The facts, please, on tipping standards for food delivery

Factual Questions
1

In the US, in the Midwest, what is the generally accepted convention (as opposed to your opinion) as to how much a food delivery driver (i.e., pizza) is supposed to be tipped?

My impression has been that the standard tip is less than that generally given to waitstaff–since the person has merely delivered your food and has not waited on you in any sense.

But I am seeing delivery drivers complain about tips less than fifteen percent. (Not in person–on a discussion forum).

Is there a fifteen percent standard for delivery people too?

2

I tip them the same as if they served it to me in a restaurant. In some places, venturing out in traffic is more worth a decent tip than simply walking across a room.

Since tipping is still optional, is there going to be any answer that’s not based in opinion?

3

It’s not a matter of opinion what the generally accepted standard is. It may be a matter of opinion whether the generally accepted standard is actually acceptable, but of course that’s not what I was asking.

4

I think, rather, it is a matter of opinion as to what the generally accepted standard is, however, since there is no definitive answer. Everyone who answers is going to be influenced by their own experiences and culture. Ask a group of elderly what the generally accepted tip percentage is. Then ask a group of waitstaff. Then ask a bunch of people who earn upwards of $100K/year. Then, try and separate fact from opinion. You may get a consensus, which may differ depending on the group polled, but there’s no factual standard because there’s no authorizing body that sets a standard.

Is there going to be an expert answer? Can there be?

It seems to me polling for a consensus belongs in IMHO. But that’s just IMHO, I suppose, which I understand is not what you asked for.

5

I agree that there can’t be a definitive factual answer unless someone actually counts up the tips given. You can’t even rely on what people report they give (or receive) since both sides of that transaction may have reason to fib. If two people don’t agree on what the “generally accepted standard” is, how do you decide who is right?

I’m not in the Midwest, but I’ve generally used 15% or rounding up to an appropriate even dollar amount.

6

Tipping 15-20% is the industry standard when eating out at restaurants if you receive acceptable or better service. The waiters/waitresses earn far below the minimum wage in most states so they rely on tips.

I’m pretty sure that delivery drivers are paid at least minimum wage or very close to it (and sometimes get gas stipends) and therein lies the difference.

Me personally I generally tip close to 15% for food delivery but I am kinda generous. I know some people that barely tip at all for delivered food.

7

I’m a bad tipper because I suck at math. I usually figure three to five buck is worth your time, unless it’s an ice storm. Then you can have a little extra. I grew up in the Midwest (Iowa) but I live in Colorado now.

As far as table service goes…oh, that’s all on the wait staff.

8

You are suggesting that the factual answer to my General Question post is “there is no generally accepted tipping standard for food delivery.”

9

I tip at least 20% for drivers - come on, it’s raining out there, they have to drive their own cars, and I don’t think they actually do make minimum wage. And my pizza is probably hotter than you "maybe 15%"ers.

10

That is the answer I do believe. There isn’t a standard like there is at a sit-down restaurant.

11

I delivered in California in the late eighties and we got minimum wage, plus bonuses for shifts where we delivered 20, 30, 40, etc. The bonuses were a way to give a gas/wear and tear allowance without bothering to figure actual gas usage.

Not everyone thought to tip. College students (it was a college town) especially usually hadn’t picked up the idea, or would just hand the coin change back, maybe with a buck. So houses were a better bet for tips, while dorm runs were a better way to make bouns, because dorm runs were usually multiples, usually from multiple orders.

Christmas was usually a good time for tips. I hit one house, once, where a young family had done all their shopping in one day, with a budget. And they paid and tipped for the pizza with the budget that they had left over, as a kind of celebration. They must have gotten good deals, because the pizza was less than $20 and the tip was close to $40.

If you want to be remembered forever. Tip a pizza driver really big and attach it to a story. Instant immortality.

