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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Tipping hairdresser after an expensive treatment.

231 replies

Bubblegum22 · 10/08/2023 09:53

I’m getting hair extensions which will cost £550, Aibu to not tip or should I be tipping 10%, which seems to be standard? Or whats an acceptable amount in your opinion?

Maintenance is circa £200 every 2 months so tips will add up over the year (if I decide to keep them in that is).

I’m not sure what the protocol is these days with more expensive treatments so would appreciate some info on other people’s tipping etiquette/or not at the hairdressers, particularly for more expensive services.
Would be great if any hairdressers here could offer some guidance on what they’d expect.

Thank you.

OP posts:
RubyJack · 10/08/2023 13:51

RubyJack · 10/08/2023 13:50

This is on WYP's Twitter.

Wrong thread,sorry.

WhereHasTheSunGoneThisSummer · 10/08/2023 13:55

I tip my hairdresser £5 on a £43 cut, in your case OP I wouldn’t tip at all now or going forward.

drpet49 · 10/08/2023 13:57

Ohmylordnotagain · 10/08/2023 10:08

Many many hairdressers work their prices so they are on at least £30 an hour wages so no i dont tip.

This! My hairdressers hourly rate is far more than what I get paid.

kirinm · 10/08/2023 14:02

LoobyDop · 10/08/2023 12:29

I stopped tipping hairdressers when the cost went over £100 a visit. That puts you comfortably into professional territory, imo, and you don’t tip professionals. Tips are to compensate people in low paid, low status jobs for being exploited.

How much do you think employed hairdressers earn?

Ohmylordnotagain · 10/08/2023 14:05

@kirinm evidence wise i am in a similar business and am on lots of professional facebook pages where prices etc are talked about.
If a stylist is self employed it is usually a day rate as % split is often frowned upon as hidden employment. The day rate varies from place to place obviously., but is usually £25-50 a day.
If it is a % split 50% would mean the owner /landlord would be paying for all products, so the 50% would be all profit.
If employed the minimum they will be on is minimum wage and theres usually commission so once they earn a certain amount usually 3x there wages, they earn a % on top of there hourly wage.
Retail workers are on minimum wage with no chance to earn commission and no one tips them.
And yes I know loads of very well off hairdressers.

kirinm · 10/08/2023 14:07

Ohmylordnotagain · 10/08/2023 14:05

@kirinm evidence wise i am in a similar business and am on lots of professional facebook pages where prices etc are talked about.
If a stylist is self employed it is usually a day rate as % split is often frowned upon as hidden employment. The day rate varies from place to place obviously., but is usually £25-50 a day.
If it is a % split 50% would mean the owner /landlord would be paying for all products, so the 50% would be all profit.
If employed the minimum they will be on is minimum wage and theres usually commission so once they earn a certain amount usually 3x there wages, they earn a % on top of there hourly wage.
Retail workers are on minimum wage with no chance to earn commission and no one tips them.
And yes I know loads of very well off hairdressers.

My son is a hairdresser and I know exactly how lots of salons work. I also know how much he was paid when he was employed and it was disgusting.

MajesticWhine · 10/08/2023 14:09

I don't tip hairdressers.
It's just so awkward and embarrassing. And do you tip the person washing your hair a separate amount? Just too complicated.
My cut and colour is £118. If they need more they should charge me more.

Pineappleandredcheese · 10/08/2023 14:10

I don't tip-i can't afford to
I'm in and out in ten minutes-dry cut,small talk,pay and I'm out again
£17.95

It's a family joke that dps (lovely) nan not only tipped,she took her hairdressers on holiday with her!

I'm not sure who paid for what,but off they all went so she must have
A.had a lot of charm
B.made it worth their while!

Lovely lady who is very missed

kirinm · 10/08/2023 14:10

In every single salon my son has worked in, he has to pay a percentage of every single haircut / treatment. At the moment, salons are expecting 40-50% of sales to rent a chair. Alternatively you can be charged per day for a chair and in London, that can be up to £1k a week.

tigpig · 10/08/2023 14:23

Why do you tip? Hairdressers are already very expensive 😦

FixTheBone · 10/08/2023 14:27

At £550 your paying a load of cash for an expert level of service (you'd hope) - the profit should be factored into that amount.

