<p>I saw this come up on facebook and I was surprised to see that many people tip 20 percent of the order when they have pizza/Chinese food/etc. delivered. Why does the amount of the order determine the tip? It is no more driving to deliver two pizzas than one and no more walking to the door. I’m wondering what others do.</p>
<p>20 percent
Just like when you order in a restaurant. It’s just as easy to deliver a $10 plate of salad as it is to deliver and $25 steak. But you still tip 20% on either.</p>
<p>15% for delivery. 20% (rounded up) in a restaurant. </p>
<p>There are exceptions, of course, if service is particulary good or bad. </p>
<p>Why do I base it off the total amount of the order? Because that’s how Uncle Sam calculates the server’s income tax. (At least that’s how it was done back when I held a job with tips.)</p>
<p>corrected: I should have said 20% or MORE</p>
<p>I have a tipping question too.</p>
<p>How much should we tip a guy who delivers an appliance of $2K, installs the carpet of $5K, or tunes your piano for $150? Maybe not percentage-wise, but a fixed amount?</p>
<p>How much should we tip a guy who delivers an appliance of $2K, installs the carpet of $5K, or tunes your piano for $150? Maybe not percentage-wise, but a fixed amount?</p>
<p>Those people are either paid a full wage ( unlike servers) or they set their own fee structure, so no, you do not tip, however, if they do an exceptional job you could offer one or give a recommendation.</p>
<p>I think it also depends on whether or not the company charges a delivery fee. If so, that goes to the driver, usually, so I just add a couple bucks for good measure. </p>
<p>If not, then I tip according to service (timeliness) and condition of the pie. Yup, I check before handing over the “dough”. Too many pizzas whose toppings had slid off the top have burned me on delivery. </p>
<p>Whether you tip 10, 15 or 20 % it should be remembered by all that it is a courtesy…a reward for good service. Not a mandatory “fee”. I felt this way as a server, back in the day, and now as a consumer. </p>
<p>And servers in CA do make minimum wage…not much, but it is considered a “full” wage. Not sure about other parts of the country.</p>
<p>Plenty of areas all over the country are able to pay food servers below minimum wage. For example in Arizona it’s $4.25 an hour. Try living on that tidy sum.</p>
<p>Yes, they make less than minimum wage and pay income tax on the retail value of everything they “sell.” Bringing your food = a sale.</p>
<p>Ok…I’m an ageist…LOL</p>
<p>If an adult delivers our pizza, I assume that he/she is trying to feed/clothe/house a family…so I give a big tip…maybe 50% or more. At Christmastime…I give these people even bigger tips because I know they’re trying to earn money for presents for their kids.</p>
<p>If a teen delivers our pizza, then I tip like $2 per pizza or a minimum $3 (if just one pizza). Sometimes it depends on the total…if the total comes to $30 for 4 pizzas, then I give them $40 and they keep the change. I think that’s typical, right?</p>
<p>When did restaurant tips start edging up to 20%? For most of my life, 15% was the standard, more only for truly extraordinary service or for those enjoying expense accounts. Now I hear more and more people using 20% as the standard (not me). Why? And don’t even get me started on tip jars at Starbucks, ice cream parlors and the like, where employees make at least minimum wage and spend all of two minutes with each customer.</p>
<p>I don’t base a delivery tip on the price of the food–a few bucks is adequate, more if the weather is nasty. A delivery person provides less service than a waiter, who brings menus, answers questions about the fare, takes orders, checks on the table, handles payment, etc., over the course of at least an hour. I also doubt that a delivery person makes the same low (below minimum) wage that a wait staffer does, so a tip is not as critical a component of his compensation.</p>
<p>momtocollegekids–so on a $25 pizza delivery, you’ll tip $12.50??? Nice that you can afford it, I guess–but that’s insane! And your distinguishing between old and young is really puzzling–how do you know the young kid isn’t helping out his struggling family with an out-of-work dad? Or that the older delivery guy isn’t taking a second job just to save up for a flat screen TV?</p>
<p>“I also doubt that a delivery person makes the same low (below minimum) wage that a wait staffer does”</p>
<p>If pizza delivery is supposedly so hassle free, I wonder why people don’t pick up their own pie. Thereby saving themselves the precious two bucks that they generally shell out.</p>
<p>Long story short----I thank God for every day that I am no longer in food service.</p>
<p>[Comparison</a> Between Wait-person and Pizza Delivery Driver](<a href=“http://tipthepizzaguy.com/compare/]Comparison”>Comparison Between Wait-person and Pizza Delivery Driver)</p>
<p>Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe most delivery people pay for their own gasoline. At $3/gallon, these hard-working people need all the help they can get, especially if the weather is bad.</p>
