it.
- There is no phone number anywhere on the site, so nothing to tap on a phone. Contact is the form (which asks for date of birth), email and a chat bubble.
- No LocalBusiness schema, so Google gets no structured address, hours or rating from the site.
- Any made-up address on the site loads the home page with a normal status, instead of a “not found” page. Google sees many copies of one page.
- The shop page’s meta description is a list of ten searches: “How much do tattoos cost in Hamilton NZ”, “Best walk-in tattoo near me Hamilton”, “Tattoo cover-up Hamilton NZ” and more. They are the right questions. None of them has its own page or answer.
- One section of the home page lists styles from colour realism to fine line, dot work and cover-ups, with no page for any of them.
- Typos in the main text: “combine experience”, “bookins”, “rubish colectors”, “Partners ans sponsors”, “none refundable”.
- The Facebook link didn’t open for us on 29 October 2026 when we weren’t logged in; it may be age-restricted. Instagram is active, with 6,684 followers and a post on 22 September 2026.
- We couldn’t run PageSpeed Insights on the day. We will add the result.
SEO4 Audit Score: 16 out of 30
The same thirty yes-or-no checks we use for every business we review, from Skinks (14) to Ross & Co (21) and Cleaning Doctor (25). It scores what clients and Google can see online. It says nothing about the tattoos.
| Part | Passed | Failed |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews (7/10) | 4.9 average; 187 reviews; 25 in the last 12 months; replies to 56% overall and 24 of the last 25; replies use names and artists; low reviews 2.7%; artists named in 37% | Three days with 5 or 6 reviews in mid-2025; 2 of 5 low reviews answered; second platform not confirmed (Facebook didn’t open) |
| Search (2/10) | Plain Google name; meta description | No phone on Google or the site; no Hamilton in the H1; mobile speed not tested (scored 0 for now); no LocalBusiness schema; no pages per style; no tap-to-call; made-up pages load as the home page; own site not on page one for its name |
| Marketing (7/10) | Clear promise and booking button on the first screen; free consultation and design, plus a sterilisation room you can see; real work in photos; booking form in one click; reviews widget on the site; Instagram post within 60 days; no competitor ads on the name | No prices or “from” prices; no guarantee or touch-up policy explained; “How much does a tattoo cost” not answered on the site |
How we score
- Reviews: (1) rating 4.8 or higher; (2) 100 or more reviews; (3) 20 or more in the last 12 months; (4) no day with 5 or more reviews in the last two years; (5) replies to most reviews; (6) replies to every review at 3 stars or fewer; (7) replies are personal, not one template; (8) reviews at 3 stars or fewer under 5%; (9) a second platform with 10 or more reviews; (10) staff named in 10% or more of reviews.
- Search: (1) the Google name has no added keywords; (2) the Google phone and website match the site; (3) service and suburb or city in the page title and H1; (4) a meta description; (5) mobile PageSpeed score of 50 or more; (6) LocalBusiness schema; (7) a page for each main service; (8) tap-to-call on mobile; (9) HTTPS and no broken key links; (10) the business’s own site in the top 3 for its name.
- Marketing: (1) a clear promise above the fold; (2) prices or “from” prices; (3) a guarantee explained; (4) a clear speciality or offer that sets the business apart; (5) real photos or case studies; (6) a quote or booking within two clicks; (7) reviews shown on the site; (8) a social media post in the last 60 days; (9) the top “People also ask” question answered on the site; (10) no competitor ads on the brand name, or the business defends it.
- Each check scores 1 or 0. A check we couldn’t run on the day scores 0 until we can, and we say so.
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We’ll send you the full checklist behind this review, free: all 30 checks with what passed, what didn’t and how to fix each one, starting with getting your own site back into the results for your name. No call, no obligation. Ask for your checklist.
A plan for more bookings
The reputation is done. Clients rate the studio 4.9 and name their artists. What’s missing is the bridge from Google to the website, and that is mostly technical.
| What | Why | Effort | Likely effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get the site ranking for its own name | Rival studios’ posts show up where goodhonesttattoos.com should be | Medium | High |
| Add a phone number to Google and the site, or say clearly “we book online” | Google asks the public to add a phone | Low | High |
| One H1 with “Tattoo studio in Hamilton”, a title under 60 characters | Six H1s, none with the city; the title gets cut off | Low | High |
| Turn the ten searches in the shop page into answers | Prices, walk-ins, cover-ups, consultations: the questions are already written | Medium | High |
| A page per style with healed photos | Realism, Japanese, fine line, cover-ups have no pages | Medium | Medium |
| Same hours on Google and the website | 11am on Google, 10am on the site | Low | Medium |
| Ask for a review after every session, not in batches | Three days with 5 or 6 reviews in 2025 | Low | Medium |
| A proper “not found” page, typo fixes, LocalBusiness schema | Made-up pages load as the home page | Low | Low to medium |
Ideas that fit this studio
- Publish the waiting list. “Felipe: booking March. Garsing: about six weeks.” It sets expectations and answers the most common message before anyone sends it.
