Inside the $1.79 billion business of regret

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But when Mike Anderson decided he no longer wanted his ink, he discovered just how difficult it was to undo the permanence.

Unable to find a laser tattoo-removal clinic in Sydney's inner-west, he and his wife decided to open one themselves.

Twelve years later, what began as a personal solution has grown into a business spanning 12 locations across NSW, Queensland and the United States — part of a booming industry built around a simple idea: what goes on the skin doesn't necessarily have to stay there.

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With more than a decade in the industry, Anderson says he has seen his fair share of tattoo regret stories .

"There was one from Bondi that said 'chicken' when they thought it said 'prosper'."

Anderson says the rise of fine-line and highly detailed tattoos has brought a new group of clients into removal clinics .

"With more detail comes more opportunity for mistakes and bad work. When they go wrong, they usually go noticeably wrong."

The growing demand for a second chance at unwanted ink is fuelling a booming global industry. The tattoo-removal market was worth an estimated US$1.29 billion ($1.79 billion) in 2025 and is forecast to reach US$4.87 billion ($6.75 billion) by 2034, according to Fortune Business Insights.

For some clients, the tattoos they want removed carry a darker history — racist symbols, hate-related words and, in some cases, racist slogans.

For five years, Anderson's clinic has run a charity program offering free removal of these tattoos.

"We've done al-Qaeda tattoos, we've done swastikas and white power symbols," he says.

Anderson says the aim is to help clients distance themselves from the beliefs these tattoos represent.