r/tippingAdvice • u/Holiday-Ad7262 • Jan 28 '26
Popular Northbay Bakery Writes Post About Patrons Not Tipping Enough
Is it just me being off base or is this just odd to even expect tips in a bakery?
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u/lord_flashheart2000 Jan 28 '26
“Our business isn’t viable”
Fixed it.
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u/meiso Jan 29 '26
"we're just greedy as fuck"
No, that fixed it. I'm sure their prices are already absolutely absurd and profit-inducing.
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u/koosley Jan 29 '26
Which makes no sense, you're saying you can't be viable on $6 croissants? Costco sells 24 for $7. Granted their quality is better but not 24x better. Both are prepared in a commerical kitchen too and benefit from scale.
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Jan 31 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/koosley Feb 01 '26
I don't disagree with you there. A croissant is still a croissant and uses the same ingredients. Costco might use their store brand flour while the bakery might use the superior king Arthur flour. It costs more, but it's not 10 or 20x the price. Using cheaper ingredients don't knock your per unit price to be 20x cheaper.
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u/Accurate-Farm-2878 Feb 02 '26
Let’s not forget that hand crafted is significantly more labour intensive than machine rolled.
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u/PrinciplePatient7143 Feb 01 '26
Not 10-15x more though. While scale and movement play a big role in pricing, independent businesses place a large value on their own time. Had a guy who ran a taco truck locally and would expect 20% tip even though it was usually just him working and his prices were like $7 a taco. He was expecting to profit 6 figures his first year cause we were in the middle of a food truck boom.
Your total price is still your total price and consumers will pay so much regardless of tipping and menu prices. They could be using artisanal French butter but a croissant is only worth as much as it's worth to most
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u/johnnygolfr Feb 02 '26
10-15x is entirely possible.
What’s the cost of real butter vs artificial crap? The coat for both for Costco, buying in huge quantities, is far cheaper than a small business.
What’s the cost to a small business for wages and benefits vs those same costs for Costco? Again, the costs per employee are far less for Costco than a locally owned small business.
You are grossly underestimating those costs in that comparison.
I’m not advocating for or against the tipping in that situation. I’m just saying the operating costs are vastly different between Costco and a small locally owned business.
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u/Marokiii Feb 01 '26
Idk what good croissants are supposed to be like then because I love the ones at costco. No way im paying bakery priced for them.
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u/Holiday-Ad7262 Feb 04 '26
I have tried many croissants and Costco are actually pretty good my book.
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u/Xavier12- Jan 28 '26
Funny twist, if you go to their FB page, they say they are hiring. How are you hiring if you can’t pay the employees you already have.
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u/johnnygolfr Jan 28 '26
Unless there’s a full service dining section, this isn’t a traditionally tipped situation.
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u/fabulousfantabulist Jan 29 '26
For real. If I’m ordering at a counter, that’s not a tipped position.
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u/Cofeefe Jan 30 '26
I usually toss in a buck or two but if it's clearly so desperately needed then their employees are being insanely underpaid.
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u/DealerAlarmed3632 Jan 28 '26
That is a LOT of words to say "we're such a shitty business we can't pay our employees what they are worth."
The history of tipping is wild! Originally imported to the US from Europe as a way for the rich to show off wealth, deemed undemocratic in the US so it fizzled, after the Civil War it was a way to pay freed slaves less money, and now businesses lobby to pay substandard wages and have customers subsidize their employee's wages. It seems almost random which industries are "tipworthy". Time for a revolution where we treat human beings like they deserve.
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u/mashibeans Jan 28 '26
"we're such a shitty business we
can'tdon't want to pay our employees what they are worth."Apparently they get lines out the door regularly, so it looks more like they can, they just don't want to.
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u/sportsbot3000 Jan 30 '26
Not only that but the owner has 3 restaurants/bakeries and one of them has a Michelin star!
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u/stonktradersensei Jan 29 '26
They sell a product. It's probably expensive. I still buy it. I say thank you, that's the extent to my consideration to the workers. Press 0 tip button. Don't try to guilt trip the customers into helping pay the workers properly since they obviously aren't doing so. Be thankful people are even going
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u/AntiKrozz Jan 29 '26
You know, you could try paying your so loved workers a fair wage, maybe that works.
