# Lessons on tipping from the service industry



## cavenoize (Jul 13, 2018)

I have irrevocably quit bartending/serving/managing after 8+ years and now have a sales job. Any given week, Uber as a side gig accounts for 30%-60% of my time/effort/money (I try to manage that all three are in balance). I've noticed that there's been a lot of (occasionally contentious) discussion on tipping etiquette lately, and I want to share what I know on the subject.

It has been well studied (yet _slightly _less well applied) in the service industry that by *far* the largest factor in determining the percentage of a tip on any given check is the existing tipping propensities of the guest paying the bill. A very, very, very, very, very, very, very, distant second is performing bottle service for a bottle of wine, and even that effect is more likely due to correlation than causation.

Good bartenders eventually learn that it's far more lucrative to work on providing a level of service to known good tippers that encourages them to become great tippers, than it is to try and turn bad tippers in good tippers.

Drivers control neither of the top factors on tips (propensity to tip or performing bottle service), and we have far fewer "regulars." I have always made great tips in rideshare by simply providing great service and anticipating riders' needs. In the past few months, I started a sneakily subtle, and entirely ethical, new tactic to encourage more tipping (which I am, unfortunately, unwilling to share at the moment), and it's enhanced what was already a good thing. Drivers who are following this train of thought will be able to come up with the same, or a similar, idea.

My larger point is that there are certain rides where I fully expect no tip, still give great service, and I am sometimes happily surprised to receive a tip. There are certain rides where I believe there is a high likelihood of a tip, but I never allow myself to become convinced so I can't be disappointed if it never arrives. If we imagine for a moment that we all provide rides of the same high level of service, we still have less control over tipping behavior than many on this forum believe that we do. That's not going to change any time soon (or any time, period). The actual control a driver has in inducing a tip on a high quality ride is real, but very, very small.

Throw out all of the who "should tip" crap - that is prescriptive instead of descriptive, and such utterly useless. Instead, understand the world in which we live and make it work the best you can (and I know it's different in other markets, but in my market pax rating is a very poor indication of tipping propensity).


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## IR12 (Nov 11, 2017)

cavenoize said:


> I have irrevocably quit bartending/serving/managing after 8+ years and now have a sales job. Any given week, Uber as a side gig accounts for 30%-60% of my time/effort/money (I try to manage that all three are in balance). I've noticed that there's been a lot of (occasionally contentious) discussion on tipping etiquette lately, and I want to share what I know on the subject.
> 
> It has been well studied (yet _slightly _less well applied) in the service industry that by *far* the largest factor in determining the percentage of a tip on any given check is the existing tipping propensities of the guest paying the bill. A very, very, very, very, very, very, very, distant second is performing bottle service for a bottle of wine, and even that effect is more likely due to correlation than causation.
> 
> ...


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