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Original poster

Hairdressers and tipping

56 replies

UmmWhatThe · 20/03/2022 21:23

Need some advice re tipping please. I’ve been going to the same hairdresser for a couple of years now, she works for herself and I go to her house. It would cost me about £140 (cut & dye) and then I’d tip a tenner on top and I get my hair done about every 3-4 months.

She has recently increased her prices by about £10 so it’s now going to cost £150 and that’s without tip...

What does everyone else do re tipping a hairdresser? My DH thinks it’s becoming excessive

Just trying to gauge general consensus of tipping and how much others do?

OP posts:
Subbaxeo · 20/05/2022 13:03

If she’s working for herself, there’s no need to tip, surely? Tipping is for employed staff and the junior who washes your hair-not the boss!

Cocobeau · 20/05/2022 13:04

I pay my hairdresser £30 to cut and dry my hair which takes her less than 30 minutes. She's getting F all extra out of me.

cushioncovers · 20/05/2022 13:07

That's way too much too tip. She's already set her prices with minimal overheads as she's self employed and running it from her home. How long does it take to do your hair op? Does she have other clients in at the same time?

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PradaOnaBudget · 20/05/2022 13:13

I only tip waiters. As far as I'm concerned, hairdressers, plumbers, car service people etc set a price for their service and I pay it. No need for a tip.

hattie43 · 20/05/2022 13:13

£150 is really expensive, I pay £128 in a salon and tip a fiver and whatever pound coins in my purse .

rookiemere · 20/05/2022 13:17

I go to a salon. For a cut and blowdry which I think costs around £47, I tip £2-3 , for half head highlights as well it's around £90 and I'd tip a tenner usually.
I tipped ridiculously(£20 for highlights , £10 for a cut)when they reopened after lockdown but stopped that when I didn't get priority for an appointment when they reopened after second lockdown.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 20/05/2022 13:27

The whole basis behind tipping (whether intentional or not - most people just do it now 'because tradition') is to subjugate the poorly-paid by making them 'dance' for their income, forcing them to rely on people's arbitrary goodwill/charity and then express gratitude for it, rather than being guaranteed a fair agreed wage from their employer in simple exchange for putting in the time and effort in doing their job. When did you ever engage a solicitor or chartered accountant who had a tip jar on their desk?

As has been said, if somebody is self-employed, they actually set their own rates based on what they need/expect/want to earn! It effectively becomes a sale/purchase situation, albeit maybe services rather than goods being sold: no different really from an independent shop owner/manager pricing up their goods and then expecting/counting on customers paying the advertised price but also chucking another 10-15% in on top!

Somebody charging prices like that - without any overheads of running a salon or paying reception/admin/caretaking staff - is most definitely not somebody in need of a tip. If I were her, and at those prices, I'd actually be embarrassed to be offered a tip in the first place and would politely but insistently decline it at any rate.

Original poster
UmmWhatThe · 20/05/2022 13:29

@cushioncovers it takes her about 3-4 hours because my hair is long and thick. She works from home but has to pay her parents to rent the salon from the garden, I doubt it's a lot though.

OP posts:
WalkingInTheAir13 · 20/05/2022 13:50

Classica · 20/05/2022 12:41

I tip my hairdresser because she's really good and she doesn't own the salon. If I had my hair cut by a salon owner, or by a mobile hairdresser in your case (who doesn't have any overheads) I wouldn't tip.

This is exactly my criteria.
In your specific case op. there's no need to tip whatsoever.

BooseysMom · 20/05/2022 13:51

I've never tipped a hairdresser, it expensive enough to get my hair done without adding more on

...but what if you got a free small bottle of wine as in my post below?!...

I paid £15 for a child's cut for DS and even got a complimentary small bottle of wine!! I didn't tip and felt awful when I thought maybe I should have. Would anyone else tip if they got wine?
On the other hand I was looking for a new salon for myself and on their website it said come in for a complimentary consultation and cup of tea or two and I wasn't even offered a drink! I was rushed in and out. I think the wine wins every time!

ICannotRememberAThing · 20/05/2022 13:53

No, I don’t tip.
I pay £57 for a 45 min haircut & blow dry on shoulder length hair.
Quite often the actual cutting is over and done within 15- 20 min.

The owner does my hair. I’d be more inclined to tip the other stylists who work for her. She pays them just over minimum wage.

nearlyspringyay · 20/05/2022 13:57

I don't tip but even in my pretty expensive London salon a cut & blow dry with half head of foils is around £150. You're going to her house, she is overcharging.

