So why do we tip hairdressers but not other people?

[Mellyelly]

Just had an interesting conversation with my friends. It’s news to me that we’re supposed to be tipping our hairdressers. In a group of 7 I’m apparently the only person who doesn’t tip! Mortified! I simply did not know this was the done thing. I’m paying for a service. Why the tip? UK born just slow on the uptake apparently. Why not tip the checkout person? Or your dentist? I pay roughly 65 quid for a cut and blow dry. Not exactly cheap

im so confused

I can only speak for myself, but if I feel like I've underpaid ill add another fiver. The last haircut I got was £16 and she did a fab job so I paid more to reflect what I thought was the value.

Based on this description I should start tipping my therapist

I don’t think there is one any more - if costs over £90 for a 45 min cut and restyle where I am, they charge double if I need an hour so I often have to ask them to leave my hair wet. Colour and cut is no change from £250. So nope, not tipping.

I wash my hair before I go, then pay £20 for a trim and I am in and out in about 20 mins max. If my hairdresser thinks she deserves more, then she will put her prices up.

But as it stands, we are both very happy with the arrangement.

I always tip my hairdresser. I like her and she does a good job & costs less than some salons (though nowhere near as cheap as some others mentioned here!)

I didn’t use to tip at beauty salon but now they have a default x% on the payment machine so I feel obligated as they are standing there.

I don’t tip hairdressers etc, gone are the days when it was cheap. As far as I’m concerned places should charge to pay staff appropriately. My hairdresser doesn’t expect it at all and told me she’s got set rates, that’s what you pay

I never tip my hairdresser. I tip in restaurants and taxi drivers, though the latter depends on if the service was above average.

The tipping thing is weird. We don't tip the people who deliver our amazon, ocado and royal mail orders but are expected to tip the person who delivers uber eats?

I don't tip my hairdresser but she is lovely and I go 4 or 5 times a year. I always give her something nice at christmas.

I tip the hairdresser, not a percentage but usually round it up to the nearest 10, not 10% as it's expensive anyway. She's self employed though, it's her business and there is no junior staff ect. I don't tip beauticians, no idea why not. Once I tried to tip a pedicurist and she wouldn't take it, so haven't tried since.

I also tip in restaurants at least 10%. I tip taxi drivers the same. Sometimes the pizza delivery person but not always as you're paying for delivery now that used to be free.

I do think there are many, many other occupations out there that receive similar to lower salaries than these and it is not the done thing to tip. Never worked in a job where I have received a tip, and as a student worked in a shop at a very low wage.

I think that paying by card means that fewer and fewer of us have a couple of quid to round up the fee for hairdressers, waiters, taxi drivers etc.

I am happier when people charge the fee for the job. I especially hate that US-style fawning hoping for a tip.

I think it is because historically hairdressers were very low paid but this was before the minimum wage, they were paid lower than a lot of other jobs. I don't tip

I never tip my hair stylist - I pay £120 for a cut and blow-dry, I think that's quite enough 🤣

I tip mine a tenner because she’s undercharging for how good she is. I also tip the lady I go to for a massage when she does a special offer so she gets paid the same. I’m not happy tipping for a manicure or facial so I don’t.

I tip for most things. Meals out, takeaway delivery drivers, my nail girl, my hairdresser, my window cleaner.
We had takeaway tonight (busy day!) and my husband tipped the driver £2 (the driver always brings ours first, thus our food is always hot 😂).

I tip my hairdresser with a bottle of wine at Christmas but not at other times.

It's a service which she regularly provides, which is why people tip. You don't necessarily get the same checkout worker twice, or the same car mechanic. However, if i had a car mechanic I always went to, I would probably tip them at Christmas too.

This. I’m aware of tipping hairdressers, but I don’t know a single person who does and I have literally never witnessed it in my decades of going to hairdressers in the UK. I believe those who tip are very much in the minority.

I think historically hairdressers were on a very low wage which is no longer the case hence the tipping trend. I’ve never tipped a hairdresser and I no longer tip waiting staff. I think with the rise in minimum wage it is no longer necessary unless the server goes beyond what is necessary.

I don’t tip anyone since COVID. I no longer carry cash, and staff all earn minimum wage. It’s better than the American system where the staff have to basically beg like dogs for a tip. It’s very demeaning.

My DD worked in a gastropub over the summer. She said some tip, some don’t, but all tips are shared out across the whole team including the chef and manager so it doesn’t amount to much, and it no longer fulfills the function of rewarding great service.

"There have been jokes for years about why don’t we tip in mcdonald’s etc. Nobody knows the answer…"

We know the answer. We tip waiters who bring food to the table. There's no table service in McDonalds.

"I pay roughly 65 quid for a cut and blow dry. Not exactly cheap"

And this is a good reason not to tip the owner of the salon, but if it's an employee, they don't get that money themselves so you can tip if you want to and can afford to.

As well as hairdressers, waiting staff, taxi drivers I know people who tip house removal workers! Whenever I've moved house, it's never occurred to me to tip them.

So if you don't tip hairdressers and didn't know it was a thing, what do you do in restaurants - do you tip waiting staff, OP? Or didn't you realise that was a thing? Not being nasty in any way just wondering if people didn't know tipping waiting staff is a popular thing or not.

I've always tipped house movers because what they manage to achieve in a few hours is astonishing, and has saved me a world of pain, overwhelm and frustration. Definitely worth the packing and unpacking option. So different to hairdressers.

I don’t tip anyone. Ever.

Absolutely do NOT feel mortified op.

I don’t tip anyone including hairdressers.

I agree with you that the argument to tip them and not others doesn’t make sense.

For example, I used to work as a bra fitter in a department store. Definitely earnt a lot less than a hairdresser, but we wouldn’t expect a tip. An elderly lady once tried tip me £20 and I declined.

My mum still tips I think, but I never have.

I don’t tip my hairdresser. I pay £75 for a great curly cut. I like her a lot and I repeat book and recommend her to others and never cancel. But I would feel ridiculous tipping. It’s so patronising and has connotations of “staff”. She probably doesn’t earn a lot less than me.