My girlfriend and I drove to this tattoo shop in Downtown Merced to get her belly button pierced on a Saturday because it's my go-to piercing shop in the Merced area. When we got there, we were informed that the piercing lady wouldn't be in until 1:30 pm. We went out for a walk and came back around that time, only to have to wait another 30 minutes to 1 hour for the piercing lady to come in. We didn't really mind too much at the time. When we finally went in, the Lady was really inviting and nice, however, it was noticeable that she was feeling rushed. She marked my girlfriend and all looked good. She also reassured my girlfriend that there would be no issues with it and it as all okay. About a month later, we went to get my eyebrow pierced and then also asked about the general redness around my girlfriend's healing belly piercing. Looking at it, suddenly the piercing lady suggested that my girlfriend didn't get it pierced with her and she strongly DENIED ever seeing her, making my girlfriend feel insecure and uncomfortable. (We told her we saw her about 3 weeks to a month ago.) The lady was notably rushed again when we came the second time. Overall, good vibes and knowledge about piercings but professionalism and kindness was lacking. My girlfriend and I left the shop that day upset and in anger. We understand that she may not remember every person, but denying that one modified a person's body is just rude and uncalled for. UPDATE (6/20/26): As of lately; Shop owner has denied ever performing our piercing, I would not trust this business at all. read more

I received a navel piercing here about a year ago. It was marked while I was lying down, and I noticed immediately that it appeared crooked. Over the next three months, I experienced persistent pain and developed an irritation bump. I ultimately had to remove it, which left a visible scar. When I returned to discuss the issue, the piercer denied having done the piercing, despite my appointment being only a month prior. That response was very upsetting and made the situation feel even worse. I've since had other piercings done elsewhere that healed without issue, which leads me to believe the original placement may not have been correct. I'm sharing this so others can ensure their piercings are properly assessed and that their concerns are acknowledged. read more

Been here a few times with friends and family, always good customer service and have always had quality services. Hoping to get more tats and piercings soon. Def recommend Mayor as a tattoo artist. He has beautiful shading and will work with your budget depending on the idea you have. Other than tats he's done my ear piercings and my boyfriends as well. My bf has had a conch done by him as well. Hoping to be guinea pig for Mayor when he starts practicing on nose piercings read more

Merced Tattoo and Piercing - Boyfriends Tat from Mayor - Tattoo Near Me - Merced, California

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All in all an amazing experience. Worked directly with the artist to schedule some work and he was super flexible given his crazy busy schedule which was very appreciated! The location is great but it does get a ton of random walk in piercing traffic which was surprising but nbd. The art was astounding and the shops vibe was chill. Lots of talented artists and definitely worth checking out. read more

I have never gotten my ears pierced, and coming here was the right choice. For a total of 4 piercings (2 on each side) was $100 dollars. When I came in there were a lot of people, so they gave me a paper to fill out and asked me to come an hour later. I did and when I came I was the first one to be helped. They were extremely nice and helped me feel comfortable. I'm not going to lie, I was scared and the guy ( I'm assuming his name is Daniel, since he gave me his card) who helped me was extremely careful with how he pierced my ears. Giving me words of comfort and allowing me to check if the piercings were where I wanted them to be. They attended me and it was more than I can ask for. The two mini diamond earrings are what they put in my new piercings. I highly recommend this place, I'm pretty sure you won't regret it. read more

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Genuine service on a slow Sunday. Can't ask for more! Nice new tattoo for a first timer. read more

Merced Tattoo and Piercing - Oglala Sioux Nation symbol - Tattoo Near Me - Merced, California

I visited Cali back in Oct 2020 ,got my double helix. As always great job done. Good customer service. I've always gotten pierced by Thoree, even when he was at a different location, so I recommend him. (: read more

