Because they’re already paid a salary?
Yeah, but they’re performing a personal service for you (delivery to your house). People who perform a personal service get tipped (delivery people, baristas, hair stylists, waitstaff). Full stop, no question.
Now, the guy who delivers the pizza doesn’t get the full 20% that I’d give to waitstaff - but he does get 10-15%.
So are taxi drivers.
And waiters.
And bartenders.
And barbers/hairdressers.
Do you stiff everyone just because they draw a paycheck?
Tip the movers half before they start. Let them know the other half is coming. Give the money to the head honcho (the one mover who’s telling the others what to do), but in sight of the others. You are tipping to get people to a better than adequate job in the case of movers.
And that’s how the thread became 4 pages long.
18 pages if DtC shows up.
I tipped our movers $20 apiece, and bought lunch.
Ya, but do the movers wear their shoes in the house?
It’s just custom here in the colonies, and certainly not required. People on strict budgets don’t tip, people who can afford to, do. Between military service and other jobs I’ve moved many times (as many as 10, I’m sure), and tips depended on how professional/careful the movers were with my things. I always sprang for lunch, but not always for a tip. Many people who deliver things earn not much over minimum wage, and having been in that situation many years ago, I sympathize with them trying to make ends meet. It’s a liberal thing.
Thanks for trying to help me break the code! 
Does “delivery people” include for packages? What about those people you have in some (?) of your supermarkets over there, who pack your bags for you?
Also, staff in fast food “restaurants” don’t automatically get tipped, right?
To be honest, such widespread tipping seems terribly old-fashioned, and feels like a “master and servant” sort of relationship!
Who said that I “stiff” anyone? Apparently it’s escaped your notice either that (a) I’m not an American, and am not in the US, or (b) other countries don’t do everything the same way as in the US.
Not that our “rules” entirely make sense. Why is it automatically considered necessary to tip a black cab driver, for instance? They generally earn a reasonable amount of money, and they’re their own boss.
And incidentally, I quite like the American system of tipping bar staff, just like I prefer our system of tipping waiters for good service.
And finally, I didn’t say they didn’t get a pay cheque; I said they were paid a salary.
Most supermarkets forbid their employees from taking tips, on pain of dismissal.
No, they don’t. But they don’t bring the food to your table either–just shove it into a sack, spilling your fries all over and crushing your hamburger.
Apologies if that came off snarky. That wasn’t my intent.
It was actually pretty clear to me that you are not American and I am well aware that not everyone does things the way we do.
[curiosity]What’s a “black cab driver”? I’m guessing it doesn’t mean what I think it means.[/curiosity]
Anyway, it’s one of those double standards that exist in the world of gratuities. You tip a waiter at a sit-down restaurant but not the kid behind the counter at McDonald’s. You tip a taxi driver but not the public bus driver. Like Maggie said, it’s a matter of personal service.
In America the waitstaff start with a certain gratuity amount, the standard is 15%, and that amount gets adjusted up or down according to the quality of the service.
I don’t understand the difference. I mean I know the difference, but I don’t see how that difference is relevant here.
In which case, please accept my apologies in turn! 
This seems as good as any web page to give you a basic introduction:
http://golondon.about.com/od/londontransport/a/taxis.htm
But if you’re in a McDonald’s, the person at the counter takes your order, passes your food to you, and sorts out your payment. Isn’t that some sort of personal service?
In other words, they get a set amount of pay each month (or however often you get paid over there), rather than being paid by mile, or job, or some other form of commission, or on a casual basis.
A. Gwilliam: just so you know, there is no rhyme, reason or rule you can use to determine when to tip in the USA, you just have to find out from a native when you need to tip, and expect that for many cases there will be different opinions.
Okay. Kinda what I figured. Like “Yellow Taxis” in America, and not one of these. 
Sometimes. Often, especially when it is busy, the cashiers are just taking orders and there’s someone else distributing food to customers. I suppose that it’s considered more of a straight-up transaction than a “service.” But I get your point. Like I said, it’s a double standard and there’s rarely any rhyme or reason to it.
Most fast-food employees are actually not allowed to accept tips as a matter of corporate policy.