To not give the postman a Christmas bung

We buy ours a bottle of wine as he is really lovely and always cheerful.

I also find it really strange. Why is a postman more deserving of tips than someone who works in a supermarket or a hospital?

We have a different postie every week and even first class post takes about 5 days to arrive now. Its shit.

There is no way I am tipping someone for a service thats getting worse and worse every year 😂

You don't know who else I tip. Your comment is irrelevant, the OP was asking about the postman, who for me works very hard and deserves a thank you.
We are not discussing who is and who isn't worthy of a Christmas tip.
There are some very unpleasant, mean spirited and just plan mean reactions to this post.

It's not thinking some are worthy and some are not. I think all are worthy but don't see all people, all year. I take my car garage in a tub of sweets as my mot is always in Jan. I tip hairdressers, restaurant staff as and when I go.
I also have a friend that works in tesco and she gets a LOT of cards from customers with a tip in or a little gift.
It's not a case of choosing some to tip and not others, it's just who you see and when. I see my bin men week in week out, my postman every week and she's lovely and always makes effort to leave my parcels somewhere I can get to them without going to sorting office etc.
I'd tip my local tyre garage but only go there twice a year so I take them in some biscuits as and when I do go.

It doesn't cost me a lot, it takes a tiny effort and yet I always get a massive smile. Worth it to me to spread a tiny bit of kindness in a way I am able to throughout the year

My postman knows where to put packages when I'm not around to collect them, thereby saving me the 10 mile round trip to pick them up at the Post Office. Worth a little thank you gift.

Bin men cheerful, efficient, leave my bin near the gate but not blocking the drive. They work in horrible conditions - extreme heat in the summer with stinky bins, cold and dark and wet in winter. Also worth it. I hope they have a lovely Christmas.

I used to when we had the same one for years and years, but there are so many different ones now and I don’t know them.

Until this year we had put a tenner in an envelope for our lovely postwoman at Christmas. She has been moved elsewhere and we have a semi-Zombie bloke who plots about with his earbuds in. It's the same with the dustmen - three different teams of three people (black bin, green bin, recycling bins) so no way now. I gave the person who delivers our newspaper his usual though.

Bin men yes
Postman, who???
We used to give the Evri driver a bottle of something good as he was amazing but he's moved on now unsurprisingly

I'm on a very low income but I always stick a tenner in a card for binmen, garden binmen etc. My uncle was one years ago and they always said they put it all together and had a staff do with it, and what was left over went to a local charity.

My bin men are lovely and always take an extra bag if I stick it out so well worth it.
I tend to put pounds in a jar throughout the year though and then just change it into notes come Xmas so it's not 'extra' money I have to find.

Def not middle class (council house and low income!) and I also tip hairdressers well etc.

I was actually having this discussion a while ago with a friend. I'm sure I'll get roasted for this opinion but it is based on actual experience I see time and again...
I tend to find those without a lot of spare money are often the most generous tippers as they know what it's like to be in these jobs that are generally pretty crap pay

We tip the normal postman, the parcel postman and the Evri courier. They’ve been the same people for years, always friendly, always chatty, always helpful.

We also leave biscuits for the bin men, as never had any issues with our bin collection, but as we have several bins, I’m not sure if the crews are different for each so just leave a box with each.

I know it’s not the done thing anymore, but it’s just a small way of showing gratitude over Christmas.

£20 for ours. He's fab.

There are an awful lot of jobs worse than being a postman. Why do you, and others on here, think some people are worthy of a tip and others not?

It would never occur to me to tip the postman in the town where I live it's not even always the same one. But I am friends with a postman who delivers in a very rural area and while doing his round he chats to elderly people on their own, collects odd bits from the village for people and has even changed the odd light bulb and fed a cat if someone is away so he does get presents at Christmas.

Most postmen (I will not go politically correct and say "post people") have to sort their own mail: they don't have Mrs Goggins to do it for them. But it's their job, it's what they're paid to do. And like @MermaidMummy06 , I don't want to encourage tipping culture.

And as I have said on other threads, we need a requirement that politicians must have done a menial job such as being a postman, or any other minimum wage job for at least a year, before they get anywhere near Parliament, to teach them respect for such jobs, and to stop Parliament being stuffed with the wealthy elite who have never, ever set foot in the real world the rest of us live in. Bring on the revolution!

We always leave a pack of beers or tin of chocolates out for the bin men, every year without fail. Postman no because they change all the time and we don’t feel they do as important a job as they used to (or as efficient sadly).

I don't, but might if I hadn't just spent over £100 on all the staff at my kids schools (2× SEN kids with different 1:1's on different days plus school transport driver & escort). Can't really afford to increase the pool of gift recipients.

@MurkyMo No, not £5, but lots are chucking money around everywhere. These services are paid for by council tax or via payments we make for the service. I find it odd we choose some services and not others.

Never heard of anyone doing this!

I’m in the camp of why do you tip certain professions and not others? We don’t have the same postman/postwoman anyway and you are very lucky if you are in a position to give away £50 so freely.

I am tipping my postman £20 this year, he’s a lovely, cheery chap, looks after my parcels. He goes above and beyond. I used to have a lovely Evri driver and tipped her last year the same but she quit this year.

Totally agree with this.
Being a postman is very hard work. I had to help out with a campaign delivering leaflets several years ago, it was very back breaking. It gave me a new respect for the postman.
Horrible, filthy letter boxes a lot of which were at ground level, dogs who went crazy (I love dogs) and out in all weathers.
It is not the postman's fault about the number of deliveries it is Royal mail who are at fault for that!
We give our postman £20, he is worth every penny and deserves a thank you at Christmas.

I have never tipped the postman. I have never seen him/her, post comes always when we are out. Most people are out when their post comes.
If my postman was excellent and I always had a little chat with them and they had gone over and above then I possibly would.
But as it stands, I get more things delivered by delivery drivers than the postman.
Plus they seem to only deliver me bills, not things I want like a cheque from the lottery or a letter from an heir hunter saying I am inheriting a family fortune.

This thread just proves there’s no cost of living crisis. Middle England is still thriving and throwing money around.