Merced Tattoo and Piercing - Double helix - Tattoo Near Me - Merced, California

Highly recommend Shiomi ("ShowMe") for all your piercing needs and desires! I don't understand nor agree with the negative reviews. I received amazing customer service and (emotional) support from Shiomi. She walked me through getting my second nostril piercing. She is professional, clean, and efficiently skilled (chef's kiss touch ; nothing heavy about them!) . She let me check before getting the job done and I was not pressured or rushed at all even with a line behind me(Which is important for my anxiety ). It was at my pace and peace. If you're new to piercings or interested in getting more, I highly recommend seeing Shiomi at Merced Tattoo and Piercing. read more

Merced Tattoo and Piercing - Second Nostril piercing by Shiomi - Tattoo Near Me - Merced, California

Like most tattoo shops customer service was trash. You can stand at the front for 20 minutes before anybody acknowledges you. But that isn't why I chose to give this place a review. I recently went in and got both of my tragus' re-pierced. The girl who did them, Shiomi, was really friendly and I had no problem with her until she did my piercing. I've never had a piercing hurt so much, EVER. It felt like she jammed a dull needle through my ear and was trying to rip it off as she was screwing on the back piece. Maybe it's because it was towards the end of the day and the girl was tired as she had many people before us and after wanting piercings. But fair warning homegirl is heavy handed af. If it's your first time or you're nervous about getting your piercing done, maybe go elsewhere. I have a high tolerance for pain and had my Medusa, industrial, tongue, and more done and none have ever felt as painful as this one did. Two stars for the nice guy who was the only person to ask if we had been helped after he finished a customers tattoo and we had already been there for 30 minutes. read more

Drove from East Porterville to get here which is a 2 hour drive. It was well worth it. The artist showed up on time and was really polite and made the experience great. He also put on a dope playlist. Played everything from Nipsy Hussle to 50 Cent to B.I.G. playlist skills were 12/10. Oh and the tattoo was amazing too. Book with Thor if you can. Great guy. (: read more

So the cousins and I decided " what the heck!let's get some nose piercings" and so we did. We called alot of places and most of them were closed or weren't taking walk-ins. Thankfully this place did. Staff was great! Very informative, friendly and patient. (They pierced 5 of us) My piercer made my experience quick and ALMOST pain free. Love my piercing. read more

I called on a Saturday evening before closing to find out if an appointment was needed for piercing and was told to walk in the next day. I went in approximately 30 minutes after they opened. They had two people doing tattoos and a child sitting at the counter. Nobody acknowledged my presence for 15 minutes. When I was finally acknowledged I stated i was doing a walk in for a nose piercing (as told to do the night before) the guy looked at the other guy and asked if he could do a piercing. I was told from the employee and I quote "our equipment is DIRTY!!! Nobody cleaned it the night before (I thought all needles were new) so we have nothing to do the piercing with. Come back on Tuesday and we will have someone to clean the supplies" I had heard good things about this place and this was a horrible experience and knowing they reuse them equipment that they apparently lit SIT DIRTY in their shop for days... I will be going elsewhere for any business. If you choose to go here be sure they use CLEAN equipment read more

I got a roman numeral tattoo here, they messed up and tattooed the wrong date. They didn't want to fix it or give me a refund. I got it fixed elsewhere. read more

I could write a short novel to paint you my experience but i doubt it would make a difference to most. In short, "Thore", who's reputation seems to bring in most of the business to this shop, is an arrogant, take it or leave it young artist running a posse of other young artist; Who are skilled in mostly sticker pieces, and overpriced piercings. Honestly there are "some" good pieces from this shop but its not worth the expense and trying to work around the attitude. They think they are hot sh** and they aren't. They even brush off potential business, and, in not just my experience, if they make a mistake they will go as far as to blame your body for THEIR mistake....baffling... Literally a terrible experience every time I went in. read more

I went in today to get a nose piercing. The shop was extremely clean and the staff was friendly, helpful and professional. I liked the aesthetic of the shop as it appears to offer something for all different types of tattoo/art styles. Thore was very nice and quick which made the process painless. I highly recommend them over the other shop down the street. read more

