Percentage tipping is weird because a customer buying a more expensive meal had nothing to do with the server, amirite?

You're correct, it's devised to make the owner more money: you're incentivized to sell more / more expensive items

by Sengermarlene 1 week ago

Just realised what tipping really is - sales commission!

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Lol, you tipped 20% on already overpriced drinks.

by Nels59 1 week ago

Anytime you're paying someone else to make a drink for you, it's going to be "overpriced". Where you are matters, airports are the worst place to drink if you're worried about value. You're a captive audience.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Pro sporting event prices are getting out of hand. I think they blow airport prices out of the water.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

That's true, certain venues (sports and music) are even worse than airports. An overpriced $9 beer at an airport is $15 at a stadium.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Costing more than the ingredients doesn't mean it's overpriced, it means you're paying for the preparation. Airport bars are overpriced compared to other bars.

by hailee55 1 week ago

If you have one of those fancy airline club passes, airports are like the best place to drink. Free open bar and food, usually.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

A captive audience that often gets reimbursed, too.

by Jenniekeebler 1 week ago

why is the tipping part funny?

by ChoiceActuator9376 1 week ago

Tipping for pre-made airport cocktails is hilarious as a European, unless they were made in front of you then it's just a "keep the change bud" rather than a full 20%

by Anonymous 1 week ago

You're confusing airplane and airport. Airports have actual bars with bartenders making the cocktails.

by careytoy 1 week ago

Even with cocktails and airport upcharges, how the hell does breakfast cost $50 per person!?

by adamsreanna 1 week ago

Usually the company employing the person making the sale pays the sales commission…

by bahringermadisy 1 week ago

Usually they pay the wage too but here we are.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Well, even in that case, the customer pays the sales commission, they just don't necessarily know it. Also, when things are done on the backend, a salesperson can take a cut in their commission to make the sale if they really want to (on the theory that it is more income to make two sales at 2/3s commission payout than one sale at 100% commission payout)

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I mean, it's built into the price. To make it so that the restaurant pays the fee instead of customers you could just add a 15-20% auto-gratuity into the price of the meal and then pay that out to servers as a commission instead of as a tip.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Really? Just now?

by Anonymous 1 week ago

People who have never worked in food service are for the most part completely oblivious to how the industry works. I think most people equate tips with wages.

by johanberge 1 week ago

It's crazy to me, because every time someone suggests paying wait staff a reasonable hourly wage with no tip, there's nothing but complaints because they make so much from tips that a decent wage would be a pay cut. But then I also hear nothing but complaints about how people don't tip enough and that they need more tips to survive. Which one is it?

by brooksokon 1 week ago

In other words; "I suffered so suck it up/why do you get better than I did?" Or more accurately survivorship bias. People who become rich or do better than others have an extreme tendency towards ascribing something unique about themselves as the factor that made them succeed even in controlled experiments when their outcome was completely by chance or intentionally rigged by the experiment in their favor.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Which one is it? Believe it or not, experiences vary!

by Anonymous 1 week ago

they make so much from tips that a decent wage would be a pay cut It's so weird how some people think that any regular wage will be smaller than any wage that is smaller but has added tips.

by Substantial-Tone 1 week ago

If servers got paid by the restaurant instead of with tips they would get paid the same as the cooks. None of the servers want to be paid like the cooks, but all of the cooks want to be paid like servers.

by Boganbailey 1 week ago

I have worked at 3 chain restaurants owned by major brands, none of them tipped out cooks. Bartenders, Bus Boys, Hostesses got tipped out. Cooks get hourly wage.

by Boganbailey 1 week ago

Sales commission that the customer pays for. Typically a sales commission comes out of the sale price. If you're paying for a $100 meal the server would get a percentage of that. I'd prefer to not have to pay 15-30% more for my dinner based on who got scheduled to work that night. And before anyone says "the customer still pays" having the cost of doing business baked into your price is different than "I gave you a fake smile and refilled your drink without you asking so we are arbitrary raising the price of your meal by 1/3rd and if you don't like it you're probably too broke to eat out or hate poor people."

