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?
Apparently there are now tip prompts on digital payment terminals for payday loans…
Being overwhelmed with tip prompts has broken my tipping guilt. I feel like half the time people work don’t get or see those tips.
Sit down restaurants absolutely. Delivery yeah.
Pick up nah, you walk something 2 feet to me nah. Fuck tipping culture, pay your people right and charge accordingly don’t keep tacking on shit, tip charge, service charge, every other fucking sneak at the bill only charge now a days.
My take on tipping: If I can’t get the product without further employee assistance, I’m not tipping. Take a sandwich shop, for example. You’re not going to let me behind the counter to assemble my sandwich, so I’m not going to tip you for doing it for me because I can’t get the sandwich otherwise.
My only exception to this is a bar because I’m usually there for more than 1 drink, and it’s nice not to be the last one to get served when it gets crowded.
I’m confused. At a sit down restaurant you can’t just walk into the kitchen and make your meal, yet that is a standard place to tip.
I was at a sit down recently where the lowest tip selectable without entering a dollar amount was 18%. 10% used to be the standard for competent service, 15%-20% for outstanding service. Now the quality of service is worse because they’re underataffed, and they expect me to tip more?? Get real.
I hate that tipping culture is a thing in the US and wish the culture would change. But as a former waiter, I’d never take a job at a no-tip restaurant (or even a pooled tip restaurant) because I always made higher than average tips than my coworkers.
If you were still waiting tables, what would you have done/felt had tipping been outlawed? Change of jobs, looked for something at a certain rate of pay for waiting?
As a waiter, I made a lot more money from tips than the wage itself. So making an impression on the customers was a huge priority, and I was good at it. If that was no longer a factor, I imagine it would result in a lower quality of customer service provided by me, even if the employer tried to compensate with a higher wage.
When i order food, i want it brought to my table and for the bringer to be as invisible and quiet as can be. I also avoid places where i can’t pay up front. I never understood the tiping thing.
I hope the rest of society gives you lower quality service every day since you’re not tipping them… What a shit attitude
Also anyone who claims tipping results in better service has never left north america
I regularly get shit service here and still expected to tip 15%
Service in most of europe is WAY better and there is generally no expectation of a tip
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.)
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.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nudge_theory
Critique -> no evidence
