# Cashless Tip "HACK"



## Ziggy (Feb 27, 2015)

I have a bunch of pax who over the past 6 months have asked me to find an easy way for them to tip me without them having to carry cash. Several of my pax ride with me more than once a week ... and they appreciate my service and they'd like to tip me.

So being a geek, I started looking for geeky no hassle processes for my pax to tip me if they want. I have had a card swiper on my phone for years ... for my T-Shirt biz ... 'coz everyone wants a shirt at ACL; but they didn't bring enough cash. The only challenge with the card swiper is I have to hand my phone to pax at the end of the trip and it delays them from getting out of the car ... a real hassle when they're heading to their private jet.

So, I looked into some bluetooth swipers that I could mount on my center console ... there were a few contenders; but still not an optimal solution ... because once again, I needed to hand over my phone so the pax could enter the amount for the tip and sign the screen.

Finally ... I think I have the perfect solution ... Square Cash coupled with a .tips domain from NameCheap.

Here's the sign in my car: 
*Tips not required; but gladly accepted at www.driver.tips*

What this allows is my pax to tip me if they want, even after they have gotten out of my car. I got a tip today almost 20 minutes after I dropped off pax at the airport. So now pax don't need cash to give me a tip and they don't have to get jammed up at the destination fumbling for a tip ... and they get a receipt for the tip (handy for expense reports). *I might make up some biz cards with my .tips link ... but haven't done that yet.

When I'm in a generous mood ... tips are donated directly to a worthy cause like RED or Unicef. 
I'll let you know later if that boosts my ratings 

BTW - I do offer amenities above and beyond the ride to my pax - such as water, Red Bull, power cords and more. And even prior to Square Cash I received tips from >40% of my pax; but I am confident that Square Cash (http://cash.me) will simplify the tip process for my pax.

Square Cash is free to use or 1.5% if you're a business (that's the option I chose). I got a memorable .tips domain from NameCheap for $17/yr ... and then just redirected it to my unique Square Cash link.


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## SCdave (Jun 27, 2014)

Thanks for the Tip "Hack". So you setup your Square Cash me account. You then purchased a domain name as "driver.tips". driver.tip redirects to your Square Cash Me Account where the Rider/Client (well, anyone) can now send you a tip (cash) by using Square Cash with their Name/Credit Card whenever they want.

You either have Square Cash deposit the "tip" to your bank account or sometimes you have the "tip" sent to a charity/cause of your liking "when you feel like it".

Whew...do I have this right?

More simply:

1) You signed up for Square Cash (simple, just did it).
2) You purchased a domain name of driver.tip for $17 / yr. You did this so you could use " www driver.tip " instead of your actual Square Cash URL of
" https://cash.me/$xxx ". You didn't have to but I see the reason why.
3) You put a small notice up in your vehicle or just tell your Rider/Client "Yes, you can tip me by going to www driver.tips". Or you can hand out a business card with your info and how to send you a cashless tip.


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## Ziggy (Feb 27, 2015)

SCdave said:


> Thanks for the Tip "Hack"


NP ... just like you reiterated.

Square Cash deposits funds directly to your bank via your debit card within 1-2 biz days.
The primary reason that I got a domain to redirect to my https://cash.me/$xxx link is because while most of my friends are code geeks and we can easily deal with the $ in URL ... I have to consider that many pax barely know that there are domains other than .com, .net or .org ... so I use my sister as my test subject and make easy enough for her and 98% of my pax


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## SCdave (Jun 27, 2014)

Ziggy said:


> NP ... just like you reiterated.
> 
> Square Cash deposits funds directly to your bank via your debit card within 1-2 biz days.
> The primary reason that I got a domain to redirect to my https://cash.me/$xxx link is because while most of my friends are code geeks and we can easily deal with the $ in URL ... I have to consider that many pax barely know that there are domains other than .com, .net or .org ... so I use my sister as my test subject and make easy enough for her and 98% of my pax


Sounds good. How do you change in Square Cash whether the funds go to your own person bank account or get "donated" to a charity. Is this a feature in Square Cash or just something you do on your own?

Edit: Got it. You just decide using your own domain name "redirect" not Square Cash.


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## Ziggy (Feb 27, 2015)

SCdave said:


> You just decide using your own domain name "redirect" not Square Cash.


yep ... just created a simple .htaccess redirect that takes 2 minutes to setup & change ... determines where my .tips domain points. I probably will mostly point it to my Square Cash account ... but once a month (maybe more) I'll send the tips to our non-profit partner of the month (from our t-shirt biz)


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## JWBurns (Apr 11, 2015)

You lost me at Red Bull


****ing Red Bull. 


On a minimum fare ride, you're actually LOOSING money. Hope your tip "hack" works out buddy. You're gonna need em.


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## cfluser (Jun 15, 2015)

Im sure if you buy the Red Bull and other items at a "Club" store it works out, but deff not at convenient store prices.


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## Ziggy (Feb 27, 2015)

JWBurns said:


> You lost me at Red Bull. ****ing Red Bull. On a minimum fare ride, you're actually LOOSING money


First off the Red Bull is primarily for me. Secondly, out of 500+ trips I've only taken 2 min fare rides. 90% of my fares exceed $25; $80% exceed $50 ... and I guess you failed to read the part "I received tips from >40% of my pax". Besides Red Bull is only costing me $1.50/can ... obviously you're paying too much for your Red Bull

I prefer to work smarter, not harder.