by Nettiehayes 1 week ago

A commission they exclude from their advertised costs to trick us into thinking we're going to spend less than we will. I've noticed it recently, and I'm pretty staunchly anti-tipping but I'll leave my waiter 15% usually, but I walk in expecting to pay $45-55 for my date and walk out paying like $65-75 instead after fees, taxes, tips, at every restaurant I go to it's like that. It's intentional.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Payment terminals is what changed norms. Until now the tipping norms were set by the customer when the check brought to them. A market equilibrium came out of that. Arrival of payment terminals created programmable tip recommendation defaults. The control over tipping norms now goosed by employees or business owners changing the default tip amounts presented to the customer. This ties into how the payment terminal manufacturers get paid. They get a cut of the total transaction. Higher tip defaults, the more the payment terminal manufacturer gets paid. Tipping norms no longer reflecting the equilibrium the customers in the market will bear. Totally goosed out of proportion by the other side of the transaction. "What if everybody does this?" After the sugar-rush the tipping social norm is going to crash to 0%. Customers are already repulsed by the entitlement on display. Fixing it is return control of tipping to the customers to let the market equilibrium set again. No display of defaults. Printed. Customer writes it down.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Oh they'll come at you with the most convoluted bs you've ever heard about that and why it benefits us for them to be incentivized to upsell us etc. But the reality is tipped staff like making $50+ an hour in a lot of cases and being able to pay rent on their downtown loft working 4 nights a week

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I used to live with a server who made decently more than my degree-educated, professional ass, and she didn't pay tax on most of it (tips). Her room cost more than mine too. Granted, she was an attractive female which helps and good for her. But I was seriously questioning my life choices back then, and still do.

by SmellResponsible 1 week ago

I mean part of that is true but it's because the other nights they probably don't make anything. Worked in that industry for a while, not as a server though, and would see them walk away with $20 after a day of work. They hustle when it's busy to try and make their money for the week. I worked at a decently priced restaurant with good reviews next to a resort.

by meredithcartwri 1 week ago

I am so sick of hearing this. No one is legally walking away with $20 after a whole day's worth of work unless its 1930. The employer must pay the difference if the employee's tips do not meet the minimum wage.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

If they don't meet the minimum wage per day, per week, or per pay period? You can walk out on a slow Monday with your $2.15/hr hourly pay and $20 tips but still make above minimum because you had a good weekend.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

It's called the "Partial Reinforcement Extinction Effect". An inconsistent reward is a more effective and more durable incentive than a steady reward. Basically, if you want a human to work harder for less pay, give them occasional bonuses at random intervals. As long as the peak bonuses keep increasing, they will perceive their pay is increasing, even if the intervals between bonuses grow. Also works in rats, dogs, monkeys, etc. tl;dr: servers remember the big nights more vividly than the slow nights for the same reason gamblers remember the jackpots but forget the hours spent feeding the slot machine. The house profits from this effect.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Not even a thing in western states anymore, servers make $15/hr base plus tips. No reason a server should be making as much as a plumber, from a utilitarian perspective. I understand sales people can make a lot more but I also don't think they're providing any utility to society. Stiffing servers isn't worth me feeling bad so I won't but I do think it's a misallocation of resources paying them so much.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

A plumber makes way more than $15/hr.

by Sierra64 1 week ago

Ah, you see that's the problem, the question isn't how are you supposed to afford a plumber, but how are you supposed to justify not hiring one!

by Anonymous 1 week ago

lol my cousin left his job as a lawyer to wait tables in LA. Less work, more money.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I made so much money waiting tables in college at higher end restaurants that it was prohibitive to starting the career I went to college for. The first few years after I left the restaurant business, I made less money, lol. I'm not going to support tipping culture, but it was/and still is such an easy way to make a lot of money for people with no real skills outside of being able to talk to lots of people without anxiety.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Isn't this sort of the point of the OP? Why does HCOL and LCOL matter when tipping? It's as irrelevant as tipping more based on the cost of the food. Wages should definitely vary between HCOL and LCOL areas, not tips. Tips should start at $0 and work their way up to a flat amount determined by the quality of service received and no other factor.

by Elainasmith 1 week ago

I have worked at a regular chain and a higher end restaurant. In the higher end one we got less tables and we're expected to give more detail in service. So if I got tipped by some flat table rate I would have made less. But those fewer tables spent much more money and so my tips were actually higher

by Nolakertzmann 1 week ago

We don't

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Tipping is weird. Restaurants should be paying their employees a fair wage and should factor this into the prices they charge for food, rather than customers having to ensure servers can make a fair living.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

The problem is servers love tips because there's no way they'd get paid what they make off them.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Fair. I'm into auto-gratuities. Mostly opposed to the part of the anti-tip crowd that's pushing for steep pay cuts under the guise of "fairness" as long as it saves them a couple bucks on a meal.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

> but that doesn't make sense to me because functionally they're paying the same amount No that's not the point. The point is that the servers are getting paid fairly just for doing their job. So if raising the price of the menu means that the servers get a higher base pay, (and don't depend on the generosity of patrons to make ends meet) that's fine. It basically means that the responsibility for the wage is moving from the patron to the servers boss, as it should be. As it currently is, it looks more like the server is actually working for the patrons by taking their order and bringing it. This is why the word "service" is (ab)used in this context, to make a patron feel guilty into thinking the server is doing them a favour while in fact this is literally to be expected from a restaurant.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

If it is the same functionality, what is the argument against it?