CoastalWave · 20/05/2022 14:02

UmmWhatThe · 20/05/2022 13:29

@cushioncovers it takes her about 3-4 hours because my hair is long and thick. She works from home but has to pay her parents to rent the salon from the garden, I doubt it's a lot though.

So you're basically paying her nearly £45-50 an hour - to do your hair?!

You're being ripped off, big time. Tip or no tip.

In a salon, there are huge overheads. Self employed - she needs to buy the hair tint, foils, scissors etc and as you say, small rent for the room. She's obviously doing at least one other client on the day she does your hair.

You seriously think someone earning £300 a day needs a tip?

WalkingInTheAir13 · 20/05/2022 15:39

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

I'm not surprised that you built a buffet on sausage roll!
Excellent post! Take heed Op.

WhatWouldTheDoctorDo · 20/05/2022 17:29

I don't tip mine, he's self employed and rents a chair, works part time because he can afford to and it suits his lifestyle, and I imagine he sets his prices according to what he wants to earn.

I think hairdresser tipping harks back to hairdressers being paid a low hourly rate. If I thought that was the case for mine I would tip, but it's not. He earns way more per hour than I do (even factoring in his self-employment costs).

PlasticineMeg · 20/05/2022 17:46

I’ve never once tipped a hairdresser. I pay a fortune to get my hair done and she drives a £75k car. No chance is she getting a tip.

But tipping hairdressers is one of those weird ‘only on MN’ things where not tipping is on-par etiquette-wise with shitting in the street. This does not reflect real life.

BooseysMom · 20/05/2022 18:45

The whole basis behind tipping (whether intentional or not - most people just do it now 'because tradition') is to subjugate the poorly-paid by making them 'dance' for their income, forcing them to rely on people's arbitrary goodwill/charity and then express gratitude for it, rather than being guaranteed a fair agreed wage from their employer in simple exchange for putting in the time and effort in doing their job. When did you ever engage a solicitor or chartered accountant who had a tip jar on their desk?

Exactly this

Svara · 20/05/2022 18:53

BooseysMom · 20/05/2022 18:45

The whole basis behind tipping (whether intentional or not - most people just do it now 'because tradition') is to subjugate the poorly-paid by making them 'dance' for their income, forcing them to rely on people's arbitrary goodwill/charity and then express gratitude for it, rather than being guaranteed a fair agreed wage from their employer in simple exchange for putting in the time and effort in doing their job. When did you ever engage a solicitor or chartered accountant who had a tip jar on their desk?

Exactly this

Yes, excellent explanation!

DockOTheBay · 20/05/2022 19:08

but what if you got a free small bottle of wine as in my post below?!
Why would I pay extra for something I didn't ask for? If they want to give out free wine that's up to them. Its not a "tip" if you're only paying it because they gave you wine... thats just paying for wine.

Quirkycarrot · 20/05/2022 19:26

I pay very slightly less than you for the same treatment (also thick hair) and my hairdresser is the senior stylist in her own salon. So I think you are paying too much to begin with. But if you are happy to, I would just consider her new price to include the tip already, am sure she would.

dottiedodah · 20/05/2022 19:30

It does seem rather expensive for a home hairdresser .£140 seems dear let alone £150! I would look around for a Salon unless her hairdressing is exceptional.If she just pays her parents some rent she is doing rather well!

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 20/05/2022 19:30

I’ve never once tipped a hairdresser. I pay a fortune to get my hair done and she drives a £75k car. No chance is she getting a tip.

I wonder if part of the tipping 'culture' with hairdressers is a result of the progression in the trade - where people usually start very low and then work their way up, increasing their charges with experience at every stage.

For right or wrong, you might tip the teenager who sweeps up the hair and makes the coffee, as she is on minimum wage; but she possibly took the 'starter' job to get her foot in the door as an apprentice, and then, as she progresses, it feels awkward to ever stop tipping her once you deem that she's earning 'enough'.

Startuplife · 20/05/2022 19:31

I never tip as my hairdresser owns the salon and it already costs me £150 a time. However if her apprentice does me a fabulous blow dry at the end I give her £5 as I know she’s not earning very much and she works extremely hard.

WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 20/05/2022 19:33

This might be beside the point, but if she 'rents' a salon in her parents' garden, does that mean she still lives with them? If so, the chances are that she's still relatively young - so she doesn't even have the excuse that she's had 30 years' experience at the very top of her game to justify those prices.

dangermouseisace · 20/05/2022 19:33

I tipped my hairdresser because he was a) cheap and b) fabulous. I don't tip at my current salon because it's already pricey, so I figure they've factored it in!