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[Closed] What’s the tipping etiquette for a barber?

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i go to a good barber, price is £14.50 ( in that there Surrey) Do barbers expect tips these days? I seem to get the same service tipping nothing or £5 not sure they really remember different clients anyway....


 
Posted : 16/09/2018 7:26 pm
 Drac
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I tip mine at Xmas. It costs me £5 for my haircut.


 
Posted : 16/09/2018 7:28 pm
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I usually just round it up.

Mine went from £8 to £9.50 recently. He still gets £10.


 
Posted : 16/09/2018 7:39 pm
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£14.50? Blimey, SE tax in effect there.

Mine costs £7 or £6.75 depending which barber I go to in town. The slightly cheaper one is actually better, but tends to stink of fags 😕

I normally tell them to round it up to £8, so about a pound tip.


 
Posted : 16/09/2018 7:41 pm
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If you're happy with the cut - bang in a quid. But at £14.50 they'd get cock all.


 
Posted : 16/09/2018 7:47 pm
 ton
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fiver for a cut where i go. i give him £6.


 
Posted : 16/09/2018 7:48 pm
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The woman who cuts my hair owns the business. As she can set the prices, I see no need to tip.


 
Posted : 16/09/2018 7:49 pm
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Usually about £2.50 but she is cute and a good laugh, haven’t had any extras though


 
Posted : 16/09/2018 7:49 pm
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Haircut £10 £2 for the beard trim I usually give £15 you do get a bottle of beer if you want it!


 
Posted : 16/09/2018 7:51 pm
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price is £14.50

Glad I'm bald!


 
Posted : 16/09/2018 7:58 pm
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Mine costs £11 I always give £12. & a £5er at Christmas.

Worth it for the espressos alone. 🙂


 
Posted : 16/09/2018 8:35 pm
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a good laugh, haven’t had any extras though

Why I do my own. I'm also hilarious.


 
Posted : 16/09/2018 8:40 pm
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Always seems a massive amount of inflation round Surrey, goes up a few quid each time I go. But then I go once a year maybe 😀

Tip? I just pay what the till rings up. Might even be paying with card/phone these days. Unless they've done something beyond what they're being paid for but rarely think about tipping. Same with taxis and even not keen in restaurants unless the service is excellent, but those I'm with will chuck in a tip so I feel I have to.

Everyone knows it, but NSFW/F language, maybe...


 
Posted : 16/09/2018 9:09 pm
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£13 for mine, tip a quid. The kids are £9.50, I pay £20 for the pair. Costs more then the previous place which also had a loyalty card with 6th hair cut free, but they always seemed to be in a rush and did a few crap cuts on the kids so now join the queue at the popular local one instead


 
Posted : 16/09/2018 9:11 pm
 db
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Cut is £9 he gets £10 unless it’s near his Birthday when I give him £20 and tell him to have a pint or 2


 
Posted : 16/09/2018 9:14 pm
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£9 cost, a good blether about riding with fellow mtb'er as he cuts, always give £10. We've also exchanged parts, and I've had a few free cuts when I gave him my uncles old 1960's tourer...


 
Posted : 16/09/2018 9:15 pm
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Worth noting, a mate's mate is a barber. He's the one at the bar with a fat roll of tenners buying the drinks thanks to the good men folk of <village where he lives synonymous with MTBing>. No need to be over-generous it seems.


 
Posted : 16/09/2018 9:53 pm
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£9 for the cut, he gets £10. Seems about right to me. If he put it up to £10 he’s still get £10.


 
Posted : 16/09/2018 10:21 pm
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My missus is a self employed hair stylist with her own business ..I'm always last in the queue..but always have a good time..

She put her prices up a year or so back to £ 7.00..for blokes ..that's when she remembers ..it's usually still a fiver ...very few tip ..


 
Posted : 16/09/2018 10:33 pm
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£12 cut. I pay £15 because he makes me look less of a ****. Worth every pound.


 
Posted : 16/09/2018 10:33 pm
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A good tip for a barber is don't run with scissors.


 
Posted : 16/09/2018 10:34 pm
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I pay a tenner for a clipper cut. If I start tipping, what's the message when I don't tip? Too complicated. We have some similar interests and I dropped off a book last week that he might enjoy during quiet moments. I don't really agree with tipping anyway, pay the workers the proper union rate! Nobody ever tipped me for successfully dragging their kids through the examination and university application systems. Shearing a bonce, collecting a bin, sticking plates on tables or pouring a pint is a bit less demanding. Why pay more?


 
Posted : 16/09/2018 10:55 pm
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My missus is a self employed hair stylist with her own business ..I’m always last in the queue..but always have a good time.