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Sounds like a personal problem to me

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Yeah, people don't get paid much if they are doing unskilled labour? What a ridiculous concept! I totally agree it needs to be a living wage though.

by Important_Drama1086 1 week ago

And it's completely arbitrary that the person serving your food gets tips. Does the worker at the till? Does the farmer who grew the carrots? Does the man who makes fertiliser for the fields? Do the drivers who shipped the carrots? the KP who washes the carrots? the chef that cooks the carrots? The bin men who take the scraps away to landfil? No, just one random guy in the chain of 100s of people who happens to hand you a plate.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Plus it's pretty much only restaurants. Nobody tips the shelf stackers at the supermarket or the staff in a clothes shop.

by Electrical-Pitch 1 week ago

Tipping in general is weird and a stupid practice

by Anonymous 1 week ago

This is why tipping is silly and I'm glad the UK doesn't do it

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Same with how pissed servers get when you just have ice water with the meal, not the $4 for a tea or soda, definitely not the $12 frozen drink "special"…

by Hintzmarta 1 week ago

Yeah that's just egregious. I've never experienced that though.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Maybe if their cokes didn't cost $4 they might've gotten something from me instead of nothing.

by okunevakaci 1 week ago

because a customer buying a more expensive meal had nothing to do with the server I started every single restaurant shift with a discussion of what we were trying to upsell that day.

by Elouise70 1 week ago

When my wife and I first got together she would often ask the server what they recommend and I told her they are always going to recommend the most expensive meals. Then we watched it happen like 10 meals in a row.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I'm always expecting them to do that but I feel like I never see it happen.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I mean, in all fairness, the expensive meal is usually very good!

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Sadly no, the boss says that it's wasting food so we get 50% off an entree when it's ordered while you're working or maybe you'll get to try it when it's dead/mistake food

by uschimmel 1 week ago

Not all servers are created equal, and not everyone's palates are the same. A good server will recommend what they like best, or which dish receives the best reception, and have a conversation about it based around what YOU enjoy or are in the mood for that night.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I'd absolutely agree with that accusation.

by Pretend-Cucumber-287 1 week ago

Tipping obscures the true cost of the meal. If we got rid of tipping, you would simply pay 20% more.

by Level_Audience6892 1 week ago

I get the idea, which is more expensive = more food = more work for server, but in practice, it doesn't always work that way.

by Several_Ad 1 week ago

And even they are owed their pay by their employer, not people who were advertised lower prices. Tipping $2 or having it counted as a service charge for the privilege of having a licensed bartender pull the spigot on the keg for you it ludicrous.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Tipped employees want to keep tipping, because they make way more money that way. The employee isn't the victim. The victim is the customer.

by Pbarrows 1 week ago

Tipped employees are the ones that want to keep tipping a thing. Wait staff make an exorbitant amount of money from tips that being paid $50/hr would be a paycut

by Medium-March455 1 week ago

As an ex server I would 100% rather work for a fixed rate (that obviously pays the bills) than for tips. But I know I'm in the minority there

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Definitely in the minority. Restaurants have shuttered from attempting this and all the wait staff quitting

by Medium-March455 1 week ago

It also takes the responsibility of paying correctly off the owner and offloads it onto the consumer.

by Gregglangosh 1 week ago

I don't like tipping at the counter. There's no service involved in taking my money and handing me a bag. I'm not in a section, not making a mess, not making any work for anyone past the meal prep.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Nope. But they do it because some people will click anyways. It's faster to hit 10% then to go through multiple menus to find No Tip.

by okunevakaci 1 week ago

The entire tipping culture is absurd and needs to be overhauled. NONE of it makes sense anymore.

by Prestigious-Rip 1 week ago

It's even weirder for stuff like Walmart delivery. 10 bags of softener salt gets a lower tip than 1 PS5, but one of those deliveries is a hell of a lot more work.

by MedicalAd9056 1 week ago

Everything about tipping is weird.

by streicheugenia 1 week ago

But people who work in restaurants will scream if you cant afford to tip don't go out to eat.

by bogisichimani 1 week ago

Can't speak for the rest of the people here, but the reason I can't stand tipping culture isn't because of the money. I'm happy to pay a fair amount. It's the entire social thing where I have to get info on what percentage is considered polite to tip, and then figure out how much that amounts in actual money, and so on. Just give me a bill with an amount I'm actually expected to pay.

