Summary
Tipping in America has expanded into unexpected areas, with 72% of Americans saying it is expected in more places than five years ago, according to Pew Research.
While tipping can release feel-good neurotransmitters, a Bankrate survey found two-thirds of Americans now view it negatively, and one-third feel it’s “out of control.”
Critics highlight issues like social pressure and wage inequality, while businesses attempting no-tipping models, like a New York wine bar, have struggled to sustain them.
Many believe tipping culture has become excessive, with calls for reform growing.
If your business can’t survive without my tips, you don’t have a viable business.
I generally agree with you, but what is your response to businesses like those mentioned in the article that tried a no-tip model and could not sustain it?
I think that tipping models are starting to emulate app microtransaction models - they know that a majority of people are not going to tip, or will round their total up to the nearest dollar or something. It’s the person that sees the option to tip and decides to throw an extra $20 just because that they’re after. If they instead raise the prices to make it average out, the majority of people that normally would not be tipping go somewhere that’s cheaper (because they do tips), and the few people that would pay extra no longer have the option to.
To tie back to the microtransaction analogy - the games that bring in money are the free ones where you can pay to get stuff. Most people pay very little or nothing, but a small percentage throws tons of cash into the game. If you were to take the amount of money brought in by these whales over the life of a game, divide it among all people that played it, and charged that much for the game, it wouldn’t profit nearly as much, because none of those people want to pay the $5, and the people that were spending hundreds can only buy the game once, if that.
what is your response to businesses like those mentioned in the article that tried a no-tip model and could not sustain it?
That they don’t have a viable business.
I mean, yeah. Obviously. But to the other businesses or potential business owners that want to try a tipless model, that see these businesses failing, that’s not very encouraging or helping to figure out what the underlying issue is. If people are trying to do a good thing but can’t quite figure out how to make it work, should we just say, “guess you’re not very good at this” and continue giving business to the places asking for tips, or should we try to look into what’s going on?
I don’t think you understand the competitive pressure of every other restaurant not raising their menu prices 20% alongside you. Do you think that a business isn’t viable if they can’t absorb a 20% labor increase without raising prices?
I suspect you are not a reliable or competent business analyst.
The problem with one place going tip-less, is that they’re still competing with tipped places.
Going tip-less inherently means the prices need to go up. If the average tip is 20%, you need to raise prices at least that much, to match what your people got from tips. So if you have a restaurant with menu prices 20-30% higher than others, you’d expect to loose business to competitors. If every restaurant in the area had to raise menu prices 20-30% with you, that wouldn’t happen.
I have a dine-in movie theater near me. Which I grant, is different than a standard restaurant. This last year they changed their POS system, and removed from the bill an automatic 18% gratuity they used to have. Something like a month later, they added it back. Because everyone complained. Customers, and servers alike.
If a single restaurant really wants to go “tip-less”, that’s the way to do it. Automatically add a minimum tip to every bill.
I don’t understand what’s the difference between a 10$ + 2$ tip burger or a 12$ burger, why is the 10$ one more competitive?
Fuck all tipping. Fuck unclear prices. Fuck variable service.
Put clear prices. Expect consistent service. Pay fair wages.
If it’s about low pay. Why not expect businesses to pay fair liveable wages like every other industry?
If it’s about quality of service. Why do you not expect good service every time? Why do you not also tip your doctor for good service or the construction workers who ensured the roads are good for you to use?
Idiotic inconsistencies and morons everywhere defending it. Only in recent years are people finally taking notice, but 10 years ago oh I’m an asshole for suggesting tipping should be banned in favor of consistency, clear prices, and fair wages.
A lot of tipped workers defend it because waiters can make good money for their qualifications, but what they don’t understand is that they should be making that amount of money without requiring tips.
The problem is that when a restaurant increases prices, they don’t share the extra income with the staff.
Hell, Subway has doubled the prices in like 3 years AND started asking for tips for the staff.
I mean, if you’re the asshole for suggesting it, then I’m right there being an asshole with you. I still tip, because I want the people who serve me to be able to take care of themselves, but ideally, that shouldn’t be my fucking responsibility. It should be their employer’s. It’s a fucking barbaric system that puts service workers’ ability to put food on the table in the hands of entitled Karens and reduces them to begging for a decent wage.
