How much to tip building staff?
December 17, 2014 11:07 AM   Subscribe

I live in largeish, "luxury" apartment building (all rentals) in Brooklyn, with sixteen staff members. This is my first holiday season in such a building and I'm unsure how to handle tipping, despite having read previous Ask MeFi questions on the topic. Should I follow Curbed's tipping guidelines?

Curbed's tipping guidelines are:
  • Super, resident manager: $75–$175 on average (broad range: $50–$500)
  • Doorman, concierge: $25–$150 on average (broad range: $10–$1,000)
  • Porter, handyman: $20–$30 on average (broad range: $10–$75)
  • Garage attendant: $25–$75 on average (broad range $15–$100)
My building has two supers, four porters, eight concierges (with whom I interact in varying amounts), and two community managers. If I take a middle-of-the-range strategy and tip the supers $100 each, the porters $25 each, the concierges $50, $100 or $150 (depending on how much I interact with them), and the community managers $100 each, the total will come to $1350.

This seems like a lot of money (about 1/3 of my monthly rent), but maybe this is just the price one pays for living in a building of this sort? For instance, if I shave $25 off everyone's amount, except for the people receiving $50 or below, the total comes to $1100, which doesn't feel all that different to $1350, in the grand scheme of things.

What is an appropriate tipping strategy here?
posted by anonymous to Society & Culture (10 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
We generally do follow those rough guidelines. It seems like a lot, but think about it this way: $1350/year averages out to less than $4/day over the course of a year. I think it's fairly reasonable in a full-service building in NYC. Note: I tend to err on the side of overtipping in all tipping situations.
posted by bedhead at 11:20 AM on December 17, 2014 [3 favorites]


Ask your neighbors. There may be a general gift fund for the building folks, or some other bonus mechanism that's already in place. I too believe in over tipping, but I'd not want to upset everyone else in the joint if it's not the done thing.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 11:23 AM on December 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


Yeah, those guidelines sound about right to me, although I would err on the higher side myself. My super gets $200 and the super jr gets $100. However, my building is an interesting mix of luxury 8k/month rentals and tightly rent-controlled seniors on public assistance, so pretty much everyone gives whatever they can. So I agree with RB that you should check in with your neighbors just in case.
posted by poffin boffin at 11:28 AM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


This seems like a lot of money (about 1/3 of my monthly rent), but maybe this is just the price one pays for living in a building of this sort?

It's not really a lot of money and your instinct to not be stingy is the correct one to follow. If you can afford your rent, you can afford a generous yearly tip to the people who make your building a nice place to live. Definitely ask your neighbors since there might be a fund or custom, but if I were in your shoes, I would tip everyone $100 (and a little higher for the concierges you like) and feel happy that I can be generous. One of the nicest things about being financially secure is having the ability to share your good fortune with others. Don't deprive yourself of that satisfaction and your building staff of a nice holiday treat over a few hundred bucks that you won't remember spending in a few months. Be generous and enjoy living in your building!
posted by Snarl Furillo at 11:31 AM on December 17, 2014 [4 favorites]


It certainly isn't a lot of money considering you live in a building with such an extensive staff! This is part of the expense associated with living in a luxury building. Your "middle of the road" strategy sounds about right.
posted by deanc at 11:51 AM on December 17, 2014


This seems like a lot of money (about 1/3 of my monthly rent),

This seems bang-on to me.
posted by DarlingBri at 12:21 PM on December 17, 2014


As someone that lives in a building with 10 staff members and really dislikes tipping culture, I feel your pain. I would much rather just pay people more than engage in this weird social dance of mandatory tipping, but not engaging in it just screws people over, so I will be tipping and actually seeing this thread reminded me I had some checks to write...

I live in DC so this isn't directly relevant to you, but I don't know anyone that tips substantially above the minimums above.

And the idea that anyone living in a luxury building can write a $1,000+ check without feeling it, is kind of silly. I will be spending more on staff tips this year than on all my Christmas gifts combined. Granted I have a small family, but I give nice gifts. Staff tips are almost as much as I spent on my electric bill this year. It's a big annual expense (and one I totally forgot when I was drawing up my budget, ugh...).

Nonetheless, they do a good job and deserve their bonus.
posted by whoaali at 12:24 PM on December 17, 2014 [2 favorites]


At that level of "luxury" I would expect the total tips to be between 1/3 and 1/2 of a months rent.
posted by saradarlin at 1:38 PM on December 17, 2014 [1 favorite]


This guide seems pretty comprehensive and it looks like the figures you linked actually came from this source originally. I don't think tipping is a requirement though. If you don't want to, you don't have to. It's not like they will stop doing their jobs. Here's a doormen tipping calculator -- who knows if it's any good.
posted by AppleTurnover at 3:15 PM on December 17, 2014


Tipping each of 16 people seems a bit much - most people don't even buy presents for 16 members of their family. I would definitely check to see if there's a fund - often times there is - but if not, just tip the people that you regularly interact with and that have done those extra things such as rushing to get the door for you when you have packages.
posted by corb at 11:24 AM on December 18, 2014


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