by Substantial-Tone 1 week ago

If I'm doing delivery I tip $10 which is more than enough for all the delivery places in town because none are further than 1/2mi from my house. Sit down restaurant is usually $10 if it's just my wife and I. The 3 trips you make to the table don't really justify more than $10 over the half hour or so that we're there. Buffet is usually $8 as other than bringing me soda they're not really doing anything and hell I'd even get my own drink if it was allowed.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

A very astute observation. The practice is unethical and should be abolished.

by jamesonschmitt 1 week ago

The idea is that bigger parties = more work = bigger tips. Really, looking at the flat amount per person should be what determines a big or small tip.

by Both-Place 1 week ago

Mandatory tipping is weird. Its not the responsibility of the customer to pay the wages of employees directly. That is something employees and their bosses should sort out prior to starting work.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

It's not. On average, more expensive checks had more items and more work. Tips could either be done based off number of items at fixed cost, but then the whole concept of varying based on quality kinda goes out the window. So it's percentage because 1) it is a rough estimate of work and 2) it allows for the variance it tries to sell

by Pretend-Cucumber-287 1 week ago

Tipping is weird, period. Dude, tipping in America is basically necessary because the bosses don't want to pay a living wage. How about you complain about that instead?

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I tip $5 max because feel that I shouldn't be expected to help their your wages. Tipping needs to go. All service workers in tip-laden industries need a stable income.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Yes. Servers in the US should just get paid a solid hourly rate for their work.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Tipping makes no sense in any respect. The job pays what it pays, if you don't like it, blame the person who decided on the wage.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

True but in many places your tip goes to the server, but also split out to the bartender and expo in the kitchen, who are also working more when the bill is higher

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Well, kind of. Because if you order multiple drinks, appetizers, main and dessert, that's a more expensive meal and the server had to do a lot more trips than if someone only orders one drink and a main…

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Exactly, it's not like I'm getting any higher quality service because I ordered the Filet Mignon instead of the Reuben. If the tips went to the chef, I would be more on-board.

by Beierrafael 1 week ago

I think the difference in tip would be marginal at best if were talking about the same restaurant. While I agree that the tipping culture is out of hand what would the price difference really be? You're more then likely going to have two different style restaurant experiences for it to make a difference. One restaurant that sells steaks for $15 and another that sells them for $200.

by Successful_Elk6032 1 week ago

So the restaurant should be paying them commission. I, the customer, shouldn't be paying the server more to be upsold.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

So shouldn't their employer pay them based on their sales? Instead of the customer. I could totally see a great seller negotiating a higher cut of total sales from their employer. Why would a restaurant be different.

by Jadyn66 1 week ago

Well more expensive meals usually take more effort to make/serve no?

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Also the expectations of service at a $20/meal restaurant and a $80/meal restaurant are vastly different.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

But I would assume the more expensive restaurant takes into account that they want a higher class service and hires accordingly, which means paying enough to attract that higher class waiter.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

And yet, these days they're typically the same.

by Beierrafael 1 week ago

Well, the server sold you the more expensive meal. It's a commission on that.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I just like giving more money to people who put in extra effort

by Glittering-Pin1364 1 week ago

thats why you tip 100% half for the chef, half for the server who brought it over.

by Own-Firefighter 1 week ago

So tipping is weird anyway. But if we are looking past that more expensive meals should be tipped more for 2 reasons. at the same restaurant party size is usually the most impactful thing on the bill and a bigger party means more tip because it's more work. Which I think everyone can agree on. After party size the thing that determines the price most is the choice of restaurant and the more expensive the restaurant the smaller the number of covers per server. For example if you're going to a pub you might have 20 tables that share a server, that's fair they get 20 tables tipping a bit which adds up. If you go somewhere really high end you might get 2 tables to a server and they are serving you instantly and taking care of everything to make sure you have the best experience. So tipping as a % of your expensive meal they will end up with a roughly fair tip to the quality of service you got. This isn't perfect but tipping isn't perfect anyway and it's roughly close enough we don't have to think too hard about it.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

This is why I do an inverse tipping scale. The cheaper the meal, the more I tip. There are exceptions of course, large party, high end service, etc.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Sometimes I'll go by percentage and sometimes I'll consider how long I was at the table, how many people at my table, how busy the restaurant or their section is.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

It puts a pressure on the customer to give a certain amount. Of course I do not look at that most of the time, and tip based on service and how busy that person is while not at my table may factor into that. If I get through the meal and have not had a refill offered or can see that you are watching to see if I am about to take a bite of something before coming to my table to ask me a question (that was weird) I take that into account. If you are not moving and sitting at a drive through window, I am not tipping you..

by EmuAdministrative 1 week ago

You're welcome 2

by Sufficient_Award4229 1 week ago

I mean I generally adjust how I tip based on that.if I buy an expensive meal I'll tip a smaller percentage then if I bought a cheaper one. Server is working just as hard either way I try to even it out a little more.

by Schummizaiah 1 week ago

Upsells are a thing. "Hey how about apps for the table, Can I get you a cocktail before we get started?,

by Adriana83 1 week ago

It's hilarious ain't it? No way no it freakin ain't! Tipping is out of control! Half the time it doesn't even go to the driver or waiter!