But you stay in your minimum fare world ... and don't give out perceived high-value amenities to get good tips on top of already high fares.


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## Ziggy (Feb 27, 2015)

PlatypusMuerte said:


> convenient store prices


only thing I buy at convenience store is ice ... and occasionally gas


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## cfluser (Jun 15, 2015)

I think my waters are about 9c each from the local club here. And I dont buy ice. Haven't for years. Always have a few extra water bottles (from my kids) filled with tap water, frozen for the coolers. Been doing that for years on the boat when we go fishing, so works great here too. Just mark them so they are not mistaken for drinks ha.


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## InTheD (Jun 15, 2015)

PlatypusMuerte said:


> Always have a few extra water bottles (from my kids) filled with tap water, frozen for the coolers.


I never thought of this. Thanks for the awesome tip!


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## Dan Uphoff (Mar 8, 2015)

LOL. I actually do this, and i have cards i hand out when someone says i wish i could tip, but all i have is cash. has my cashtag on it.


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## Ziggy (Feb 27, 2015)

PlatypusMuerte said:


> I think my waters are about 9c each from the local club here. And I dont buy ice. Haven't for years. Always have a few extra water bottles (from my kids) filled with tap water, frozen for the coolers. Been doing that for years on the boat when we go fishing, so works great here too. Just mark them so they are not mistaken for drinks ha.


Yeah ... I did the frozen water bottles trick for the 1st week ... but hated lugging the bottles up and down 3 flights of stairs ... just waiting until I move, then I'll put a freezer my garage and then I'll go back to frozen water bottles. But ever since I started using a Yeti cooler ... I've gone from 2 bags of ice per day; to 1 bag every 3 days. Yep ... getting the water about 9¢ at the club here too ... and Red Bull for $1.48 at the club


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## Ziggy (Feb 27, 2015)

Dan Uphoff said:


> LOL. I actually do this, and i have cards i hand out when someone says i wish i could tip, but all i have is cash. has my cashtag on it.


Yep ... I point my .tips domain to my cashtag ... 'cause I don't like explaining why there's a $ sign in the URL. Haven't printed up cards yet ... but that's on the list for this week.

How often do you get tips to your cashtag?

Prior to cashtag, I was averaging 40% pax giving me tips


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## Dan Uphoff (Mar 8, 2015)

I average out of about 50 trips a weekend, i probally make about 80 in tips between cash and cashtag, never really figured the percent. I give cards out to those that say they want to tip, but dont have cash because then they are usually like shit.....now i have no excuse LOL


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## ecmic (Apr 16, 2015)

What effect do you think this will have on your cash tips?

This is a great idea and am thinking of doing it myself, but with business cards on the center console that also indicate a certain percentage (I'm thinking ~20%) will count as a donation towards a children's center in my area.

I just wouldn't want this to greatly eat into my cash tips, which are always more preferred.


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## UberLou (May 5, 2015)

JWBurns said:


> You lost me at Red Bull
> 
> ****ing Red Bull.
> 
> On a minimum fare ride, you're actually LOOSING money. Hope your tip "hack" works out buddy. You're gonna need em.


*****WARNING WARNING***** ****** Alert ****** Alert******WARNING WARNING******


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## ecmic (Apr 16, 2015)

Any updates on this? How's it working out for you?


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## Boober (Jan 5, 2015)

Ziggy, I have to thank you for this tip. I created a cashtag for myself. Got a $10 tip from it. I really like this pay method! Its cool! One problem though, it only accepts debits cards. No credit cards. Anyway, its still great as alot of people sport debit cards.

Now if I may return the favor, the pax who tipped my cashtag told me about Venmo app which I installed and signed up for. Its another great way to accept payments.


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## glados (May 23, 2015)

Boober said:


> Ziggy, I have to thank you for this tip. I created a cashtag for myself. Got a $10 tip from it. I really like this pay method! Its cool! One problem though, it only accepts debits cards. No credit cards. Anyway, its still great as alot of people sport debit cards.
> 
> Now if I may return the favor, the pax who tipped my cashtag told me about Venmo app which I installed and signed up for. Its another great way to accept payments.


If it only accepts debit cards, then I would also put your paypal email in. Plenty of people have CCs linked to their paypal accounts and prefer using paypal rather than giving card details directly.

No fees too, most ppl will send it as a personal transaction.


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## Ziggy (Feb 27, 2015)

glados said:


> Plenty of people have CCs linked to their paypal accounts and prefer using paypal rather than giving card details directly.


actually, people don't give us card details directly, they enter in their card details into Square Cash ... and PayPal is another option ... though an email address is generally not as memorable as a URL.


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## peasantgirl (Jul 7, 2015)

Ok, either I just woke up (true) or I'm completely ******ed (probably also true), but I'm not understanding the process. Are you using the word "driver" in driver.tips as a stand-in for your actual name? Cuz I went to driver.tips and it redirected me to Square Cash. Are you saying if I own a domain that ends in .tips it will always redirect to Square Cash, and if I sign up with Square Cash with that domain then it will redirect to my personal Square Cash account?


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## Nick Starr (Feb 12, 2015)

Can you post a picture of your sign? I just registered www.starr.tips to do the same thing. Great idea, just not sure the best way to put up a sign.


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