So do those of us at the front of the queue.


 
Posted : 16/09/2018 11:02 pm
 jca
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If you take them beyond 45 degrees they tend to fall over and get grumpy....


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 12:03 am
 Drac
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Nobody ever tipped me for successfully dragging their kids through the examination and university application systems.

Well none of them pay for your services at source either.


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 12:14 am
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Only time I tipped getting my hair cut was when I use to have it cut by a smoking hot blonde who wore short dresses and heels. Seemed wrong not to.


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 12:17 am
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Nobody ever tipped me for successfully dragging their kids through the examination and university application systems.

Maybe no-one thinks that you're worth it.


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 12:33 am
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We’ve also exchanged parts

Euphemism ??


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 1:24 am
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My regular barber charges £8.80 so he gets a tenner. Tip or don't tip thats your choice, but when people like some posters try to justify why they don't tip...........well there's only one reason why you don't, it's because your cheap. 🙁


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 2:08 am
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Why is it cheap not to tip? It’s not like we’re talking about underpaid American waitresses who rely on tips for a living, given that plenty of tips in the uk don’t even get to the people who you are actually tipping then why bother.

If a barber sets his prices that’s the price. If he wants an extra quid a cut just put the price up.


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 6:18 am
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@captainflasheart..

That's not what she says ..


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 6:58 am
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I never knew tipping the barber was even something that happened. So glad I am now bald and won’t end up in a quandary over this.


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 8:05 am
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From the other side of the chair, as a barber I'd say a tip is obviously appreciated but genuinely never expected.

I'd also add that those with the least are most likely to tip, conversely, those with the most often don't (possibly why they are loaded?)

Price wise, if a shop is in a town centre than I presume they have bigger overheads. And as a Yorkshireman, if you are daft enough to pay over the top for a 'free' coffee or beer then enjoy your Santa Cruz 😉


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 8:30 am
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😂 @hodgynd


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 8:32 am
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A quid.


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 10:25 am
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I still find the whole tipping thing bizarre. Would far rather the employer paid a reasonable wage in the first place even if it meant the ticket price was higher and left them be in charge of performance incentives.

Re haridressers/barbers - seems to be conventional for one of them to own and run the business and the others to work as employees either handing over a percentage of their takings or on a wage. Should you treat them differently when it comes to tipping? Then there are barbers on minimum wage and celebrity hairdressers on 6 figure salaries - where is the cut off on that sliding scale for tips being a thing?


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 10:33 am
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Only time I tipped getting my hair cut was when I use to have it cut by a smoking hot blonde who wore short dresses and heels. Seemed wrong not to.

I didn't know cross-dressing barbers was a thing.


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 10:34 am
 core
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Why tip? They run a business offering a service like most other professions, and presumably set their prices at a level that makes them enough profit. So pay them what they advertise.

A few places local to me seem to have changed their business model from employing staff to them now being self employed and renting a chair on the premises for a set fee. Busiest place I know of only does walk ins, no appointments, and you generally just get who ever is free first, so still operates like it always did. Guess some people wait for one particular barber.

Lately I've just been going to the hairdressers and having my hair cut by a lovely chatty woman, for about £4 cheaper than the barbers, for a haircut that looks about the same to me. Old skool.


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 10:42 am
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Round it up to 20 quid for cut and beard trim. I feel bad for being lazy and waiting until I look homeless.


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 10:51 am
 Drac
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Why tip?

As an extra thank you.  Not to top up their wages, not because they aren’t charging enough, not because it’s what you’re supposed do. No, it’s a just a bit extra gratitude especially if they’ve done a good job.


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 11:04 am
 MSP
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Posted : 17/09/2018 11:19 am
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£15.50 in Windsor - what do I win, I always give an extra pound an he passes it onto his Grandchild for sweets.


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 11:26 am
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Mine is £7, doesn’t charge extra for a beard trim, and always squeezes me in. I give him £10.


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 1:03 pm
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at £14.50 my barber gets nothing, they don't need tips if they are on that sort of money for 15mins of their time, chair rent or not.

If its not easy to round up I don't bother tipping generally.

They make their own beds.


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 1:08 pm
 Nico
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Mine is £7, doesn’t charge extra for a beard trim, and always squeezes me in.

Flashheart will be along to say he was there first.


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 1:18 pm
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As an extra thank you. Not to top up their wages, not because they aren’t charging enough, not because it’s what you’re supposed do. No, it’s a just a bit extra gratitude especially if they’ve done a good job.

Arguably anyone who provides a good service could/sholud be tipped on that basis.  I thought the logic was at east in part based on low wages. My hairdresser is self employed so I assume she earns OK and I've only tipped when minted.

