Tipping hairdresser after an expensive treatment.

[Bubblegum22]

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.

@CKL987 my hairdresser is in SW London. I pay her £180 for a cut, colour and blowdry and tip £10.00. It's her shop but I reckon once she's paid: rent, business rates, utilities, tea, coffee, products, etc., she probably clears less than £25ph after tax. She will get a bit more from chair rental to another stylist.

I couldn't stand on my feet for 8/10 hours a day chatting shit and empathising with yummy mummies.

No one tips their dentist or optician, why would you tip a hairdresser ? I think that's plain embarrassing.

I tip as I appreciate the care and the extra length she goes to.
Plus it's all vegan products which she uses for vegan clients.
Always cheerful and professional even when she's probably tired .
What a difference to the visit if she didn't have her extra values and I tip always what I can afford.

You walk over to them and hand them what you are going to give.

I'm actually surprised a lot of people have never tipped or haven't heard of it. I used to go to the hairdressers every 2 weeks in my 20s and always tipped. I was also a junior in my teens and everyone tipped. Maybe it's changed days and it's not expected.

I would love to know what other services people tip or don't, taxi driver, window cleaner, takeaway delivery etc

@WhataPlaice neither my dentist nor my optician are low paid. Also if people.are going on the NHS, you can't tip.

I admit it's only a token amount but I always tip £5 toward their girls night out.

Tipping is a bit odd in the UK as we have the national minimum wage. It's bonkers that some low paid workers, like retail or care home staff, should be expected to provide tips for others, when they don't receive tips themselves.

@YerArseInParsley I don't routinely tip taxi drivers, window cleaners or delivery people either - where do you draw the line? Do you tip electricians and plumbers and gardeners too?

I do think that tipping culture, in general is on the way out, as it's been reported that younger people don't usually tip. Also, I guess, because most transactions are paid by card these days. Even the Americans are fed up with it and have started a no tip movement. This is a good thing I think. It's so degrading that US servers to have to practically beg customers for money to make up their wage.

I no longer tip at the hairdressers because of how much it now costs.

Some hairdressers don’t receive much money however, many of them are very well off. My brother lived with one for a while who was absolutely minted. So you may be tipping someone who already very well paid. A lot of us also don’t go the hairdressers very often because of how expensive it is, considering hairdressers are still advising us to go every 6 weeks.

Tipping hairdressers because they are low paid comes from times before the NMW when many were very low paid and less than other jobs but after NMW came in the pay is the same as many other low paid jobs which are not tipped, some of these much harder work than hairdressing. Some hairdressers that people are tipping are earning loads so not really any different to dentists and opticians, people are often tipping well off business owners.

Hairdresser here, tipping or not tipping is fine, its always appreciated, but not expected,and it does not need to be 10% .
I have clients who bring me eggs from their hens or rhubarb from their allotment ! I much prefer that !

however i do feel a bit uncomfortable taking £5 from a couple of ladies who i know have not got much money and prioritise coming to me, ive just put my prices up again due to huge rising salon costs so i will keep theirs at the old price, interestingly i find less wealthy clients tip more .

Im a bit bemused at the poster above claiming that a hairdresser is similar work to a fast food server, it takes years of skill to learn to be good ,so i disagree, and it shows how some people look down on us.

Most salons have been making a loss /breaking even for years and lots have started charging their worth which is great ,tubes of colour cost about ten pounds, the electric bill is huge so profit margins are actually quite modest.

childrens haircuts often take as long so now we charge the same as we have the same costs.
Long thick hair takes longer and uses more product so of course it costs more, its not discrimination , we need to cover our costs.

The hair probably cost £300 ish out of the £550 so 10% of that is about £20 , otherwise you are paying more for the hair.

@Soddingcat I get it. Also, I cherish my hairdresser. I have been her client for 25 years and I am glad. She does wonders with my hair.

If something last minute comes up and I need to scrub up she always manages to fit me in at short notice (only probably once or twice a year) and as I said up thread we, (DH, DS and DD), were at the top of the lost on 12th April 2021 post Covid.

Love your user name.

Anyone I know tips their hairdresser yes. I tip my colour £20 as takes ages and my cut £10.
I’d give £20-£30 in your case.

@Soddingcat Thanks for your insight!

Great point about the cost of the hair in tipping hair extensions - tipping the service rather than the product is logical in this case!

£25 tip on that work, minimum
I have always tipped hairdressers and have never known anyone who doesn't. Many of them survive on that money. That's why they have REGULARS they build a relationship with. Perhaps you in are the south of England, culturally very different from the north.

The north/south divide has already been mentioned on this thread and it makes no difference. I’m in the south and don’t know anyone who tips. The only person i know who still tips is my mum, who lives north.

I’ve never tipped the hairdresser!

I thought they were fairly well paid? I mean my hair takes about 45 min to do and it is usually somewhere in the region of £50 so if you take overheads away that’s at least £30 an hour surely?

I always tip and same as pp, my DM always gave separate to the hair washer. I don't have that in my salon, hairdresser washes my hair.

Likewise.

I never tip. The prices are expensive enough.

I do extensions and bridal / occasion styling.
Very rarely am I tipped, but I never expect to be.
In fact sometimes when I'm working a wedding (very long hours can be up to a 16 hour day), I'm not even offered a glass of water, whilst everyone else is drinking and eating all sorts of yummy stuff.
So now I take my own and I'll take a break. Not ideal, but I can't work on no food and water.
I do not expect a tip, or to be fed and/or watered, but you can expect me to down tools and go in search of a hot drink if you don't offer me one!
Simple common courtesy keeps everyone happy.

I always tip 20% even for the expensive services like keratin treatment with a cut. I'm in US so don't know if it is different in other places.

Had the same hairdresser for years. I don’t tip but I buy her a nice Christmas present

I always tip £5. My hair costs either £14 or £20 depending what I have done.

My hairdresser is a friend, & I do her books - no money involved (actually illegal).

She earns c.£100k p.a., so she doesn't expect tips.