How Much Should You Tip?

The question of how much to tip has been a hot topic in news articles recently. Food prices and tipping have both risen in North America. Customers have noticed that the minimum for tipping has increased in the last two years, and there is now an option to tip for almost everything. Has tipping gotten out of hand?

Customers are asking if tipping has gone too far. Should you be tipping staff if you get the product yourself from the shelf, take it to the counter, and the staff rings up your purchase? Do you tip if you drive yourself to the restaurant to pick up your order? 

People seem to be divided in their answers to these questions. For example, some say you should tip for takeout because the time a server spends packing your food is time taken from serving a table where the server would get a tip.

Perhaps another way to approach the question is to decide what you expect of staff and why you should tip them. Some say you should tip according to what you think of the service. 

The minimum tip on credit card machines seems to be 18%. Some people think 20% is fairer. Others have said that 25% is a good tip to reward great service. But what is great service? What qualities do you value?

Do you value speed and efficiency? Some restaurants get your food out to your table promptly. At other restaurants, it can take 30 minutes for your dessert to appear, or more than an hour for your entree. It makes you wonder if they had to go and harvest your fish from the sea or send someone to get your dessert from a nearby bakery.

Maybe what you value is friendly and personal service. At some restaurants, your servers may ask you about your day. Or, at a recent visit to a restaurant, the server smiled, told a joke, and did a little dance.

I’ve spoken to many people about what they are looking for when they happily pay an 18% tip for a great experience, compared to paying an 18% tip only because it was the right thing to do.

The debate goes on, depending on who you ask. A person’s experience in customer service, their financial situation, and values about what’s fair all weigh in on their opinions. Those who have traveled the world have pointed out that some countries don’t have a tipping culture, and the service there is just as good as in places with a tipping culture.

So the answer to the question, “How much should you tip?” depends on what you value in customer service. 

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