I get charged £7 for my cut and leave a Tenner, on the basis that £7 for 20mins on job I couldn't do myself is ridiculously good value.

Rosiem2808 · 10/08/2023 14:29

I do not tip my hairdresser. He owns the salon

BitchBrigade · 10/08/2023 15:07

I tried this the one and only time I went to get my hair coloured. It was an extremely tricky lift done over 3 sessions (which took hours) and she did an incredible job and although not "cheap" it was low for the amount of effort that went into it.

I tried to tip her £10 as a gesture of thanks and you would have thought I'd stripped off, jumped on the counter and taken a big steaming shit right on her. It was such a weird and extreme reaction from her over a simple tip which she could have just simply declined but she acted so horrified and offended by the very thought of it I actually ended up feeling extremely anxious about it and never bothered going back!

Never attempting to tip again outside of a restaurant after that horrific experience. Besides, this ain't the USA. Not the done thing here and we need to stop making it "the norm" to tip all and sundry for doing the job they are paid to do before bog bosses catch on and lower peoples wages to "balance it out" like the US way of doing things.

2PintsOfCidernaBagofCrisps · 10/08/2023 15:39

kirinm · 10/08/2023 14:10

In every single salon my son has worked in, he has to pay a percentage of every single haircut / treatment. At the moment, salons are expecting 40-50% of sales to rent a chair. Alternatively you can be charged per day for a chair and in London, that can be up to £1k a week.

You seem to be taking all responses about not tipping very personally. Encourage your son to source a better salon so that he doesn't need to rely on customers to support him via tips.

Twiglets1 · 10/08/2023 15:48

I tip my hairdresser £5 for a cut or £10 for a cut & colour which takes her longer. It’s an expensive salon so the fiver is about 10% of the cost.

BarbaraofSeville · 10/08/2023 15:49

kirinm · 10/08/2023 14:10

In every single salon my son has worked in, he has to pay a percentage of every single haircut / treatment. At the moment, salons are expecting 40-50% of sales to rent a chair. Alternatively you can be charged per day for a chair and in London, that can be up to £1k a week.

So he needs to up his rates if he wants to earn more.

For employed hairdressers, they earn at least NMW. Just like carers, retail workers, people who work in Subway, McDonalds etc. No-one tips them.

Why do people think that hairdressers, beauticians and waiting staff should be tipped thousands of pounds a year (because if you add it up, it will be that - even a fiver a day in tips received is over a grand a year, and many people seem to be tipping far more than that) when there's a whole list of similarly paid, and often more important workers like carers who are almost never tipped.

Twiglets1 · 10/08/2023 15:51

For something like hair extensions though, I don’t have them but if I did, I would probably tip £20. Anything more than that it’s getting too expensive.

RebeccaCloud9 · 10/08/2023 15:52

Ugh, I never tip the hairdresser. I'm thinking of trying the local college for my next hair do and I'll probs top if I go there (if it's good!)

Original poster
Bubblegum22 · 10/08/2023 15:52

Thanks all for your contributions - seems like theres a real variety in practice and opinions.

I gave her £20 cash in the end, the appointment was just over an hour and she seemed happy with it.

OP posts:
studentgrant · 10/08/2023 15:52

I don't. They already charge a fortune.

pollykitty · 10/08/2023 15:52

My brother is a barber and owns the shop. Others rent chairs from him. I assumed he was on a decent wage but he actually makes a ton of money, more than me or my husband and we are in professional jobs requiring multiple degrees. Now I’m not begrudging his income, he works hard, but I stopped tipping professional hairdressers after that, particularly if they own their own place (which mine does, with her sister).

MariaVT65 · 10/08/2023 15:53

I wouldn’t tip at all. Hairdressers charge extortionate prices. My local one charges up to £58 for a wet cut without drying my hair.

MariaVT65 · 10/08/2023 15:54

Also my hairdresser doesn’t offer the tip option on the card machine and hardly anyone I know carries cash these days

Twiglets1 · 10/08/2023 15:58

MariaVT65 · 10/08/2023 15:54

Also my hairdresser doesn’t offer the tip option on the card machine and hardly anyone I know carries cash these days

I go to the cash point before the hairdressers

TheKeatingFive · 10/08/2023 16:00

I don't tip in hairdressers. I pay them a small fortune already.