Tipping in a booth rental situation
July 10, 2015 10:37 AM Subscribe
My hair stylist is moving from a commission job to a booth rental situation. I have always heard you are not expected to tip the owner of a salon -- because he/she is not working on commission. Does this apply to booth rentals as well? What about in this special snowflake situation?
My stylist's new booth rental is NOT in a salon -- it's in a kind of warehouse that's being built out with booths. Her space is independent from all the others -- you walk in the building, walk down a hall, and go through her door and she's right there. There's no receptionist or other stylists, it's just her and her clients. So am I expected to tip her?
I'm asking because her prices are going up significantly in the new place, and I'm not sure I can still afford it.
My stylist's new booth rental is NOT in a salon -- it's in a kind of warehouse that's being built out with booths. Her space is independent from all the others -- you walk in the building, walk down a hall, and go through her door and she's right there. There's no receptionist or other stylists, it's just her and her clients. So am I expected to tip her?
I'm asking because her prices are going up significantly in the new place, and I'm not sure I can still afford it.
Best answer: The not-tipping-the-owner rule is considered by many to be out of date. (My stylist owns her shop and I tip her the standard 20%.) So yes, you should tip and generally consider the cost of the haircut to include both the service cost and the tip.
Depending on your relationship, she may reward your loyalty by letting you stick to the old prices for a while if you ask.
posted by mochapickle at 11:57 AM on July 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
Depending on your relationship, she may reward your loyalty by letting you stick to the old prices for a while if you ask.
posted by mochapickle at 11:57 AM on July 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: From the sound of this setup, your stylist is not an employee but is running her own business. I would guess that at least one reason her prices are going up is because she's now going to be paying all her own taxes, rental fees, promotions, and other costs associated with running a business rather than being an employee.
Importantly, my sense of the why behind not tipping owners is that, unlike employees who may be under various constraints from their employers as to the rates they can charge, owners can set their prices as they wish in order to make as much money as they need (or what the market can bear). So, she also might be raising prices because, you know, she can.
As such, I'd treat her as a business owner and not tip.
posted by rainbowbrite at 11:59 AM on July 10, 2015 [3 favorites]
Importantly, my sense of the why behind not tipping owners is that, unlike employees who may be under various constraints from their employers as to the rates they can charge, owners can set their prices as they wish in order to make as much money as they need (or what the market can bear). So, she also might be raising prices because, you know, she can.
As such, I'd treat her as a business owner and not tip.
posted by rainbowbrite at 11:59 AM on July 10, 2015 [3 favorites]
Best answer: The rule was always that you don't tip owners, regardless of what kind of business, but that rule seems to have changed. I would guess that a tip would still be expected.
posted by MexicanYenta at 12:11 PM on July 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by MexicanYenta at 12:11 PM on July 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
I got my hair cut recently at a booth-rental place and I tipped.
posted by Juliet Banana at 12:12 PM on July 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by Juliet Banana at 12:12 PM on July 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I, too, think that the etiquette has change (in the US) and even hair salon owners who style you, or independent stylists, are expected to be tipped nowadays (unless they refuse a tip) - for example, this independent stylist who rents a booth answers this question in a Q&A.
I'm a pretty blunt person so I would try telling her that unfortunately her new rates are too high and see if she offers a discount.
posted by muddgirl at 12:30 PM on July 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm a pretty blunt person so I would try telling her that unfortunately her new rates are too high and see if she offers a discount.
posted by muddgirl at 12:30 PM on July 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
People tip independent contractor "owners" all the time: cab drivers; house cleaners; messengers and delivery people; tour guides; etc...
posted by zachlipton at 12:56 PM on July 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by zachlipton at 12:56 PM on July 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
I have always heard you are not expected to tip the owner of a salon -- because he/she is not working on commission.