(There was also the drunk guy that kept trying to give me extra twenties. Fortunately, he had a friend with him who wasn’t drunk, so I didn’t have to fight with my conscience. After a bit of back and forth with the friend saying “you don’t want to do that, man” and the guy saying “yes I do, it’s cool for her to deliver like this”, I just started handing the twenties to the friend to give back to him later. He emptied his wallet. It would have been over $80. As it was, it was still a good tip.)

Edited to add. At that time and place, any tip we could fold got you gratitude and if you made sure it was over 10%, you were one of the good guys.

12

Once I was babysitting and I only had credit and debit cards. The parents ordered Chinese and gave me a $20. The total ended up being $19 and some change. The delivery guy was SO pissed.

13

I tip a solid 20% for acceptable service, whether it’s in a retaurant or for delivery. Minimum wage jobs are not fun when one is supporting a family or just trying to make ends meet. And I can afford it. I’ve noticed over the years that when you frequent a place often enough, the wait staff gets to know your face and your tipping habits (the same applies for delivery food drivers). My food usually comes more quickly in both cases, so while some college kid is eating cold pizza, mine is piping hot. Also, I pay the delivery guy’s tip in cash only.

14

I know some people who have worked as drivers and, all of them have made at least minimum wage, several even a decent bit more. Of course, they have other costs associated with it like wear and tear on their car, gas, and higher insurance premiums, but they’ll also generally do multiple deliveries on a single outting, so I think that’s sort of a wash.

Either way, I used to tip 15-20% and I always got responses as though it was a considerable amount. Eventually I was told the general idea is roughly a buck or buck and a half per item delivered and a bit more if they have to drive far, carry it up stairs, or the weather is poor, but it generally ends up being fairly close to that margin anyway. Besides, I don’t have a problem giving the guy delivering from 2 blocks away a bit less than 15%, especially when I’m already paying a delivery charge, $6 on top of the cost of a $10pizza from 2 blocks away just isn’t worth the price anymore.

15

Well, here’s an effort to get a factual answer – though it’s not really a consensus so it’s just another data point for you.

The company SeamlessWeb, which serves 28 cities in the U.S. (and at least London in the UK), is an online delivery, um, assistor. Meaning that folks can go to their site, choose a restaurant, and order from the restaurant, including payment via credit card. It’s a pretty awesome convenience, especially for workplaces ordering for lunch.

In the U.S., when checking out, they automatically include a tip fee, which defaults to a certain amount depending on your total (but can be changed upwards if you’re feeling more generous). The default is a minimum of $1.50 for orders from $10 - 20, $2 for $20 - $25, $2.50 for $25 - $30, and so on. In the UK, where tips aren’t standard, the default is $0.00.

So for orders above $15, they’re assuming an average tip of 10%. As I said, that’s not a consensus, but it’s a national company and I’m assuming they’ve done their own surveys to decide the amounts. Plus some of the restaurants probably have their own policies too, which are taken into account.

Oh wait… I just checked their FAQ, which states it better:

Guess I’m contradicted a bit here, because apparently some places do let you tip lower than 10%. I guess the restaurants from which I’ve ordered don’t allow that.

Anyway, to finish with a personal anecdote: myself, I always give a minimum of $4 no matter what the order is, even $10. (Our orders average $10 - $25 I’d say). Far as I’m concerned, the effort is the same for the delivery person on a $10 order as it is for a $20 order, unless the latter order includes heavy soda bottles or something.

16

ahhhh. 10% is too low IMO. However, I am considered by many to be a generous tipper.

17

The disclaimer: I’ve been delivering pizzas for almost 3 years now. (Just graduated, so hopefully won’t be doing it much longer.)

The facts: We used to get paid minimum wage, but the store (which is barely staying above water, and it’s week to week these days) couldn’t afford this after minimum wage went up recently. We did get a slight raise, but not to the new minimum, and they now keep track of credit card tips. Where I work (a small local chain) we get a “commission” of 6% to pay for gas and wear and tear on your vehicle. We do charge a $1.50 delivery fee. (Whether this money goes back to the drivers or is used to pay for the store’s additional insurance is debatable. When asked, I tell people that this money is for insurance for the store. People are less likely to tip if they think that that $1.50 is going to us, because they rationalize that “the delivery/tip is already included.”)

