Comments on: Tip for NYT Delivery Guy?

Question: Tip for NYT Delivery Guy?

tboot — Mon, 25 Dec 2006 23:10:54 -0800

What am I supposed to tip the New York Times delivery guy? I only get the Sunday edition.

By: Dizzy

Dizzy — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 01:51:21 -0800

I give my delivery-person $10 (it breaks down to about 20 cents a week; my paper is always on time and in good condition but it is SUPPOSED to be and the cash is simply a token of holiday good will...)
But I give my truly excellent mail carrier $50 every Christmas AND call his district manager to praise him because he busts his butt week in and week out through all kinds of weather (and as a bonus I usually get my mail a bit earlier than my neighbors...)
Now when it comes to the Starbucks peeps, that is a different story...

By: Xalf

Xalf — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 07:27:08 -0800

I gave my guy $20, but I get the paper 7 days a week. Where you live might make a difference: I live in a predominantly student area in which, I believe, tipping is not general very high.

If I just got Sunday I'd consider going down to $10, but that seems low to me. Maybe $15?

By: jk252b

jk252b — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 07:31:49 -0800

I feel the same way about the NYT delivery guy as Dizzy does the starbucks staff. With my Sunday subscription I'm supposed to receive the magazine, arts, and other extras on Saturday and the regular parts Sunday. I'm lucky if half of the month I receive the full paper, and sometimes the screw up so much that they deliver the Sunday Boston Globe (which is delivered by the NYT guys up here).

That being said, I feel bad about not tipping at all, so I generally will leave a $5 bill, the equivalent price of a Sunday Times if I bought it on a newsstand around here.

By: jpozadzides

jpozadzides — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 13:23:55 -0800

Just a few days ago I published a guide to tipping and purposefully left off the newspaper delivery person.

The reason being that I believe tipping is required only when one of two conditions are met:

All, or much, of their compensation for the position in question comes in the form of gratuities.

Tipping gains mind share, favor, or other benefits.

In the case of newspaper delivery neither condition is met.

That being said, if the delivery is done by a neighborhood kid and you want to reward and encourage their entrepreneural behaviour you might choose to be overly generous and give them $10-20 for the holidays.

John

By: booth

booth — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 19:02:26 -0800

According to CNN, "$15-$25 for daily delivery ($5-$15 for weekend delivery)"