The practice of tipping and what the appropriate amount should be for different services has long been a topic of discussion on social media, where service industry workers and customers have waxed on their personal and business philosophies for determining when, where, and how they will tip, or expect to be tipped.
The industry standard for tipping for services like haircuts, sit-down meals, ride shares, and similar activities is around 18% to 20%, depending upon how generous a customer wants to be or how well they were served.
Rising costs of living and business operations have led some service providers to not only raise their prices but also to expect larger tips from longtime clients. Some have even used tricks through their point-of-sale systems to get higher tips from customers, such as flipping the expected order of different tip amounts to place higher dollar amounts where customers typically find the lower.
Joining in the tipping discussion is Quick’s Barbershop (@quicksbarbershop on TikTok), which recently shared a video to their TikTok page featuring each of their barbers responding to a question about what kind of tips they expect for their work.
Right off the bat, one barber said he expects double the industry standard of 20% for the “time and detail” that go into his haircuts.
“You know, the minimum is 20%, but I say I’d expect 40% for time and detail I put into my haircut,” he says at the beginning of the video.
As the video progresses, other barbers reply that they would expect a minimum of “at least $5,” as well as the word-of-mouth benefit provided by a good Google review.
“If we can get reviews, if you can put my name up there in the light so everybody else can see that I’m doing you right, that’s a good tip right there,” another barber says.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Quick’s Barbershop via TikTok direct message regarding the video.
Viewers’ had a strong response in particular to the idea that they were expected to tip 40% on a haircut from one barber.
“40%? Never go to that guy,” one commenter wrote.
“Guy sitting in the chair hearing 40%,” another said.
“Google review..thats the guy id go to AND id leave him a tip because hes so humble,” a third added. “The 40% guy can kick rocks.”
@quicksbarbershop How much do you tip your barber ?? 🤔
♬ original sound – Quicks Barbershop
Others shared their general stances around tipping, falling on both sides of the issue.
“Tipping has become a joke,” one commented. “Everyone wants a tip for doing their job. everyone wants to be rewarded for doing their job. I’m never tipping again.”
“Only tipping to waiters because they get payed much less,” a second commenter wrote. “I ain’t tipping someone charging $40 for a cut I need an every 2 weeks smh.”
“My cut is $40 and I pay $50 and I do this all the time to the point I can call my barber and he’ll find a way to squeeze me in,” a third user shared.
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