Let me preface this by stating that I hate writing bad reviews. The main purpose of this review is to shed light on the unprofessional customer experience I had with Thor so that he can improve the way he treats his customers and conducts his business. The moment I walked into this shop there was something off-putting about Thor. But, the shop looked nice and clean so, after comparing other artists in the area I decided to go with him anyway. This is my first tattoo and I wanted what I thought was the best possible person to do it. I call the shop later and he says a deposit is required to make an appointment for the tattoo. Ok fine. Next day I stopped by the shop to drop off my deposit. Instead of taking it, he tells me to contact his assistant. Ok fine. I contact the assistant, pay the deposit, and literally 2 min after paying says that appointment is unavailable. But, after getting a little upset, magically somebody "canceled" and I took their spot. Day of my tattoo, 10am appointment, he doesn't get there until 11am and instead of apologizing blames me for not checking my DM's(which btw is not a legitimate line of communication for a storefront business perhaps acceptable for an online business). There was also another customer with me that morning waiting for him. This other guy scheduled his touch up months in advance and waited outside in the cold and rain for an hour just like me for Thor to arrive. I was willing to delay my own tattoo for this guy to get his touch up. But, instead of taking care of his touch up that would've taken less than 30 min, blames the customer for scheduling his touch up with his assistant and not through his DM. What's the point of an assistant then? This other guy is an extremely kind person and couldn't stand up for himself. I was really angry about this and wanted to say something at that moment but didn't because I didn't want to mess up my own tattoo session so I bit my tongue. Now, for the tattoo session. The tattoo itself took less than 4 hours to complete but I ended up being there for 8+ hours because he was walking away from me every 20 minutes, and must've walked away at least 10 times. When you're paying someone $250/hr, the assumption should be that all their attention will be on you. Also, when you're experiencing excruciating pain your brain has the ability to numb the pain after a few minutes. Every time my mind would begin to numb the pain he would say nothing and walk away to make a little extra money doing walk-in piercings. Your money maker is tattooing and when your customer pays a premium at $250/hr for your services, you shouldn't be giving priority to walk in customers. After about 6 weeks, I DM him to schedule my touch up. It is my understanding that the whole point of a touch up is to "touch up" any imperfections of the work after the skin has healed. But, he makes it clear he doesn't like doing touch ups probably because it's "free"(not really because you paid for the original work). This is evidenced through the other customer's and my interactions with him. Why offer it then? Oh yea probably because it is an industry standard. Take a look at my DM and email exchanges with him and you can see how he talks to his customers. If you're ok with being on his time and not on your time, definitely go with him. His work is pretty good. My tattoo is an 8 out of 10. I was trying to get the touch up to make it a 10(uploaded pic and messages of what I'm talking about). This guy accepts zero accountability for his mistakes and blames others instead. Thor thinks he's projecting confidence and strength by treating his customers this way but you're actually projecting weakness and arrogance. Try learning some modesty and humbleness, it could go a long way. If you're the owner or Thor reading this, I hope my review can motivate you to improve the customer experience. And if you're a potential customer that took the time to read this long review, I hope it provided you some good insight, and I hope you receive a better customer experience than I did. read more

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I got my daith and tragus done here and I'm very happy with how they turned out. Haven't really had any issues with the healing process for them and I liked how clean the shop was. The woman that pierced me was super sweet and made the whole process very easy and comfortable. I loved that the price included standard, basic jewelry and I didn't have to pay for an earring on top of the service fee. The only reason I took away one star is because she used an earring with a really long post for my tragus so it would constantly touch the inside of my ear and it was very uncomfortable. It was such a relief when I was able to change the jewelry and no longer have it constantly tickling my ear. read more

Loved this place; went there for a fundraiser event and got my first tattoo, artist for me was a guy who goes my Thor. Super happy with the result, and I can't wait to go back to this place in the nearby future! read more

Merced Tattoo and Piercing - Tattoo Near Me - Merced, California

Got a septum piercing today very clean and professional .. will be coming back to this place