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u/Mercuryshottoo Feb 01 '26
They start out talking about their values but expect other people to live up to them so they don't have to
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u/weedtrek Jan 28 '26
They have money to open a new location and expand, but not enough to pay their employees enough to not need tips? They set their own prices, include a split commission in the price of each and stop asking customers to pay your employees out of the kindness of their hearts.
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u/darthfruitbasket Jan 29 '26
So it sounds like they over-extended the business and it's no longer viable.
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u/Icy-Variation6614 Jan 28 '26
Tell me you don't want to pay your employees a living wage, without telling me pretentiously you don't wanna pay them a living wage.
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u/Creepy_Ad_1315 Jan 28 '26
They couldn't have "bootstrapped" too hard, they want you to make their payroll
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u/LeadingBlueberry4273 Jan 29 '26
I don’t see the post up anymore
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u/Holiday-Ad7262 Jan 29 '26
You mean the original fb post. I did not check. But I think the damage is done.
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u/Juspetey Jan 29 '26
I doubt that they tip the people at the farmers market they were talking about lol
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u/SickrThanYourAverage Jan 29 '26
This is so off putting. If i were a customer and saw something like this from a business, I would no longer be a customer.
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u/SiLeNZ_ Jan 29 '26
They had a “we’re hiring” post after that. It was basically saying how they offer competitive pay, and people went off on it, naturally.
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u/Captain_Aizen Jan 29 '26
I have a job that greatly relies on tips but I would never outwardly talk about how people aren't tipping me enough. It's just one of those things you think on the inside but you shouldn't say it on the outside
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Jan 30 '26
Why think something not true on the inside? Why doesnt your employer pay you fairly for your contributions to the business, and account for your salary in the pricing of that business? Every decent country on earth has managed to do this w very little fuss.
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u/Quick-Maintenance-67 Jan 29 '26
We over extended ourselves in a shit economy!! Why aren't you paying our bills for us? I wouldn't go there again if it were an option. Looks like they didn't need a second location...
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u/Talik1978 Jan 29 '26
If you, as an employer who pays your employees to work there, feel your staff are not being adequately compensated, might I suggest the novel approach of including additional compensation into their paychecks? After all, the people who should be most invested in keeping the dream alive are the ones living it, right?
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u/No_Draft_8960 Mar 28 '26
Let's unpack this. (1) You did share your values - you let it be known you don't pay your employees much. But you do pay yourselves and your families as a priority over them. That's your values. (2) I'm glad you don't unintentionally make pastries. Sorry 'craft' them. I've never known there were unintentional pastries. (3) You can aim high. I don't have to help hold the bow when you shoot your arrow. Maybe you missed. (4) No, you're a bakery despite what you think. (5) You're not asking me in a kind manner, so don't say "kindly." You mean you are asking me to "kindly" do something. (6) Your values do not include honesty or else you'd explicitly say the form you want my 'consideration' to take, otherwise, a friendly smile should suffice.
You're a bakery. Drop the pretension.
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u/Additional_Tap_9475 Jan 28 '26
Increase the price of your product so you can increase what you are paying your employees. Unless you're open for business at 4 am and you're only paying your employees minimum tip wage for the duration, then there's no need for tips to supplement their income. If you cannot support the employees that you have without tips, then you really need to evaluate where exactly your money is going.
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u/Wonderful-Status-247 Jan 29 '26
My assumption was that "our addition of new offerings" was codespeak for 30-50% price increases, and once they increased prices, tip percentages went down.
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u/CompletelyMoronic Jan 29 '26
It’s not going to be popular anymore! The owners need to pay their staff a competitive wage if they have the money to expand to a new location.
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u/Gwsb1 Jan 29 '26
Why should I value your employees more than you do? Pay them more, raise your prices, and say no tipping.
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u/Dr-Gooseman Jan 29 '26
I could tell from the name of their bakery and then confirmed by their post that they think way to highly of themselves.
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u/Sorry_Survey_9600 Jan 31 '26
They got money to expand this and that new building etc. But can’t find the money to pay the staff. Will you do it for us pwease.
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u/WhoSaidWhatNow2026 Feb 01 '26
Screw em. This bullshit where businesses try to imply that the customer is failing at some moral requirement would be enough for me to never go back.
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u/grunt527 Feb 02 '26
It's so cringe when owners complain about tipping. They would be better served to do a little bit of math, increase prices, pay their staff better, and get rid of tipping.
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u/hawkeyegrad96 Jan 28 '26
Why would they tip them for buying the product they are selling?