Tipping Etiquette

[bjl584]

I found this blurb online.
This is one person's perspective on different tipping scenarios.
Where do you stand?



I would like to get insight from business owners, independent contractors, baristas, etc.
While I appreciate the +1's, I'm hoping for a healthy discourse not an echo chamber.

When I dine out, it's easily a 20-30% tip on my bill depending on service. Thankfully, I've never had service so bad that I've felt the need to dip lower than 20%.
I understand that for most wait staff, they're only making a few dollars an hour so wait staff depend on tips to make a living.
I also tip about as much on artistic services like haircuts, tattoos, etc. As there is a metric of how well someone performed said service.
This post is for tipping discussion on services and goods outside of wait staff and art.

And please, before anyone comes for me, I've worked most these jobs, I've been homeless, I've been talentless, I know the struggle. These are just thoughts I have, I want you to change my mind and provide new perspectives.

As I understand tipping, it's a monetary gesture of "You did a good job"

Why is there a tipping option for:

Wag/Rover/Other similar services
Providers are independent contractors, they set their own prices.
If the job was unsatisfactory, I wouldn't hire them again. If it was satisfactory, I would. Is that not the same structure as mechanics, plumbers, day care, etc? What's the variation that I'd be tipping on? Feels kind of binary to me, you either did the job or you didn't.

Baristas/Food Trucks and Stalls/Bakeries/Etc
From my understanding and experience, the positions here are paid appropriately. Starbucks starting pay averages 15-17/hr. that's about the same as my experience with other cafes. Cooks in my area start at 18-20/hr.
That's about as much as my local supermarket pays for deli counter/cashiers/bakers/produce positions. Are we tipping them too? What is the distinction that has one group flipping their ipad around to "just ask a few questions"?
What's the reason I'm being asked to tip on a cup of coffee? Is this poured out of a vat with more skill and talent than the next place? Doesn't the cost of the coffee itself contain the service and convenience cost of me not making it myself at home?
For those that own and operate food trucks, didn't you set the price for this [food]? Can't you just charge more if you think you're making it better than the next truck?

DoorDash/Instacart/Deliveries
I'll admit to a fair portion of ignorance with these positions, but from a quick search, I see that DoorDash has an Earn by Time minimum, and Instacart has batch pay for their drivers.
Can I get some insight on this? Why is tipping the societal expectation for these?
For customers, a service fee or membership cost is paid for this service. What is the variation of deliveries made here? How could one do a better job of delivering a product than a UPS driver? For those doordashing, are you also tipping your Amazon package delivery drivers as well? Is that the norm?
Aren't these jobs paying a rate that is reflective of the skill, education, and demand of performing these tasks? If it's not worth it, why not do something else instead of putting the burden of pay on the customers?
I see a lot of grief posts about people not tipping on deliveries. Is there value to the perspective that the customer has already paid a delivery fee for the convenience? Why is tipping part of the question?

I still tip on all these services, I just don't know the why.

[disneysteve]

I think the proliferation of tips jars and electronic tipping prompts is out of hand. If I walk up to a counter, ask for a donut, and you hand me a donut, that doesn't warrant a tip. I'm just going to pay you for the donut and be on my way.

Tipping culture has never made sense and really needs to go away. This includes full service restaurants. Pay your staff an actual salary and eliminate tipping. Raise prices accordingly. Lots of other countries don't have tipping like we do in the US and everything works just fine.

[ua_guy]

My perspective has changed a bit over the years. I understand what a luxury it is to eat out, buy coffee and treats, have something delivered.

Obviously, I strongly support paying both competitive wages and wages that support livelihood meaningfully. I'm likely to believe minimum wages trail the market in most cases. I'd rather that certain aspects of capitalism and the labor marketing general NOT be a race to the bottom. Accordingly, when there's an opportunity to tip, I usually do. There's a couple of restaurants we frequent, and we know the staff. The drinks are heavy pours and service is excellent and they treat us extra. It's a heavy tip for them.

[disneysteve]

My perspective has changed a bit over the years. I understand what a luxury it is to eat out, buy coffee and treats, have something delivered.

Obviously, I strongly support paying both competitive wages and wages that support livelihood meaningfully. I'm likely to believe minimum wages trail the market in most cases. I'd rather that certain aspects of capitalism and the labor marketing general NOT be a race to the bottom. Accordingly, when there's an opportunity to tip, I usually do. There's a couple of restaurants we frequent, and we know the staff. The drinks are heavy pours and service is excellent and they treat us extra. It's a heavy tip for them.

My tipping perspective has changed also since the pandemic struck. Restaurants still haven't recovered fully. More people are ordering takeout and using delivery services like Uber and Door Dash. Fewer are dining in. As a result, I've taken to tipping on take out orders which I never used to do. I'll generally do 10% rather than 20% in those situations.

As I said, though, I still don't tip for basic counter service. And I'm pretty sure those folks aren't tipped employees anyway. They're paid normal wages.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

It has to do with software but I can easily accept tipping for food/takeout/etc. But on clothes? Go into a store and they want you to pay a tip for groceries? They want you to tip for pretty much anywhere square, clover, etc is run. Sorry but why is the standard thing 18% on a shirt?

[disneysteve]

It has to do with software but I can easily accept tipping for food/takeout/etc. But on clothes? Go into a store and they want you to pay a tip for groceries? They want you to tip for pretty much anywhere square, clover, etc is run. Sorry but why is the standard thing 18% on a shirt?

I don't think I've ever been asked to tip at a clothing store, though to be fair, I very rarely buy clothing.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

It's anywhere that square is present

[QuarterMillionMan]

Question: You're at the casino and win a handpay such as $1500 where you have to sign a W2-G and the attendant counts out $1500 in cash and hands it to you (often the last $100 is doled out in $20 bills in order to make tipping easier, I guess). I may tip a $20 bill. Some hard core casino patrons would say why tip it is their job and do you tip your bank teller for issuing you the same $1500 in cash?

[disneysteve]

Question: You're at the casino and win a handpay such as $1500 where you have to sign a W2-G and the attendant counts out $1500 in cash and hands it to you (often the last $100 is doled out in $20 bills in order to make tipping easier, I guess). I may tip a $20 bill. Some hard core casino patrons would say why tip it is their job and do you tip your bank teller for issuing you the same $1500 in cash?

Great question. Same as tipping the dealer at the blackjack or craps table. Why? What exactly did they do other than their job? And they are being paid normal wages and benefits. They aren't tipped employees making $3/hr. And it's not like tipping them is going to make them do anything special for you. They're going to deal the cards just the same either way.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Thank you disneysteve. And the $1500 handpay may have brought me back to even money or may have been worse where I ended up not losing as much money and tipping would have put me at a loss, good grief.

[myrdale]

Keep in mind, who is actually getting the tip?!

If I walk into Moe's or a dozen other restaurants, place my order and pay then the key pad ask about a tip, is that money going to the person who prepared my order? the person who rang me up? or the owner of the store!

[ua_guy]

I'm not too worried about who gets the tip. If tips are coming in and employees know it, there's a good chance they're seeing that money. Many of them say thank you when tipped, and that makes me think they're seeing benefit.

For casual places if I'm paying with a card and they have a jar next to the register, I'll usually tip $0 on the card transaction and put cash in their jar. They may claim that as they wish!