I am a pretty good tipper but one particular circumstance confuses me a bit. Generally I would tip a barber for a haircut. But two different barbers I go to (depending on where I am at the time I need a haircut) each own their own shop. One is the sole owner and employee. The other owns the beauty palor that is attached and is the only barber on the male side. Every cent of the money they charge for the haircut goes directly to them, there is no boss that takes a cut. Would you tip or not? FTR sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t.
Yes. When you tip a waitress or a cabbie, do you ask them their life story to decide if they rate a tip or not? Or is the tip a response to the service rendered? I don’t think you should penalize these guys just because you know their circumstances.
If Donald Trump carried my suitcase up to my hotel room, I’d give him a couple of bucks.
No, that is 100% not correct. You don’t tip owners for standard services. I didn’t make that up. It is a well documented rule and it makes sense.
In the restaurant/bar industry, it’s considered rude to tip the owner, assuming you know it’s the owner serving you. I’d like to apply the same rule to barbers, but honestly, I don’t know what precedent to follow. Cabbies are frequently owner/operators, but I’d still tip.
Not much help, huh?
This is a pretty timely thread. I was wondering to myself yesterday: Is there a reliable list somewhere of folks that should be tipped? Husband and I are upwardly-mobile and sometimes I’m not sure who I should tip and for how much, outside of barbers/hairdressers/aestheticians, sushi chefs and waitstaff.
I’ve seen stuff all over the map regarding tipping, so forgive me if my confusion seems foolish.
I would not tip, per Shagnasty’s explanation. I would, however, tell my friends about their salon, in which case my reference is my show of appreciation for good service.
Why not?
I can see it in a busy nightclub or something where the business is worth a gajillion dollars, but my barber is an owner-businessman working a one man show out of a dimly lit 1960s arcade in a working class suburb. I honestly have no idea whether he’s better off running that business or going a hundred yards down the road and getting a job with a similar outfit that runs three barber chairs instead of one - he might be a little better or worse off, but I suspect it’s fairly close. Why shouldn’t I tip him for a good haircut?
When I was in the moving business I owned my truck, but operated under contract to a nationally known company. I sometimes received gratuities from my customers. I would usually respond w/ something like, “That’s not necessary.”, but they always insisted and I accepted. The company had a ‘lip service’ policy of not accepting tips, but it was common knowledge that tips were sometimes tendered.
Shagnasty’s right, according to every ettiquite guide printed before 1995. You don’t tip the owner - after all, as the OP said, he’s not giving his boss a cut. A stylist generally pays for the chair and the use of supples. The owner doesn’t have those costs in a personal sense - his costs are those of the business, and theoretically his gains as a business are greater as well.
HOWEVER, a brief Goggling reveals that it is now considered acceptable and is becoming expected to tip the owner. I, for one, feel this is akin to the tip jars at fast food restaurants, and will never observe the practice.
cite for conventional advice (anti-tip)
Interesting. Here in the U.K., the land of low tipping, when I still went to a barber (I cut my own hair now), it was normal to tip the barber if he did a good job. Just 50p / $1 or £1 / $2. Whether or not he was the owner. You’re tipping for the excellence of the service provided
I’m with you, Loaded Dog. Why not tip the owner/operator of a one-man enterprise (especially if you like what he’s done for you?) If you’re not completely comfortable tipping him, complement him on the great job he’s done & say you’d like to buy him a cup of coffee(or lunch, or a drink, or something of that sort).
The man who cuts my hair owns the salon with a partner. There are other operators but not “shampoo girls” or receptionists. I grew up hearing that you don’t tip owners. I own a small business now - not one in which tipping is customary or even logical - but because of that I tip him. If someone handed me a five that was just for me that I didn’t have to account for, or deposit it to the checking account before I could pay it to myself, or immediatley pay to a vendor it would be nice. I have decided to go Golden Rule on this one, instead of Miss Manners’ Rule.
I don’t personally care what “etiquette” has to say about it. Think about if you were the owner of a small business, and someone gave you a little bit above and beyond what’s expected because they thought you did an exceptional job. Would you be offended? I wouldn’t. If they think it’s inappropriate, they’ll probably say “Oh, I think you accidentally overpaid,” or something like that and give you the extra back.
shrug Better to err on the side of kindness, if you ask me.
Oh! Timely!
Hey, A.R. Cane, if you don’t mind me asking: what’s a decent tip for movers? I ask because the wife and I are moving in a week or so, and we’ll be hiring a moving company to assist. I was wondering just last night if I should tip them and how much is appropriate (assuming they do a good job, of course!).
It’s never really occurred to me to tip movers, since they’re usually pretty well paid. I think. Maybe it’s just the owners who are well paid. I do offer them drinks, deli sandwiches, pizza etc.
The one time I bought new furniture from a store I purposely paid extra to have it delivered. Some old guy with a bad back shows up by himself and is all, “okay, let’s get to work. You grab that end.”
I was royally pissed. I paid extra so I wouldn’t have to haul this stuff up the stairs, and now you expect me to move my own stuff in???
Sure as hell wouldn’t have tipped that guy, had the thought even occurred to me.