A friend of mine's nephew just finished massage therapy school but is still in the process of getting his license. I set up an appointment with him for a 90min session and it was one of the best massages I've ever had tbh. He charged me $90 for the massage plus a $30 fee to come to my home.

I'm trying to determine what most people think the appropriate tip would be in this situation; $120 total for a 90min massage seems pretty standard and normally I would tip at least 20%, but I've always gone to establishments that I'm sure take a pretty big cut. In this case, the $120 cash is going directly into the massage therapist's pocket. And technically they're not even licensed yet.

Recently my friend mentioned that their nephew (the massage therapist) was a little frustrated that he "came to (my) house" and I told him it was one of the best massages I've ever had, but didn't leave him a tip. My friend laughed it off but now I'm wondering if I'm the ass hole in this situation? What does TexAgs say?

CC09LawAg said:

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If this person is not having to give a % of what they are charging to anyone and are setting their own price, why should they expect a tip?

Charge what you believe your service to be worth and people will pay it. Or they won't.

Clearly, by his own evaluation of his talents, he is not charging enough for his services if he expected you to pay $X + $____.

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This. If he is or is going to be his own boss, he should charge what he thinks he is worth and not expect a tip. That is the plus and the minus of being in business for yourself.

Every once a while I have a client tip me for an inspection. Not sure if they don't know it is my company or what. I say it isn't necessary, but won't argue with them. Some will say something like "I want to buy you lunch.".

Lol, I just got done tipping 17% (lowest amount) for a rice bowl. Pretty awesome tipping that much when I wait thru a line, get my own drink, and throw my own stuff away.

It is an unusual concept. I usually do 15-20% for massage. Same for a good meal.

Part of it is I can afford it now to be generous and part is because people expect older people to be cheap.

My oldest daughter lives in Greece and she got after me for tipping too much. It's considered obnoxious and Americans do it. There, for a good meal you might lay down 1 euro but don't even have to do that.

It's hard for me to feel cheap but that's how it is there.

500,000ags said:

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Lol, I just got done tipping 17% (lowest amount) for a rice bowl. Pretty awesome tipping that much when I wait thru a line, get my own drink, and throw my own stuff away.

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Did we just eat lunch next to each other?

ukbb2003 said:

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Yeah, this whole tipping thing has gone off the rails. Prime example, wife and I went to Crave Cupcakes. Insert the credit card and the person turns the tablet around and asks if we want to leave a tip. A tip…for putting cupcakes in a box. Seriously?!?! It's ridiculous, but they put you on the spot and make you feel like an A Hole if you don't.

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It's obnoxious. I also noticed a recent takeout receipt offered % suggestions that ranged from 20-30%. It was like 20% = xx.xx up 30%!!!

I'd say the hospitality industry has done a pretty good job of using social media to throw a pity party and attack people who don't tip. Thus making most people feel obligated to tip.

Everyone on this thread could list countless of examples of asinine situations in which we're expected to tip or prompted to tip. But they ask because they get it.....

In reality, we (consumer) probably pay for it either way.

A) employer pays the employee a low wage but the chance to make extra tips with this new way of tipping. Results in lower price point for food/items.

B) employer pays employee a better wage, does not have the new way of tipping and raises price of food/items.

Either way we pay more. Now, do we pay 15-30% more in option B? Doubtful.

Thread bump to see if anyone had an in home rec for someone in Dallas.

You could always ask him what percentage of his cash income he is not declaring to the IRS and see how that goes over...

ukbb2003 said:

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Yeah, this whole tipping thing has gone off the rails. Prime example, wife and I went to Crave Cupcakes. Insert the credit card and the person turns the tablet around and asks if we want to leave a tip. A tip…for putting cupcakes in a box. Seriously?!?! It's ridiculous, but they put you on the spot and make you feel like an A Hole if you don't.

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The server doesn't get the tip in the cases like this. It just goes in the pockets of the owners of the store. You're just paying more than the advertised price. It's like doing your taxes and then handing the IRS extra money.

10% for take out (from an actual restaurant, not for fuggin' cupcake. FFS).
20% for personal services.

That's fairly standard. However, in your circumstance, dude is not in a position to complain seeing how he is making money without being licensed. The $30 in home fee is weird, but I haven't had an in-home in a while. All in all - don't sweat it.

And, ya, I went to a brewery not too long ago and got a 4 pack to-go. The ipad had tip options for 20, 25, 30% for grabbing beer out of the cooler behind them. Ya...I just laughed.