Why is it normal to tip your barber?

[Alternat¡ve]

I go to an old style barber and a haircut and straight razor shave usally cost me 50 bucks plus I till about 20 because my barber is super rad

Unless he spends about an hour on your hair, you are getting ripped off.

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[Nickpb 3.0]

Unless he spends about an hour on your hair, you are getting ripped off.

About an hour and 10 min ye
the shave alone is a 40 min experience

[SeventhSandwich]

but restaurant waiters are getting paid minimum wage unless they're getting tipped

except when they're not

https://www.dol.gov/whd/state/tipped2015.htm

Arkansas pays out a 'minimum wage' of $2.63/hr to tipped employees.

[$trinick]

I go to an old style barber and a haircut and straight razor shave usally cost me 50 bucks plus I till about 20 because my barber is super rad

You just had an argument with kendall like yesterday or 2 days ago about how you didn't know you were supposed to trip haircutters/barbers.


The way you should look at a tip is a show of appreciation. The cut costs $x, which you are obviously willing to pay because you sat down knowing that. If you think that they exceeded your expectations, then you should tip them.

The other edge of that knife is that if they didn't exceed your expectations, you don't tip them, and that probably pisses them off because it's essentially saying they did a bad job.

[Nickpb 3.0]

You just had an argument with kendall like yesterday or 2 days ago about how you didn't know you were supposed to trip haircutters/barbers.

What? no I told her it would feel weird to tip her. why would I say I didn't know you were supposed to tip barbers when I've been tipping my barber for years

[SeventhSandwich]

The way you should look at a tip is a show of appreciation. The cut costs $x, which you are obviously willing to pay because you sat down knowing that. If you think that they exceeded your expectations, then you should tip them.

I mean, unless you're going to a terrible barber, this should happen every time.

[Ravencroft·]

I've had the same barber for 7 years back home and always make sure to tip.

[sir dooble]

I mean, unless you're going to a terrible barber, this should happen every time.

Maybe barbers/hairdressers are stuff here, or I have the worlds worst hair for cutting, but it's pretty close to 50/50 that I get a bad haircut.
I have a regular barbers with a selection of hairdressers and sometimes they're really good, but othertimes awful.

[McJob]

I've had the same barber for 7 years back home and always make sure to tip.

Do you enjoy the way his manboobs rest upon your shoulders?

[HooperScooper]

Is it normal to tip over your sister's barbies?

[sir dooble]

Tipping barbers does make a lot less sense to me than tipping waiters actually.

I can understand waiters because their role is optional in the service. A restaurant could feasibly have you come up and order and collect your own food, as in a pub or fast food place. The waiter coming to you, checking in on you, and being nice isn't actually part of what you pay for. But you pay for the food and the service of it being cooked, and you don't tip the chef.

Whereas a barber is a required part of the service of having your hair cut. His interaction with you is included in the price of the cut.
Likewise I might hire a painter to paint my walls, but I wouldn't expect to tip him for a good job because he is crucial to the job happening at all.

[HooperScooper]

I like knocking over my barber
Does that count?

[water pipe]

you should only tip small barber businesses

[Nickpb 3.0]

Tipping barbers does make a lot less sense to me than tipping waiters actually.
Whereas a barber is a required part of the service of having your hair cut. His interaction with you is included in the price of the cut.
Likewise I might hire a painter to paint my walls, but I wouldn't expect to tip him for a good job because he is crucial to the job happening at all.

That makes complete sense but Im sure you don't have a complex haircut right? I'm super brown town about my hair and only let one man cut it and useally wait in his store for about 2 hours before my cut which takes over and hour including the hot towel straight razor shave I always get. This whole time I'm having really interesting and in depth conversations with him and I tip a very generous amount because he offers a level of service i've never seen outside of his store.

not tipping a hairdresser for 20 min of simple work(which i assume you get) tho is completely understandable

[sir dooble]

That makes complete sense but Im sure you don't have a complex haircut right? I'm super brown town about my hair and only let one man cut it and useally wait in his store for about 2 hours before my cut which takes over and hour including the hot towel straight razor shave I always get. This whole time I'm having really interesting and in depth conversations with him and I tip a very generous amount because he offers a level of service i've never seen outside of his store.

not tipping a hairdresser for 20 min of simple work(which i assume you get) tho is completely understandable

Yeah, I suppose I can understand it a bit more if you are getting an exemplary service, and you're getting a more complex cut.
I can fully understand tipping because you're truly appreciative of the service. And them being pleasant and making the service enjoyable isn't technically part of what you pay for.

My haircuts are quite simple, although can be long depending on how long I wait between cuts. And I don't tend to engage in much chit-chat with the barbers (partially because I dislike being trapped in a conversation, and also because I've recieved more bad cuts when they've chatted, so I suspect maybe they get a bit distracted).

I could almost certainly change barbers and find an equal or better quality cut. Which I guess is why I don't feel like tipping is a normal thing to do with most barbers.
But I don't say that you shouldn't tip, if that's your thing.