Do I tip the owner of a small moving company?

May 30, 2019 11:47 AM

The owner is also the one moving my stuff

I hired a small moving company for a cross- city move. The crew consists of the owner, who physically moved my stuff also drives the truck, and a helper. Would I tip them both since they both worked on the move? Or just the employee?

posted by winterportage to Work & Money (9 answers total)

I’d tip both.
posted by suncages at 11:51 AM on May 30, 2019 [10 favorites]

I’ve tipped both in the same situation.
posted by greermahoney at 12:21 PM on May 30, 2019 [1 favorite]

I’d tip anyone who does the physical moving.
posted by sallybrown at 12:41 PM on May 30, 2019 [5 favorites]

If the owner is helping to do the move, it sounds like a very small company indeed and I'd definitely tip both of them.
posted by jzb at 12:50 PM on May 30, 2019

You hand everyone an equal amount of cash suitable to buy a kickass meal and say "you guys rock, dinner is on me!"
posted by JoeZydeco at 1:11 PM on May 30, 2019

I'll go against the grain here; I had a similar situation and I tipped the two employees (who were pretty clearly day-hires) but did not tip the company owner, who I settled up with at the end of the day more officially. My logic is that he is the one setting the rates, so I didn't feel compelled to give him anything above what we had negotiated.

I tipped his employees under the assumption they were being paid minimum wage or close to it, which is to say morally repugnant levels of compensation for the work they were doing. Which is, in a way, a rebuke to the owner, but such is the way of the world. He didn't seem to mind.
posted by Kadin2048 at 2:35 PM on May 30, 2019 [1 favorite]

Tip both. Good karma is very, VERY important for any services related to making a fresh start.
posted by mochapickle at 7:58 PM on May 30, 2019 [1 favorite]

Tip neither, you don't tip store clerks that make minimum wage, right?
But then again, I am in Europe. If you're in the US, things are different.
posted by Akke at 11:54 PM on May 30, 2019

You tip taxi drivers who own their own cab, or who own the tax medallion, don't you? It's more than suitable to tip people who work for themselves.

If the owner gets his hands dirty, tip him. If he sits in the cab of the truck issuing instructions to his workers, don't tip him. Tips are for personal services. Handling your private stuff is a very personal service.

When in doubt, tip. The general trend goes the other way because people who are struggling cannot afford to tip, and rich people decide therefore tipping is optional and find reasons to not tip.
posted by Jane the Brown at 4:30 AM on May 31, 2019 [1 favorite]