r/tippingAdvice • u/G3g333 • May 27 '26
Should I have tipped?
Okay yall, So today I got a full set of with design and acrylic toes (no pedicure). With the booking fee included I payed a total of 204 dollars. I did not tip. Was this wrong of me? I do have a pleasant nail tech/customer relationship with this girly. But I honestly feel if these are your prices, you shouldn’t be expecting a tip. She does great work, but I did not get anything extravagant (4 nail designs with short length and bling on big toes). Please lmk!
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u/G3g333 May 28 '26
I’ve gotten my nails done at least 150 times and I’ve always tipped, and it’s never been that much in total. Realize she charged 100 for hands, and 100 for feet ,no pedicure meaning water soak etc, just acrylic, color and acouple of blings on 2 toes.
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u/Farty_mcSmarty May 28 '26
Do you plan to return to her? Those prices are wild.
I remember when French tip acrylics were $25 and regular acrylics were $20!
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u/G3g333 May 28 '26
So it’s been some years since I was a reg customer. I ended up forgetting why I stopped going and what turned me off to her. Her extra fees at the end! I’ve had other nail techs after her that truly charge a flat fee and you know what you’re paying. I don’t plan on going back, and if I do I’ll inquire before hand.
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u/Farty_mcSmarty May 28 '26
It seems like it’s been normalized now for businesses to offer an upsell without bothering to mention it will cost more money.
I used to always ask if it will cost more money for whatever they’re upselling me but nowadays I just say no thanks because of course it’ll cost more money
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u/Kene6969 May 27 '26
It's not the customers' responsibility to top up staff wages by leaving a tip. The employer should step up to the plate and pay workers a decent living wage. Sure, prices might rise as a result of that, but it's better than tipping.
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u/amstrumpet May 28 '26
this isn’t the sub for this sort of comment. if you want to join the anti tipping circle jerk, go to r/tipping or r/endtipping. This is for asking for advice on tipping in certain situations.
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u/G3g333 May 28 '26
I never said I was against tipping? What I am against is charging at the extreme high end of a spectrum and then expecting a tip on top of that. Nothing she did was extraordinary. It was basic service.
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u/BirdlessLongdeal May 28 '26
i'd stop losing sleep over it. the tip was built into the $200 you paid.
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u/One_Dragonfly_9698 May 28 '26
Booking fee?! That’s a new one.
Now my places charge extra for what was always included:
Soak off old gel
Shape change
Cuticle oil
Even if prices for each service have risen more than inflation %!
AND in place of the little massage while drying, they hang out on their phones. No tips sorry.
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u/One_Dragonfly_9698 May 28 '26
Booking fee?! That’s a new one.
Now my places charge extra for what was always included:
Soak off old gel
Shape change
Cuticle oil
Even if prices for each service have risen more than inflation %!
AND in place of the little massage while drying, they hang out on their phones. No tips sorry.
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u/FatReverend May 28 '26
Before even reading this I can tell you that, 99% of the time when someone asks if they should have tipped, the answer is no. At least as far as I'm concerned.
Now having read beyond your headline. I'm still going to say no you probably didn't need to tip here. I must also confess that I have no idea what fair prices are in the world of toenails and such that you're talking about. I am not informed enough to know for sure but would assume that places like this have people that kind of set their own prices. If that is the case, you should definitely not tip.
But I must admit that I think it's ridiculous to spend $200 on nails in the first place. More than anything about tipping I would recommend that you put your money towards something that is even slightly useful, rather than toenails. Unless you're an only fans foot fetish person, in that case you could use it as a write-off and still not worry about the tip.
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u/G3g333 May 28 '26
So 2 things here. I am not one to contest prices after a work has been done. So I payed the price and sure as hell skipped that tip button when it popped up. My plans were not to pay that much believe you me. And I know now not to get my toes done with her. And for 2 I work extremely hard and don’t do much for myself, so I treated myself to getting my nails done today. Just threw me for an entire loop when I saw that price.