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Tipping is a tool to not pay proper wage.

by EconomyHold 1 week ago

it's a good enough proxy for how much they have had to serve you if you assume that the price of each dish (or drink) falls within a narrow range

by ReasonableFloor4595 1 week ago

This is partially true. It also adds tiers of quality to wait-staff jobs. Denny's is low tier. Cheap food, nobody expects amazing service, people can afford to tip a few bucks here and there. Most people could get a job as a server here. 5-star restaurant is high tier. Expensive food, but people expect excellent service, recommendations, servers with knowledge of a comprehensive wine list, servers able to communicate small changes to orders, etc. Those jobs are harder to get and take more commitment from the server, and typically require years of experience to be hired. This is of course still true if we just do away with tipping all together. The higher quality restaurants would simply pay more.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

It can be weird in some situations, but I can still come up with reasons why it does make sense. First of all: The total sum you pay sometimes does correlate with how often the server came to your table or how many people the server had to serve. More importantly however: People who have the money to buy expensive food will often also have the money to tip more. It's a marginal utility thing, although I'm aware that this logic doesn't apply to all cases.

by corwinbetty 1 week ago

Tipping is weird. How do we get servers a fair wage without paying it out of pocket?

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Tipping is really weird, just pay your ppl a livable wage like they do in almost every other country that exists

by Anonymous 1 week ago

It's more about how many people are being served than how expensive an individual meal is. Most meals other than a place's best steak or dish are around the same price. But there is definitely more work for a ten person party than a two person party, which is why if tipping is to occur it's the more convenient option to use percentage.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

You can look at it like "a person provided a service for which would like to tip them. That service was worth $xx" or "a person provided a service for which I would like to tip them. I can afford this generosity by giving xx% which is a reflection of my disposable income based on the amount I was willing to spend." The former means someone making minimum wage can still feel as generous as someone who makes $$$. This is all based on the assumption that you want to tip the person. If tipping isn't for you then don't.

by Far-Clue-5196 1 week ago

Agreed it's an insane concept. This is why I tip my food delivery drivers based on distance, wait time, and weather not on how much the order is.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I tip in flat rates ranging from 0 to 5. I also haven't tipped in a couple of years because I can't afford to eat out, get food delivered, or go to pretentious stores asking for tips.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Tipping itself is weird. Why can't they pay them s real wage, and we tip because we want to

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Tip 2$ per person. Works out perfect

by Anonymous 1 week ago

This is why I tip a number not a percent because I spend a lot and it's so weird I should have to pay more tips

by Adanwaelchi 1 week ago

Tipping is just a scam.

by No-Cut 1 week ago

Kinda like tipping on food delivery based on the order instead of distance.

by Anonymous 1 week ago

I like it because if the cost of food is more expensive, the cost of living is also probably more expensive for the server so I don't mind giving more

by Short-Thought 1 week ago

But it does the cooks......

by Anonymous 1 week ago

Tipping in general is weird because owners get off the hook for paying livable wage and then the customer is guilty into paying someone extra for doing their job as a result. Percentage tipping only exasperates it. So I give the person handing me the food more money to bring me a plate with steak on it than if it had been chicken? They still brought one plate!

by BathroomKey 1 week ago

Conversely, someone ordering a single meal versus an entire group of people ordering meals does convey more work for the server and they should be compensated for it.

by MysteriousNobody2724 1 week ago

Exactly Coming around 5 times and asking if everything is ok ... is usually more annoying than helpful

by Typical_Date 1 week ago

Same for real estate agency. They get percentage of the house price, but the amount of work they do for a 200k and a 500k house is pretty much same

by Hayden86 1 week ago

The server is there to SELL you the expensive meal - just another reason why tipping is dumb

by kyra26 1 week ago

Same with real estate

by UpstairsMarketing364 1 week ago

I think this most about delivery tbh. I always tip a percentage of the order, but sometimes I order a cheaper order from somewhere farther away or a more expensive order from someplace very close. Maybe there should be a calculation for that

by Thaddeus50 1 week ago