New to town and came here to try and get a finger tattoo. There was an artist available who said "it's not that I can't do it, I just don't want to." I definitely feel like this could have been presented to us in a better way. I was referred to contact the business owner Instead to see if he would be willing to do the tattoo. read more

Over priced for decent work (Joey). Glad I didn't get anything done was a spectator. Glad I have my own artist that slays the work and has a bigger name rep. I get with the pandemic and all but shouldn't over charge clients for medium size pieces. Wouldn't recommend read more

So what can I say !!!! My experience at this place is all bad. I wished I never went there. I visited this place on the 3rd to get a piercing. I researched many places in Merced. I found this one because they have good reviews, so I was like why not. What I wanted was an industrial piercing. I got there and from the start the guy that assisted was in a bad moon or something. Idk maybe it wasn't his day or something but it was not a good customer service. I just didn't want to be there. I didn't mind the way he was being, What I do mind is my ear industrial piercing turn out to be when he should of know how to do it right. He did everything so quick. So fast like really fast. He measure my industrial and everything I agree that I was okay with what he was showing me but when I got it and looked at it , I was really upset. He didn't even pierced where he was supposed to. Now my bar is giving me a Indent. Also when I was asking him for aftercare feedback he was just like saline and cut me off. I was trying to ask questions. I did my research before getting an industrial. I want to learn more n how long it take to heal and the taking the care and everything but that's why he's there for as well. To guide and help. He wasn't the right person nor right place. Now I have a messed up industrial. I wouldn't get an industrial here. Honest opinion. read more

Walked into this business, waited 35 minutes to be "helped" was approached by "Thore" way overpriced for limited art... shop around and go somewhere else. read more

Got tatted by thore a few months back. He was very nice and quick, I didn't feel any weird vibes or anything. He was professional and very clean as well. read more

Very pleased to recommend Showme for any of your piercing needs... She made me feel very comfortable... She was professional, fun and informative. Thank you for a great experience Showme... read more

Robert does AMAZING work. The shop is open & airy and has a REALLY good vibe unlike a lot of tattoo parlors. The artists are all very friendly and Robert has done two really great pieces on me and didn't flake on appointment times or price quotes... he is a professional. I highly recommend this shop- don't judge it for "just being in Merced"... you don't need to drive to Modesto or Fresno for quality work with this new shop in town. read more

This place is beyond amazing. They do fundraisers. And they do amazing work. Love this place. Definitely my favorite shop.

We got tattoos as walk ins with Thore and couldn't be happier! I called ahead of time to ask who was available and the girl that answered was very nice and willing to help over the phone. I know most placed wont quote over the phone but she happily gave me the shop minimum and let me know they take walk ins on availability of course. Thore was super chill, professional, and timely. He didn't mind changing things in the tattoos or repositioning them when we asked. The shop is newer and clean but you can tell the artists are not newbies either. He had us in and out in about an hour but he didn't rush(which I appreciate since its gonna be on my body for a while!) Definitely will be back for more ink soon. Thanks Thore and Merced Tattoo. Their shop min is $60 btw pretty standard and more than fair. read more

Reading the reviews I was iffy about going here or to another shop but i still wanted to give this place a chance so I did. I called ahead to double check their process on piercings and someone answered fairly quickly which I enjoyed. Gave me a price quote and said they accepted walk-ins. i go to the shop around 5:30pm and its 2-3 staff members working on people but when I walked in they spoke and all said hello with a smile. waiting on them was also pretty short even though they had clients they wanted to check in on me. I just wanted a simple piercing to see if they were clean and legit and they were! Thorne i believe his name was allowed me to rant because i was anxious and he tried to talk me through the process which i enjoyed. he also didn't try to force me to get ready allowed me to give him the signal and didn't seem annoyed with me. i also checked out their jewelry and some of the pieces were really cute. i have to go back to get my industrial now and might even get a tattoo from someone there. i do recommend this shop for piercings tho! read more