# USA - Which delivery drivers do you tip?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-which-delivery-drivers-do-you-tip/852884
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [April 30, 2020, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-which-delivery-drivers-do-you-tip/852884 "2020-04-30T09:25:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2020, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-which-delivery-drivers-do-you-tip/852884/1 "2020-04-30T09:25:19Z")
Question prompted by [this](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=895269) thread over in GQ, I’m curious what the norm is for which deliveries get tipped and which don’t?
Even in the UK and Australia it has become almost the norm to tip fast food delivery drivers (Pizza, etc) So I get that.
With reference to the US, where is the cutoff? I get the impression from that thread that grocery delivery people get tipped at least some of the time. What about others?
[ul]
[li]‘Normal’ Amazon deliveries? (as in normal random stuff, not groceries)[/li][li]General parcel deliveries? (presuming you’re home to receive in person)[/li][li]Flower deliveries?[/li][li]USPS?[/li][/ul]
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### Author:  [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2020, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-which-delivery-drivers-do-you-tip/852884/2 "2020-04-30T11:20:29Z")
I only tip food delivery. In the past I’ve taped an envelope with cash to the door in case I miss them, but due to the virus I’m trying to use whatever the relevant app provides. If unable via the app, I resort to the envelope and cash. I figure they can decide whether they want to touch it. So far, no one’s left it there.
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### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2020, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-which-delivery-drivers-do-you-tip/852884/3 "2020-04-30T12:12:42Z")
Flowers possibly. The others, no.
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### Author:  [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2020, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-which-delivery-drivers-do-you-tip/852884/4 "2020-04-30T12:15:22Z")
I don’t tip any on that list. The only time I’ve ordered flowers, it was online and the flowers went straight to the recipient, so I’m not sure how I’d even go about tipping them.
I think for the USPS, most people who _do_ tip them, do so at Christmastime when they give them something extra to cover the entire past year.
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### Author:  [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2020, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-which-delivery-drivers-do-you-tip/852884/5 "2020-04-30T12:25:17Z")
Just food delivery. And even that can be a challenge because we so rarely have cash on hand. I prefer handing over a few bills to adding it to the charge slip, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do…
I’ve never gotten flowers, and I figure the extra charge for delivering whatever I’ve bought should cover, you know, delivery. As for deliveries from Amazon or whatever - they’re usually left on the porch without even the courtesy of ringing the doorbell.
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2020, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-which-delivery-drivers-do-you-tip/852884/6 "2020-04-30T13:05:09Z")
> [@GreedySmurf](#):
>
> [ul]
> [li]‘Normal’ Amazon deliveries? (as in normal random stuff, not groceries)[/li][li]General parcel deliveries? (presuming you’re home to receive in person)[/li][li]Flower deliveries?[/li][li]USPS?[/li][/ul]
Maybe the Flower Delivery. I’ve only sent and never received though.
I use to tip the postman at Christmas Time but stopped years ago. I also use to tip the garbage men. I fell out of the habit, not sure why.
Newspaper delivers got tips, but I ended delivery over 15 years ago.
Food deliverers I generally tip 10-15%. When someone delivers an appliance (they bring it in and haul away the old one), it is a $10 tip.
The parcel deliveries just leave stuff anyway. They don’t even ring the doorbell.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2020, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-which-delivery-drivers-do-you-tip/852884/7 "2020-04-30T15:31:26Z")
We live in the boonies, beyond the limits for many deliveries. We do tip when we pick up food/beer, and we tip well, hoping to keep our favorite breweries/bars/restaurants afloat.
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### Author:  [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2020, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-which-delivery-drivers-do-you-tip/852884/8 "2020-04-30T15:35:22Z")
None of those. I understand that US Mail postal carriers still occasionally get something at Christmas from those that have a regular delivery route by foot and residents see the same person almost every day. I live in a massive high rise and couldn’t recognize the mail carrier from Adam.
Tipping isn’t an option with my grocery delivery. It’s from Jewel/Osco so it isn’t like an Instacart with your own personal shopper, it’s a bunch of people in a warehouse along with a union driver who does the delivery. Since lockdown, they’ve had to leave the groceries in my building lobby and I never even see the driver anyway.
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### Author:  [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2020, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-which-delivery-drivers-do-you-tip/852884/9 "2020-04-30T15:38:35Z")
> [@dalej42](#):
>
> None of those. I understand that US Mail postal carriers still occasionally get something at Christmas from those that have a regular delivery route by foot and residents see the same person almost every day. I live in a massive high rise and couldn’t recognize the mail carrier from Adam.
>
> …
It is weird, I use to kind of know the Mail Carriers, but I really don’t now. Probably talk to them once a year now. That really changed the tipping dynamic I think.
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### Author:  [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)
#### Post date: [April 30, 2020, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usa-which-delivery-drivers-do-you-tip/852884/10 "2020-04-30T15:48:53Z")
Large orders and heavy stuff get tips. Food delivery gets tips. Flower deliveries if they bother to ring the bell, wait until I answer the door, and check if it’s the right address, get tips. I’ll let you know next time that happens. I last tipped a telegram delivery in the mid-80s, can’t imagine why that would ever happen again.