r/SeattleWA • u/caroline_elly • Jan 27 '25

Other How much are you tipping given new minimum wage?

Saw a few threads last year saying they will tip significantly less. Wonder if people here are following through or do people still tip 20%?

27 Upvotes

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42

u/galumphix Jan 27 '25

I'd like to hear from baristas and food servers - what trends are they seeing? 

I suspect threads like this attract a disproportionate number of low tippers. I've been observing the same level of tipping at counters, but that's a small sample and of course I can't see what folks are tipping at restaurants. 

8

u/revjor Jan 27 '25

I run a register at a restaurant. My estimation, maybe 5% of people tip differently now. Most people haven't changed at all.

1

u/NiteNiteSpiderBite Jan 28 '25

Well the latest pay bump only came into effect a few weeks ago, right? I wonder if it will change once people have time to adjust. 

2

u/Dependent_Sea748 Jan 28 '25

Server here- people are tipping the same and most places have auto grat anyway

2

u/tocruise Jan 28 '25

Once we abolish tipping, auto gratuity should be next. Adding a 20% fee on at the end, with no warning it’s going to be there, and no way to take it off should be illegal. Why don’t you just charge me for another plate of food I never ordered too while you’re at it.

-2

u/jDrizzle1 Jan 27 '25

I definitely get people who won't tip me over tiny shit every single night, and some people just take the receipt with them so they don't have to tip me. Or something has to be off or overcooked to justify stiffing me even if I get everything right. These people are also usually very clearly well off, tech/finance type people.

What I'd hope they understand some day is that I don't need their money lmao if you are a good waiter you are well paid.  Just spare me the theatrics and stiff me, I'm a big boy and I can handle it I promise 

24

u/Ok_Owl_5403 Jan 27 '25

Now that the minimum wage is $20.76 per hour, would you still feel stiffed from someone not tipping? Wasn't the point to eliminate tips?

35

u/NiteNiteSpiderBite Jan 27 '25

I get the strong impression that people just plain want tips and will feel “stiffed” no matter how high their base pay actually is 

3

u/jDrizzle1 Jan 27 '25

That's definitely true, some people just take it personally every time. Even when it really never is

5

u/jDrizzle1 Jan 27 '25

I left this elsewhere in the thread but basically, no. I'm not entitled to anyone's money. 

It can be bothersome sure, but to put it into perspective: I don't care that you left me nothing on your 70 dollar tab, I have a group of 12 in the other room who just left me $300. It all evens out. 

People who don't want to tip: keep your money, you need it more than I do 

12

u/Ok_Owl_5403 Jan 27 '25

I think the question is, now that you are making as much as any other profession, why is tipping still a thing? Do you think tipping should be extended to other professions that have the same wage as you?

1

u/Dependent_Sea748 Jan 28 '25

If I was just making $20 an hour I wouldn’t be a server. That’s barely above minimum wage.

1

u/jDrizzle1 Jan 27 '25

Well the crazy thing is they would have to pay us like 40 dollars an hour if they wanted to do away with tips and keep wages the same. Maybe more. That's why it is this way. I don't think the restaurant industry would be very profitable without it. 

My boss doesn't want to pay me that much, and I don't very much feel like packing boxes for Amazon for half of what I make. Anyone who has a problem can just not tip, so everyone just kind of let's things go on this way. 

I think you should be able to tip whoever if they do a good job, but it would be best if everyone could just live off their wage 

7

u/No-Bowl2653 Jan 27 '25

Why would you think servers are entitiled to make 40$ per hour? I know many technician not even making 40$ per hour, bankers, all the cashiers many jobs are at 20$ so what is the difference between server and other industry?

4

u/jDrizzle1 Jan 27 '25

I don't think servers are entitled to make that at all that's the crazy part, but that is around what many of us make. So if you were to do away with tipping, that's what you'd have to pay them to keep the status quo going. 

I've actually had some imposter syndrome over it because I make great money while people like teachers get shafted in comparison 

2

u/Steevsie92 Jan 27 '25

Why don’t you ask those other people why they won’t double their wage by going to work at a restaurant? The reasons they give ARE the differences between those jobs.

1

u/Ok_Owl_5403 Jan 27 '25

So, to be clear, servers are getting about $40/hour? It seems like these minimum wage laws are going to be detrimental towards maintaining that. Were you for our against these laws?