The averages: I’d say that the average tip is $2 and the change on an average delivery of ~$20. Sometimes you get stiffed, and sometimes you get a $5 tip, but the mean and median are between 2 and $3. My tips at the end of the day are usually about twice my commission (again, 6%), so this works out to about 12%. Yesterday (Mother’s day) was slow. I opened, which means coming in at 11 and slicing toppings, making sauce, doing dishes, etc., between deliveries.* I went home at 6 pm with $20 cash from about 5 deliveries. That was about $12 in tips and $8 in commissions. That comes out to just under $3 per hour on top of my less-than-minimum-wage. I normally average more like $5.
The best day ever was when we had a snow storm this January. I was supposed to be student teaching, but schools were closed and the scheduled driver couldn’t get out of his driveway. I spent all day sliding over the road delivering pizzas. We closed up around 7 when it got too bad to drive. (One of my coworkers slid into another car while on a delivery.) I learned how to drive in Kentucky, so was more experienced than those who have lived in SC their whole lives. I went home with $150 after delivering ~$500 worth of food. That was about twice my previous record for take-home cash.
At the end of the day we hand over our cash and receipts and the manager figures up how much you delivered, figures your commission, adds up your cash, and gives you your tips (the difference) plus your commission, rounded to the nearest dollar.

The opinion: As has been mentioned before, I’m not just walking across a restaurant with your food; I’m putting it into a bag, making your drinks (when applicable) and putting them into a carrier, putting them into my personal vehicle, driving to your place, and sometimes climbing up flights of stairs with a bag in one hand and a drink carrier in the other. I would argue that I’m doing more for you than the server who walks a few dozen feet.
However, I’m not recommending a straight percentage, because I don’t think that the amount of food is as important as the distance. I don’t mind only getting a dollar on a delivery that’s 3 blocks away. I’d rather do that than drive 7 miles (14 miles round trip) for $2. $40 of pizza isn’t any harder to deliver than $20 of pizza and subs. (Of course, if you get 10+ pizzas then I’m going to have to make multiple trips from my car to your place, so you should give at least 5 or 10 on those.) Take other things into consideration also, such as whether I have to climb flights of stairs or wait for you to find your checkbook and write out a check, etc. There is no factual answer to this question. But if you want my opinion, the formula for the minimum tip would be 5% plus .50 per mile that you are from the pizza place, then round up to the nearest dollar. We don’t want your coins. The only time I’ll insist on the coins is if they would otherwise not have enough for the food, much less a tip. (Yes, it happens. Yes, it is a struggle to not let these instances cause you to be prejudiced.) So, if you’re a decent tipper, and your total is $22.05, and you want to give the driver $25.05 so that he gets an even $3, don’t bother with the nickel. I’m going to consider that a ~$3 tip with our without the nickel. I’m going to toss that change in my car.

  • [What I really hate is closing, because at the end of the day you are washing greasy pans or mopping the floor while thinking “I have a master’s degree and I’m mopping floors for less than minimum wage.”]
18

This sounds reasonable and I figured it was useful info to have until I did the math. We live in a house (no stairs; easy parking) three miles from our local Domino’s Pizza and our order comes to about $26. By your formula, we would tip $1.50 for mileage (assuming you didn’t mean roundtrip distance from pizza place) plus $1.30, rounding up to avoid giving change, the total tip would be $3 which is only about 11% of the bill. That’s not such a great tip from my point-of-view. Since I generally tip in the neighborhood of 15%, I’d be more likely to tip $5 (and then later figure that I should have tipped at least $6 because I rounded down in my haste :D).

I don’t think I could feel comfortable tipping just 11% unless the delivery person was a total jackwagon or drove too fast through my neighborhood or something.

19

Yeah, I think you’re cheating the hell out of yourself there. I never tip less than 5 bucks for a pizza.

20

If I ever have restaurant table service which can be summed up like this, that person is not getting a tip. A waitress does a lot more than carry plates a few dozen feet.