<p>Can’t we all spare a few extra bucks for a timely pizza delivery? I think 20% is nice, and I round up. I’ll also give a minimum of $5, if it’s a small order.</p>
<p>Edit after seeing musica’s link: Nice find, makes sense.</p>
<p>I think $5 is good for most food deliveries. If they are doing the 4 delivery average that’s $26/hr incl pay or so before gas. Gas might run about $6/hr. So around $20/hr with tips is not bad for that work.</p>
<p>I looked around on Google, and I didn’t find much of a consensus on how much to tip the pizza delivery guy. Maybe $3 minimum, and about 10%. But one thing I read several places–if you don’t tip, expect cold pizza from that store the next time you order.</p>
<p>I tip 15%, at the very very least. I usually tip 20%+ though, because I work living on tips and know it can perk up someone’s day. I’m a college student and although I’m not feeding a family I work 25 hours to feed myself, my dogs, and keep my apartment, so I never base my tips on someone’s age. I certainly never drink my money away as some might assume. I figure if someone is working, they’re working because they need money for whatever reason. I also can’t tell you how many very young coworkers (yes, some teens) have children, but you’d never be able to tell by looking at them.</p>
<p>I also would never reduce my tips because food is bad or there is a wait - this is typically not the server’s/delivery person’s fault. My bf did a delivery driver job - they take several deliveries at a time and are sometimes late because people don’t answer their phone/come outside quickly, there was an accident/traffic some place, the kitchen was backed up and slow, etc. etc. plus they’re using gas and running their vehicles.</p>
<p>I think the worst I ever tipped (once) was 10% because the waitress was downright awful (we were the only ones in the place, and she took 15 minutes to stop talking to friends and come over…)</p>
<p>"I looked around on Google, and I didn’t find much of a consensus on how much to tip the pizza delivery guy. Maybe $3 minimum, and about 10%. But one thing I read several places–if you don’t tip, expect cold pizza from that store the next time you order. "</p>
<p>This is probably partly true - at my last job customers who were consistently poor tippers always got their food delivered last.</p>
<p>*
momtocollegekids–And your distinguishing between old and young is really puzzling–how do you know the young kid isn’t helping out his struggling family with an out-of-work dad? Or that the older delivery guy isn’t taking a second job just to save up for a flat screen TV? *</p>
<p>It is far more likely that an adult who is delivering pizzas is doing it to support his family…not to buy himself a flat screen TV. Adults delivering pizzas are usually people who don’t make much at their “day jobs” and need this second job to make ends meet.</p>
<p>And, while it’s possible that a teen is giving money to his parents, it’s less likely.</p>
<p>It’s all about odds. </p>
<p>*so on a $25 pizza delivery, you’ll tip $12.50??? Nice that you can afford it, I guess–but that’s insane! *</p>
<p>Yep…and I’m happy to do so. If I can close the door and think that the man/woman now has an extra $12-15 to perhaps pick up milk, bread, and cereal before he/she heads home, then I’m happy. :)</p>
<p>Good for you mom2c-k. It’s sad when good will and generosity are confused with insanity.</p>
<p>My friend is a delivery driver, and the delivery fee of $2 is split between her and whatever manager is working at the time, so she often gets people who tell her that her tip is the delivery fee even though she only gets a dollar for it on a $20+ order. Of course she doesn’t say anything because she knows that she is not entitled to a tip, but it is irksome that people assume she is getting money that she isn’t.</p>
<p>I usually tip two or three bucks for a $10-$15 order, I’ll tip more if it’s a regular guy who comes by a lot and is consistently polite. In sit down restaurants I am known to tip 30-40% for really good service but 20-25% is standard and I am not afraid to tip lower if the service is really bad. I tip adults and teens the same. Older adults may have a family to feed and that’s why they work that job, or maybe they have a drug or gambling habit to feed. Who knows? My friend is 22 years old and has a mortgage and tuition bills to pay, she pays for her education by herself. I see no point in trying to surmise a persons financial situation by their age. I tip for a job well done regardless of any other factor. That is what I think a tip is for.</p>
<p>I have only ever not tipped once, because I had to walk halfway down the street to retrieve my pizza, and the delivery guy wouldn’t let go of the pizza until he got his tip. I eventually told him I’d go in and get it, took the pizza inside, and didn’t come back out. (at which point I started getting text messages and calls from the guy complaining.) Company got a letter about it.</p>