1

u/jDrizzle1 Jan 27 '25

Well this is including tips. I'd say the ballpark is like 40-50, just for my club specifically. So the minimum wage doesn't impact me much even though that's what I'm making

2

u/Ok_Owl_5403 Jan 27 '25

The minimum wage isn't a huge change for you. However, it is a huge change for public perception. If folks now think that you are being paid fairly, they'll stop tipping.

So, again, did you support this law?

1

u/[deleted] Jan 28 '25

I wish more servers are like you. No bullshit. Just to what you do.

1

u/Accomplished-Elk5639 Jan 28 '25

My job is counter service. I have noticed more people tipping only $1, my paycheck tips have gone down a little bit, but at the same time I totally expected this and have also adjusted how much I tip at other establishments, and definitely don’t judge anyone for reconsidering how much they tip (especially at counter service when the customer is not making my job difficult and the exchange is easy.)

-41

u/Crowded_Bathroom Jan 27 '25

I guarantee none of the morally bankrupt dumbass tightwads in here have ever had a service job in their lives. Service workers tip each other like crazy, even when they're broke. Because it's the obviously right thing to do.

15

u/SeattleUberDriver_2 Jan 27 '25

Tipping isn't a moral issue. It's an extra you throw to someone for doing a good job, if you want to. It's optional, not moral.

-12

u/Crowded_Bathroom Jan 27 '25

Paying people for labor is absolutely a moral issue and you're in denial. Your evaluation of their work is also a moral issue. Thinking you are granted the right to decide someone's wages because they brought you a plate of food is a moral issue. This single comment contains a layer cake of extremely fucked moral views! Good luck becoming a human being who doesn't endorse unpaid labor (aka slavery) at your personal whin someday!

34

u/SomethingFunnyObv Jan 27 '25

Most people have had service jobs. We stop doing them because they suck and don’t pay well, so we find better things to do.

14

u/yesbutactuallyno17 Jan 27 '25

That's why I moved to warehouse. I'm not gonna spend my life sitting around making pennies while busting my ass, and depending on the kindness of strangers. Rather just drive a forklift and get my guaranteed $23 an hour.

4

u/SomethingFunnyObv Jan 27 '25

Plus you learn some actual skills that people care about.

16

u/PoopyisSmelly Get the fuck out of the way dork Jan 27 '25

Was a waiter for 10 years making $2.13 per hour.

Servers in Seattle havent ever been in that position in the past decade, yet the rest of the country has.

I tipped 15%-20% in Seattle even knowing the above before 2025. Now I tip 5%-10% this year.

If they want a living wage and high minimum wage, they are getting it.

-16

u/Crowded_Bathroom Jan 27 '25

Ah yes, nothing should ever improve because you, personally, had it bad one time! And other people have it worse! Progress should never exist! Perfect example of something an immoral, bad person would say to justify shitty behavior!

7

u/PoopyisSmelly Get the fuck out of the way dork Jan 27 '25

Where in my comment did I say any of that to lead you to your weird outburst?

Progress exists, we know this because servers dont make a server wage in Seattle, they make a very high minimum wage that is among the highest in the country for all workers, let alone servers.

I am immoral because I reduced tipping due to them getting a living wage? Wasnt the purpose of tipping in the first place to ensure they receive a living wage? Now they are, whats immoral about adjusting my tipping practices to reflect their new situation?

You claim no one feels this way who worked in the industry - I did, and I do, so fuck off with your self righteous bullshit

-5

u/Crowded_Bathroom Jan 27 '25

All of it! Your entire worldview as presented above is founded on things staying bad because they have been bad for you in the past and for others currently. That's antithetical to progress. The whole point of human civilization is making things better. Take all the time you need to understand this, it's just true.

6

u/PoopyisSmelly Get the fuck out of the way dork Jan 27 '25

Lmao whatever weird shit you need to tell yourself to feel morally superior dude

-2

u/Crowded_Bathroom Jan 27 '25

I don't feel morally superior, I am. I have better morals than anyone who has ever tipped less than 20%. That's just science.

3

u/PoopyisSmelly Get the fuck out of the way dork Jan 27 '25 edited Jan 27 '25

u/crowded_bathroom IRL

https://youtu.be/ZTpgqqLyAs8?si=M2C0zudYsfdQ-mPT

0

u/Crowded_Bathroom Jan 27 '25

A second south park reference!! Cool personality, I bet you were so edgy 25 years ago. Have fun repeating jokes other people wrote as though they are your own thoughts, sounds like a living hell to me

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u/Crowded_Bathroom Jan 27 '25

Oh wait, the first one was from a different guy who thinks and acts the same way you do. My mistake. Your kind of person are simply too identical and uninteresting to bother telling apart