IIRC when I worked in a decent restuarant tips were <5% (in Scotand :P)

I really don't understand how tipping does or is supposed to be/work.

Flashheart will be along to say he was there first.

Why yes, yes it is.


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 1:19 pm
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I’d also add that those with the least are most likely to tip, conversely, those with the most often don’t (possibly why they are loaded?)

I remember that being true when I was a paperboy. The council estate was a reliable source of Christmas tips, the new build estate and private road much less so. I guess that the MTB demographic tells us why so many non tippers are posting.


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 1:20 pm
 MSP
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As an extra thank you. Not to top up their wages, not because they aren’t charging enough, not because it’s what you’re supposed do. No, it’s a just a bit extra gratitude especially if they’ve done a good job.

Then why only tip certain professions? No one tips shop assistants or chiropodists no matter how good a job they do, but waiters, waitresses and barbers it is pretty standard practice to do so. It is just an insane social construct that makes no logical sense, if it is a bit of extra gratitude, then do it for everyone.


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 1:22 pm
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As an extra thank you.  Not to top up their wages, not because they aren’t charging enough, not because it’s what you’re supposed do. No, it’s a just a bit extra gratitude especially if they’ve done a good job.

So what is your rational for what job roles you feel motivated to give an extra thank you and which you don't? I just don't buy it. I think it's an Americanism gone wrong (i.e. there is a need there however flawed but here there is not).


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 1:23 pm
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Then why only tip certain professions?

Because I'm inconsistently generous, not consistently mean.


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 1:24 pm
 Nico
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All this stuff about being cheap or not, "free" coffee or beer "doing a good job" doesn't really alter the fact that there are some things you pay for where it would be odd to tip - bus or train fare, supermarket shop, or car service, but others where it is normal such as taxi and having your hair serviced. There doesn't seem to be any logic but maybe it stems from lower status people - railway porters, toilet attendants and delivery boys, versus people in higher status roles such as shop-keepers and garage owners who owned their business. The link has been lost now when a checkout monkey at a supermarket is of lower status than a hair cutter who will either own the business or act like some sort of DJ*.

* I've never had a northern hair cut so I've no experience of these fiver a time and a free brown ale merchants.


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 1:27 pm
 Drac
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Then why only tip certain professions? No one tips shop assistants or chiropodists no matter how good a job they do, but waiters, waitresses and barbers it is pretty standard practice to do so. It is just an insane social construct that makes no logical sense, if it is a bit of extra gratitude, then do it for everyone.

Who are you talking about here as you seem to be guessing what others do.

I tip for an extra personal service, something some occupations attract. My barber for one who like I say I tip at Xmas to gets a tip as I do the butchers. Why don't I tip shop assistants? Sitting on a till scanning items isn't a very personal service now is it? Waiters will adjust orders, do a little extra to make your meal more personal, the chef might alter a recipe or do somegthing  not on the menu they get a tip.

Delivery drivers around Xmas get some cans as the do bin collectors, I've send biscuits or cake to none direct payment services as a thank you.

I'm not sure what you American video is trying to prove.

Oh and nothing to do with status, how very strange.


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 1:59 pm
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Is there a system for paying less when someone does an utterly terrible job?


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 2:39 pm
 Drac
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Is there a system for paying less when someone does an utterly terrible job?

Yes at a restaurant you don't need to pay for example.


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 2:58 pm
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Waiters will adjust orders, do a little extra to make your meal more personal, the chef might alter a recipe or do somegthing not on the menu they get a tip

What about say shop staff who are really helpfu/knowledgeable, spend a lot of time helping with a purchase, of say hundreds of pounds?


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 3:33 pm
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Mine is £7 and always squeezes me in

Something for the weekend Sir?


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 3:39 pm
 Drac
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What about say shop staff who are really helpfu/knowledgeable, spend a lot of time helping with a purchase, of say hundreds of pounds?

Yup I have tipped those in the past too or bought them goodies, as I say it's the extra personal service not the job.


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 5:04 pm
 Nico
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I always tip my bootmaker. Otherwise he makes my boots too narrow. In a restaurant I don't see the point. Either they've already spat in your food or they haven't. It's too late to discourage that sort of thing. Better to just be pleasant from the off*.

* or should I be saying "from the get go"?


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 5:08 pm
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It's £6 for a haircut where I go but the barber knocks it down to a fiver because he knows me. I've never thought of insisting he accepts the full price 🙂


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 7:16 pm
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8 pounds for the cut here in the wilds of Cheshire - always round it up to 10 pounds.  They have a fridge of beer if you want one, and Chuppa Chups if you should want those too.  Nice bunch of chatty people.


 
Posted : 17/09/2018 8:09 pm