How much do I tip people working on my house?
I recently purchased a new home in Cobble Hill and have a few folks working on the house. Is there a general rule of thumb on how much one is supposed to tip (if at all) for any of the following: – Contractor – Painter – Plumber – Electrician – Cleaning Service Please forgive my…
I recently purchased a new home in Cobble Hill and have a few folks working on the house. Is there a general rule of thumb on how much one is supposed to tip (if at all) for any of the following:
– Contractor
– Painter
– Plumber
– Electrician
– Cleaning Service
Please forgive my ignorance – any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Clueless in Crooklyn
I don’t see what skilled vs. unskilled has to do with the tipping situation. A hairdresser is a skill and I tip her. A massage therapist is also a skilled job and I tip her as well.
Generally, I think a tip is an appropriate thank you to any one performing a service for you. Owners and highly paid specials can sometimes be excluded (but not always). Most people appreciate the gesture and take it for its meant to be.
Ive worked at jobs where tips were common and I can tell you that Ive never felt belittled when someone was gracious enough to hand me their hard earned money. Few people are.
Or a blowjob. Everyone loves a blowjob.
To answer guest 9:06’s question, I have waited a lot of tables and worked in a couple of galleries and done quite a bit of custom metalwork in people’s houses. And I have to say that sometimes rich people are amazingly rude.
Not all rich people, but some are. And when they are rude, they are often rude along this Insecure-About-Their-Power axis.
Again, tipping any nonskilled labor is completely appropriate. Tipping someone who is already charging me for their skills (unless they are cutting my hair) feels rude to me. Manipulative. See MP’s $300 tip story. It makes sense, but IMHO, it’s crass to pull this kind of shit with skilled grownups. At that level, it’s buying people.
About the nicest thing a client ever did for me was bake me a pie. It conveyed exactly what he wanted it to convey: that he understood that I took time to make something right for him, and that he appreciated that time and humanity with some of his own.
What’s wrong with a small gift? It seems like a less loaded, more genuine way to appreciate someone who has already given you a price.
If possible, tips should always be sexual in nature. Who doesn’t love a blowjob?
Recently I have tipped: the movers, the cleaning lady, demo guys and my hair dresser 🙂 I will/would not tip the plumber, electrician, handyman, carpenter or architect. Though, when it comes to my carpenter, whom I adore, I will often round up when paying him because he does such a fantastic job and is, himself, a generous person. So, use your judgment too, about how to handle payment. I would definitely not tip anyone associated with a co-op board. I believe that may be seen (at the risk of sounding snobbish) as poor form…
I own my business so I would not accept a tip while charging for a service.
The people I employ, however, get tips often and are greatly appreciative.
I have no idea who shares vanburenproud’s point of view but he/she is certainly entitled to an opinion, especially in light of the fact that tipping tradespeople is very optional.
A standard gratuity seems to be $10-$20 for a two-man crew to be divided as they see fit.
The record? A gentleman in the West Village paid his $2,200 invoice with a check and then handed over $300 in cash to our plumber and his helper.
My guys can’t do enough for him now when he calls but he never did anything like that again.
Interesting.
Me Master-You Servant dynamic for tipping someone? Vanburenproud who thinks like this? When someone has done an really good job I think it’s nice to give a tip. Delivering the papers to my stoop is “unskilled” but I send the guy $20 at Christmas because it’s nice to be generous. Who would be offended or insulted? Many times professional like painters work for a large company and make very little $ compared to what the GC or company charges you. Always give the money directly to the intended person as most contractors (from my experience )pocket the $ and don’t give it to their workers.
OK, but what about the Property Manager of a Co-op building? Professional yes, but they also attend frequent board meetings that are held in the evening.
Tipping unskilled labor is appropriate. I always tip the garbage hauler’s assistant. I tipped my demo crew. I wouldn’t tip a painter’s or plumber’s assistant. These people are learning professional trades.
A tip is an acknowledgment of a service relationship. The person who hauls your trash or cleans your house is performing a service with their body for you that you are unwilling/unable to do, but do technically have the *skills* to do. If you had less money or more muscles or whatever, you’d be doing that work. This makes the person you employ merely a stand-in for your body. A tip acknowledges that relationship.
A plumber, on the other hand, is a professional who has a world of specialized information under his belt that you don’t have. You are paying him a *premium* day rate to get access to it. The power relationship is totally different.
Think of it this way: how would your doctor look at you if you slipped him a twenty?