Personal Finance

Tipping % vs Fixed $

  • Last Updated:
  • Sep 7th, 2016 9:32 pm
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Deal Guru
Apr 11, 2006
12388 posts
6570 upvotes
Vaughan
I tip well, but I think tipping should be abolished! It's utter nonsense.
Sr. Member
User avatar
Jul 13, 2009
925 posts
186 upvotes
Interesting. Never thought to tip based on a fixed amount.
I guess I'll start tipping whichever will be lower...but gotta figure out which fixed amount I should use.

Normally, I just do the standard 10%. Look at the total, move the decimal over, that's the tip. Goes up or down based on quality of service and my mood.

An interesting situation...
Buffet vs Fast Food. Both places I get my own food and I dont clear my own table, yet I'm expected to tip for buffet. Is it because of reservation? Walked me to table? Water?

Funny you guys mention tips as being a 'tax' even though it's not mandatory. I just get takeout if it's available instead. Might also why I normally suggest fast food or food courts instead of restaurants.

Reminded me of this video:
Thanks.
Sr. Member
Apr 6, 2007
506 posts
60 upvotes
I agree with some of the posters regarding why customers should be subsidizing business owners' payroll. In principle I disagree with tipping. Most service employees, ie clerks, gas station attendants, retail etc. don't get a tax free supplement to their wages. So why are servers special snowflakes? I've been tipping at restaurants for years even when the staff's take home was more than mine. I tip because that's what I do - 15% for good service, 20% for stellar service on rare occasions, lower percentage for bad service. I try to separate in my mind what the server did to mitigate problems when they happen, ie the kitchen makes a mistake or the restaurant is short handed.

Having spent some time in the UK off the beaten path, service is brutal and tipping is not required or expected. We were told staff makes a living wage. Sometimes they look at you like you are treating them as help from a lower class and disdain the tip. Rare the service was worth it anyway, so many times the expected zero percent tip is what happened.

In the end I'm happy to tip in North America because we get better service. This becomes part of a servers wage in a way that sucks in theory but works in practice because MOTIVATION MATTERS. I just think they should be paying tax on it, especially if it's on credit card.
Deal Fanatic
Jun 17, 2013
5120 posts
1501 upvotes
Montreal
Just because someone does not report tips, does not mean tips are not taxed.

You are supposed to report your income. If a waiter does not report their tips, or their tips in full...that is on them.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Nov 15, 2013
3363 posts
5502 upvotes
Toronto, ON
januaryjack wrote: You don't tip because you're tight and selfish. Stop justifying it.
Only a beta says this.
Deal Guru
User avatar
Jun 1, 2006
12700 posts
15951 upvotes
foreigncontent wrote: agree, tax and tip should be included in the price. It takes a while to get use to it, because of the sticker price impact, the $20 menu item is now $26.

as for the discussion on why you would pay more tip on a more expensive menu item, this is all related to issue of any charge that tries to translate a fixed cost into a % cost.

if you go back to an example with simplistic $10 and $20 menu item restaurant, and equal amounts of orders, tip being wait salary, translating it into fixed cost you now have menu price of
$12.25 and $22.25.

but why stop there. most overhead allocation also ends up at % of cost, so bigger purchase means i pay more of the cost of the table.
A while a ago there was a restaurant in BC that had a no tip policy. They did exactly what you propose, raise the prices of food to give workers a living wage ($20). They had to abandon the policy because they were going bankrupt. What may work in theory may not work in the real world. How can you compete when you are charging $26 a dish and your competitor is charging way less than that for a similar dish? Unless you had a superior product, the consumer is going for the lower price alternative.
Have a nice day!


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