Is $20 A Big Tip?

[LeslieAnneSmith]

I got my ears pierced yesterday (4 on each side). I gave my piercer a $20 tip. He said thank you with a bit of a surprise look. At first I thought it was because the tip may have been too small. So I felt bad...I don't know. What do you all think? Thank you. (:

[Mamyalynne]

Generous but not excessive, depends how much the piercings were.

[Baldric]

Don't know, this is the UK, no-one has their hand in my pocket other than me.

[EDDIE51]

I don't think a tip for an ear piercer would be expected here in the UK.
But as you say $ I assume you are in the USA. You could try the US answer site Quora , this is a UK site.

[tonyav]

£20 is £14.82p here in the UK so has Mamya say's generous but not excessive.

[tonyav]

$20 not £20 ^^^^

[4candles]

"I got my ears pierced yesterday (4 on each side)."
Seems reasonable if he had to do 8 ears.

[Jackdaw33]

Like it, 4 candles, you beat me to it.

[andy-hughes]

This is probably the wrong site for your question - the majority of us are Brits, and we find the notion of tipping embarrassing at almost all times.

As you may be aware, tipping is not culturally essential in the way it is in North America, but as I understand it from my visits there, fifteen to twenty per cent is considered the norm.

On that basis, if your piercings cost $200.00, you were on target. If it was much less than that, then you were perhaps generous, but without knowing the final bill, it's difficult to assess.

[douglas9401]

I'm not convinced by the four each side stuff.
More likely a liquid lunch and badly positioned mirrors to blame. :)

[Guilbert53]

Assuming you paid to have your ears pierced why did you feel then need to tip them as well.

Seems totally over the top to me.

[Zacs-Master]

Tipping is standard practise in the US. Strange but true.

[Peter Pedant]

is it 15% ?

the english in the UK tip on many fewer occasions then in the US
( I only do pub and restaurant )

[Old_Geezer]

Tipping is a weird practice. It simply allows employers to underpay and expect customers to offer more than the quoted price. And the customer then feels unfairly obliged not to look mean, and capitulates even though the pay the price shown anyway. It should be a banned practice. The self employed ought to set prices that needs no extra, if they have any ability to judge the worth of their expertise.

If you want to gift $20, $2, or $20,000 then that's your choice.

[LeslieAnneSmith]

Thank you everyone so much for your answers! I apologize, I forgot tipping is not done in the UK. Again, thank you everyone! (:

I guess tipping is like a way for us Americans to say thank you to the service that was provided by a piercer, pub server, etc. (:

[naomi24]

We in the UK don’t tip and we find it embarrassing? That’s news to me. I tip.

Whether or not $20 is appropriate would depend upon the bill.

[vascop]

I agree with Naomi. We do tip in the UK. I tip my barber, I tip in Pizza Express and most restaurants, but not as a matter of course - just if the service has been good. I usually do 10%. Some places say on the bill that the service charge is included or not included. If it's included I don't tip unless the service is exceptional.

[andy-hughes]

Naomi - // We in the UK don’t tip and we find it embarrassing? That’s news to me. I tip. //

So do I, but I suggest that neither of us are representatives of the larger population, who, although exposed more to tipping as a cultural norm thanks to foreign travel, still don't accept it as part of the salary structure, as they do in the U.S.

[andy-hughes]

LAS - // Thank you everyone so much for your answers! I apologize, I forgot tipping is not done in the UK. Again, thank you everyone! (: //

Not a problem, thank you for your courtesy.

Out of curiosity, may I enquire who much your piercing was - or of you prefer, was your tip a ten or fifteen per cent?

[naomi24]

Until today I've never heard it claimed that we in the UK don't tip or that we find it embarrassing. In my experience tipping is the norm.

[andy-hughes]

Naomi - // Until today I've never heard it claimed that we in the UK don't tip or that we find it embarrassing. //

You need to get out more.