There’s a cider bar that opened in my town recently with a strict no-tipping policy, and holy shit, is it ever refreshing to not have to deal with that rigamarole.
If it were about quality of service, you would tip before receiving the service. The waiter doesn’t know how much you’re gonna tip, so their quality of service will never change.
That’s the weirdest argument ever. You tip on the basis of the quality of service. The server learns from feedback and training how to improve quality. It’s not a one and done situation, but a constant feedback and refinement.
It’s not that weird. Think of it like paying upfront for “the Cadillac service” where they treat you like a king versus someone else paying for the barebones service where they just do the bare minimum like at a car wash where you can buy different levels of a wash.
The only disconnect here is that tips are typically a percentage of your bill and you don’t necessarily know what that’ll be up-front but you could still commit to a specific percentage.
Wow you’re the first American ever to think tipping is bad! Ten whole years ago? What a thot leader
What a peculiar line of attack. OP isn’t bragging about anything, they’re irritated that it’s taken at least a decade for a known problem to be addressed.
Being frustrated about a problem for a long time ≠ being into a thing before it was cool.
Was definitely not bragging or saying I’m the only one. I just distinctly remember some people who were very passionate about this attacking me and in some cases it destroyed our friendship or acquaintance since they judged me for it.
Never made sense to me. I told them I never refused to tip people. I wasn’t an asshole about it, but I certainly tried to avoid going to places that expected tipping.
I bought a couple of sweaters online today, and the order form asked for a tip.
No.
There’s an option to tip at the self check out at my grocery store. The fuck ám I tipping? It’s self check out. Am I tipping myself? Fuck these people
Am I tipping myself?
Oh, I would be tipping generously at the self-service if I were tipping me through getting a discount.
maybe…
…not as generously but that sure would be a weird businesses model to allow people to choose a discount instead of choosing to pay more
I’m no longer tipping just because the stupid kiosk asks me to and making me feel guilty… If it’s not a normally tipped position such as server, bartender, or barista, I’m going to default to tapping no. It’s gotten ridiculous.
A vape shop I go to added it to their checkout kiosk. These people are literally just ringing up my purchase for me like any other retail cashier. I fucking hate it because they just stand there staring at me as I’m forced to decline the tip as if it’s reflective of their service and not the fact that it’s a bullshit system.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rm9sbG93ZXJz
Be careful, that didn’t work out well in X-Files.
Joking, of course.
I’ve heard claims that POS software now turns tipping on by default as part of the problem. I’d rather business owners just take care of their employees.
This is the dark side of Nudge theory. People need to practise refusing and it will stabilize. I tip handsomely when I want to and I refuse when I don’t. Sometimes I feel irrational guilt. I sit with the guilt for a while, then it’s gone.
Tip when you want as much as you want and no more. Refuse to listen to anyone who tells you that this is morally wrong.
Peace.
Nudge theory is bs
No other comment on your content, may be right or wrong.
And yet, people are presented more often with a meaningless request for tips. Sounds like Nudge to me. Plz bring evidence.
(Edited to remove superfluous irrelevant claim that might not be true, anyway. I regret the error.)
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nudge_theory
Critique -> no evidence
No no no. The burden of proof is on you to show that people are actually tipping more. The article said that people reported seeing prompts to tip in a lot more places and many people have said tipping is out of control but no where did it give any data to show that people are tipping more.
I personally don’t tip in any of the new tipping situations. I don’t tip at retail checkouts or restaurant takeouts. I still tip when it’s sit down service and the server is nice, attentive, and punctual (and more if they’re really friendly).
I have heard from the “tipping is out of control” crowd in my local restaurant discussion group and some of these folks have reacted so negatively that they swore to never tip again. I have no way of tracking these people to see if they keep their promise and I kind of doubt they would refuse to tip a really nice server at a sit down restaurant. However, I would be really surprised if these folks were actually tipping more than they used to before all the tipping prompts showed up on credit card terminals.