- Put Tavia, and anyone else clients name, on the team page with their own page and Instagram link.
- Write the sterilisation room up as a page with photos of the autoclave. Few studios show it, and first-timers search for exactly this.
- Say yes or no to Afterpay on the FAQ. People are already searching for it.
- Lean on the regulars. Clients coming back for ten years is rare; a “collectors” page with healed work over the years would show it.
For tattoo studios
Every unanswered question becomes a DM, and studios with a full book answer the same few over and over. Try your own numbers:
How much time do repeat questions cost?
Tattoo studios answer the same questions over and over in DMs, email and forms: how much, how soon, what deposit, can I walk in. Put in your own numbers and see what a clear prices-and-FAQ page could give back.
A month is taken as 4.33 weeks. The shares are your own estimates; nothing here is data from Good Honest Tattoos.
Quote and Job Organiser: SEO4’s free app
Most messages are about time and money: how long, how many sessions, what deposit. Quote and Job Organiser is a free Android app on Google Play that keeps those answers in writing. No account, no subscription, no ads, and the data stays on your phone.
- A quote with hours, sessions, deposit and GST, sent as a PDF by email, SMS or WhatsApp.
- An accepted quote turns into a job with the client and price carried over.
- Reference images and healed photos saved with each client.
- Notes on placement and colours ready for the next session.
Some studios want more: bookings by artist, deposits, a reminder before the session and a review request after it. Send us your idea, even a rough one. We build custom apps for studios and trades, and they cost less than most owners expect. Tell us what you need.
Common questions
Its clients rate it highly. On 29 October 2026 the studio had 4.9 stars from 187 Google reviews, 179 of them five stars. Reviewers praise a friendly crew, artists who listen and help shape the design, and a clean studio.
The studio doesn’t publish hourly rates. Consultations and designs are free, and each artist agrees a price with you before booking. Deposits are set by the artist, from $50 to $300, and are non-refundable.
On 29 October 2026 the team page listed Felipe Rapucci and Adym Kohi, who founded the studio in 2014, plus Cam Jonker, Garsing Wu and Charlie Grey. Felipe is the artist named most often in Google reviews.
Yes, when there is room. The studio recommends booking, says walk-ins may have to wait at peak times, and suggests checking availability on the Walk-ins app first.
Shop 7 in Lovegrove Lane, 394 Grey Street, Hamilton East. It is open Tuesday to Saturday; Google lists 11am to 5pm and the website 10am to 5pm. Book through the form on goodhonesttattoos.com, email ola@goodhonesttattoos.com or message the studio on Instagram.
Sources and how we checked
- Google reviews: SEO4 collected every public Google review of Good Honest Tattoos (187) on 29 October 2026, with date, stars and owner reply, and of Futureink Studio Tattoo Art (602), Skinks Tattoo Studio (144), Flax Roots Tattoo (81) and Jacob Cross Bridge City Tattoos (59) on 28 October 2026. Themes and names are keyword matches in reviews with text; low reviews are paraphrased without names.
- Google search: “good honest tattoos”, “good honest tattoos hamilton”, “site:goodhonesttattoos.com”, “tattoo hamilton nz” and autocomplete, 28 and 29 October 2026, from New Zealand. Results depend on where and when you search.
- Website: goodhonesttattoos.com home, artists, artist pages, about, contact and shop, viewed 29 October 2026.
- Instagram: @goodhonesttattoos, 29 October 2026. Facebook: the linked page didn’t open without logging in.
- PageSpeed Insights: no result on 29 October 2026.
- Screenshots of Google and goodhonesttattoos.com are used for review and criticism and credited in each caption; a private name in a search snippet is blurred.
About this review
SEO4 is not connected with Good Honest Tattoos. They are not our client and did not pay for or see this review before publication. We review what clients and Google can see online, not the artwork.
If you work at Good Honest Tattoos and something here is wrong or out of date, tell us and we will correct it: contact SEO4.
Corrections: none so far. Facts checked on 29 October 2026.
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