I would tip anyone who cuts my hair, end of story. I would be embarrassed to walk out of a hair salon without giving a tip, even if I had found out that the stylist happened to be the business owner. But anyway, as a customer, I shouldn't be expected to know or care what the hairstylist's legal relationship with the business is. All I know is they provided the kind of service that gets a tip, so I tip. After all, you can assume some customers are giving tips (unless there's a specific no-tipping policy), and customers who tip will tend to get better service.
Your reasoning that the owner "is not working on commission" doesn't make sense. If anything, the lack of a commission should justify giving a tip, since they serve a similar function: giving extra compensation for a specific sale. And I've never even considered the possibility that someone cutting my hair would be making a commission — so, by your logic, I should never have tipped any hairstylist on any of the more than 100 occasions I've gone to a hair salon! I think that would clearly be an unreasonable approach.
posted by John Cohen at 2:08 PM on July 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
I would tip anyone who cuts my hair, end of story. I would be embarrassed to walk out of a hair salon without giving a tip, even if I had found out that the stylist happened to be the business owner. But anyway, as a customer, I shouldn't be expected to know or care what the hairstylist's legal relationship with the business is. All I know is they provided the kind of service that gets a tip, so I tip. After all, you can assume some customers are giving tips (unless there's a specific no-tipping policy), and customers who tip will tend to get better service.
Your reasoning that the owner "is not working on commission" doesn't make sense. If anything, the lack of a commission should justify giving a tip, since they serve a similar function: giving extra compensation for a specific sale. And I've never even considered the possibility that someone cutting my hair would be making a commission — so, by your logic, I should never have tipped any hairstylist on any of the more than 100 occasions I've gone to a hair salon! I think that would clearly be an unreasonable approach.
posted by John Cohen at 2:08 PM on July 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
I don't know. I think that if its the owner they should set their price and you should pay that price and not have to tip above that. And I consider myself to be generally good about tipping. I just had a housecleaner come, it was her business, and I didn't tip. I didn't think more about it until now!
posted by kmr at 4:11 PM on July 10, 2015
posted by kmr at 4:11 PM on July 10, 2015
i had a stylist when i lived 200 miles away that moved from a chain on the main street in town to a booth rental a block or two away. i started tipping her more because i realized that in her new location she no longer had the automatic foot traffic that she previously did.
while she can, in theory, charge whatever she wants i imagine she's trying to keep prices low to bring in additional traffic to build a larger client base and potentially word-of-mouth. so i have no problems tipping 40-50% on a cheap haircut to make sure she's able to keep her business going.
whenever i'm back in town i still go to her, she still knows exactly how to cut my hair and it's still worth way more than what i'm paying.
posted by noloveforned at 7:16 PM on July 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
while she can, in theory, charge whatever she wants i imagine she's trying to keep prices low to bring in additional traffic to build a larger client base and potentially word-of-mouth. so i have no problems tipping 40-50% on a cheap haircut to make sure she's able to keep her business going.
whenever i'm back in town i still go to her, she still knows exactly how to cut my hair and it's still worth way more than what i'm paying.
posted by noloveforned at 7:16 PM on July 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
I think that if its the owner they should set their price and you should pay that price and not have to tip above that.
But she sets the price knowing customers will tip on top of it. If no one tipped, she'd set the price higher.
posted by John Cohen at 7:47 PM on July 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
But she sets the price knowing customers will tip on top of it. If no one tipped, she'd set the price higher.
posted by John Cohen at 7:47 PM on July 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Have this conversation with your stylist! Tell her that you cannot afford the new rates plus tip. It's better than either just dropping her or suddenly not tipping. She may keep charging you the old rates as a courtesy. I am a massage therapist and I know that a regular, GOOD client is worth keeping and would understand if they couldn't tip.
But make sure you are that good client. Show up on time, rarely or never cancel, and show appreciation for her services--including possibly recommending her to your friends.
posted by mysterious_stranger at 11:04 PM on July 11, 2015
But make sure you are that good client. Show up on time, rarely or never cancel, and show appreciation for her services--including possibly recommending her to your friends.
posted by mysterious_stranger at 11:04 PM on July 11, 2015
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