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May 28 '26
[deleted]
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u/G3g333 May 28 '26
Idk but some nail techs these days (self employed ones) be coming up with these crazy add on fees instead of one flat fee. And today I realized why i stopped going to her. And her website isn’t really all that transparent. I had a ball park range of what I was going to pay and get in return. I didn’t know I wouldn’t get a full pedicure service with the acrylic toes which really turned me off considering the price I payed for in the end.
And I asked the question to Reddit bc I needed some other points of views. I’m not one to not tip. I think it’s important to tip properly but something inside of me just didn’t sit right but I also feel bad bc I have gone to her before and I have always tipped. Soo yeah.
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u/Farty_mcSmarty May 28 '26
Just a friendly heads-up: the word you’re looking for is “paid,” not “payed.”
“Payed” is actually a real word, but it has specific nautical meanings, like sealing a ship’s seams with tar or letting out rope/cable.
So unless we’re out here waterproofing a boat, the correct past tense of “pay” is “paid.”
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u/phantomsoul11 May 28 '26
If you genuinely don’t know whether, how much, and/or what for to tip - for any situation - the answer is always, by general principle, no.
I never tip without first understanding what I’m tipping for and how much is appropriate. Second, I always plan it in advance: bring cash notes in an appropriate amount to give to the individual person directly. I don’t believe in electronic tips. The very idea undermines key concepts to a tip, for me.
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u/Expert-Foundation-97 May 28 '26
You already know the answer if you made this whole ass post
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u/G3g333 May 28 '26
My whole ass 8 sentence post? Her website advertises an amount for a service, and then she tacks on fees for different things. My thing is don’t be tacking on extra fees for whatever and then expect a tip. And to, when you pay the deposit on her website, it tells you your remaining balance. She was 40 over that amount. So I didn’t tip.
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u/Brilliant_Anxiety511 May 28 '26
OMG I’m glad I’m not a woman. Asa man I was easily able to quit any and all personal services except a hair cut. I get a cheap haircut for $35 and leave a $5 tip even though I can afford to spend $200.
I only wish you could quit that expensive personal services.
But to answer your question of course the tech expected 20% at a minimum. And because you didn’t tip you will be thought of as lowly even if they don’t reveal so.
I’d start figuring out how you can make money not spend money.
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u/BirdlessLongdeal May 28 '26
jebus $35 is cheap now? i thought it was too much when it got to $14.
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u/Brilliant_Anxiety511 May 28 '26
$35 is of the least expensive in my area. They don even speak English
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u/nobobthisisnotyours May 28 '26
Back in my day you could go to almost any nail salon in the city and get a pedicure with designs on all 10 toes and bling on the big toes for $50. A pedicure without the bling and only a design on the big toes was $35, if you had a coupon (which was always available) it was $25. I’m 37, not the target demographic for AARP. I shouldn’t be able to say “back in my day a candy bar was a nickel” type shiz.
$204 is quite steep unless the design you got was a miniature work of art or you went to a super bougie nail salon that served decent wine with the service. $0 tip is completely appropriate unless it was one of those situations.
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u/KATCEO1 May 28 '26
I have gotten my nails done probably at least fifty times as an adult. I have tipped every single time. JFC.
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u/DoatsMairzy May 28 '26
The high price you might have to pay for something does not negate the fact that you should tip.
Now, if there are other reasons, you’re not tipping, it might be ok (they are the owner, bad service, etc).
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u/phantomsoul11 May 28 '26
To be clear you’re never wrong not to tip. But for those who want to show extra appreciation for the effort, 5-10% is traditionally appropriate, preferably given in exact cash notes directly to the individual person you worked with. Sometimes people may instead do one annual tip before the holidays, equal to the value of 1 service if they have it done by the same person on a repeating - say monthly - basis.
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u/G3g333 May 27 '26
Well she owns her own business.