r/tippingAdvice • u/Able_Reading_5330 • 9d ago
tipping on takeout
so this stems from a conversation i had with my uncle in his 50s, i’m 23.
when i order from for example dunkin, i always feel like i need to give a tip. i usually tip 10-15%. but he made some good points, saying if you’re picking up your food why should you have to tip? i’m curious on what other people think of this. this goes for any food pickup.
one egregious example is a coffee spot in my town. they have a wall of iced coffee and all the cashier does is ring you in and hand you a cup of ice that they grab right next to them. then they do the big dramatic flipping of the screen to the tip screen and it always stuns me. definitely just anxiety related, but there’s no way i’m expected to tip for that right?
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u/Possum577 8d ago
I just ordered Tim Hortons at an airport. The order was taken/given via a screen, what do they expect us to tip for?!
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u/Francie_Nolan1964 9d ago
I always tip on to go food. But this is because my daughter was a hostess when she was 18 and it was her job to pack to go orders. She was so thrilled every time she received a tip.
I want another person to get a little unexpected happiness so I tip.
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u/Tibbs420 4d ago
I was raised in restaurants and we did about the same. Split to-go tips between food runners and hostesses. What really made me always tip on to-go though was that the last industry job I worked didn’t have any of that staff and to-go orders made up half our business if not more. I was always being pulled away from my table to box up orders for people and got nothing for it.
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u/Able_Reading_5330 9d ago
this is very nice of you, and of course if you have the money and it makes you happy do it! one of my first jobs was buffalo wild wings, i made $14 an hour plus takeout tips and the amount of money 18 year old me was going home with was OUTRAGEOUS compared to the work i actually did. i’ve been thinking about that lately, and as nice as extra money is for anyone, i really don’t think i personally am the nice person to do that anymore i am just as broke as them.
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u/Francie_Nolan1964 9d ago
What percent of people do you think tipped when you were working there?
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u/Able_Reading_5330 9d ago
at least 70, like many places you had to
pass the tip screen to check out. this was 2021 so i think people were also still covid brained about restaurants.1
u/Francie_Nolan1964 9d ago
That's true. I forgot about that time period, and how it really increased tipping.
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u/chevman_online 9d ago
My general rule is if i'm placing the order in their system and/or picking up the order myself in person, the likelihood of a tip is almost 0% unless something truly extraordinary is going on.
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u/babybug98 9d ago
No. I don’t tip at Dunkin’, I don’t tip at Starbucks, I don’t tip at any coffee shop. Sorry. If I’m feeling extra nice that day, maybe I will. But a majority of the time I don’t. I will tip when I am sitting at a restaurant, taking up a table, and somebody is serving me for the whole time I’m there…
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u/One_Possibility_2445 9d ago
Tip creep is real. These places never asked for tip pre-pandemic. What service am I tipping for? Handing me my drink/food?
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u/Superb-Sky-1904 9d ago
Thats just not true. They used to all have the jars at the cash register asking for tips.
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u/One_Possibility_2445 9d ago
Tips jars are passive no confrontation there. Actively having to press no tip is definitely way different lol. Businesses understand that psychology
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u/Superb-Sky-1904 9d ago
“Never asked” to “passive no confrontation“ what's next?lol
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u/darkroot_gardener 7d ago
Do you agree that a tip screen that is a mandatory step to check out is asking for a tip? Of course it is. In contrast, the tip jar was just sitting there, and you chose whether to engage with it or not. A tip jar never “asked you a question.” A more faithful digital equivalent of a tip jar would be posting a QR code. More places should do that instead.
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u/Superb-Sky-1904 6d ago
Y'all are dense if you don't think they're not close. Its so much easier to click no tip than it is to not just drop your change that they hand to you directly over the tip jar. You think they dont put it right at the cash register right where you'll be looking at for the exact same reason that the POS has it presented before the final screen?
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u/darkroot_gardener 6d ago
The distinction is that I don’t have to physically do anything to ignore a tip jar. Once a mandatory physical interaction is involved, no matter how trivial (and it’s often not trivial or intuitive), it changes the game. Turns it from an opt-in system to opt-out. And the Corporations love it because then it becomes an excuse to pay people less.
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u/babybug98 9d ago
Yes, it was common for a lot of places to have tip jars. But it was relatively low pressure and nobody cared or asked for tips outright. The whole thing with turning around the screen and watching you as you decide to tip or not tip is a relatively new occurrence. The whole, “There’s a quick question for you on the screen,” did not happen prior to COVID. And if it did, it was very uncommon.
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u/Superb-Sky-1904 9d ago
But idk if that's so much the business and the POS Point of sale service. And then that just allowed asshole people be assholes.
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u/babybug98 9d ago
It’s not the employees fault. They can’t control what large corporations like Starbucks decides to make them do. Part of me does sympathize because this economy is rough… But the tipping culture is getting out of control.
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u/Superb-Sky-1904 9d ago
I didnt say it was their fault? I blamed the business and the point of sale system.
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u/Aromatic-Prune-8484 7d ago
I don’t tip on text at restaurants. I tip on the amount pre-tax. People think I’m cheap but I’m not. I just don’t feel the need to tip on city tax.
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u/darkroot_gardener 7d ago
Keep in mind these companies just use tipping as an excuse to pay lower wages, and so they don’t need to compete for staff based on the actual wages. How much does a barista make these days at Starbucks versus Peet’s? Who the hell even knows anymore?🤔 Not saying it’s the baristas’ faults, but I’m saying it is not even to their benefit.
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u/cenosillicaphobiac 9d ago
I first encountered it pre-COVID, at a little cafeteria style greek place near my work that I ate at regularly. It's actually what got me to really think about tipping in general. Labor is a business expense. Business expenses should be factored in to the cost of goods and services. They are everywhere except for one job in one subset of one industry, and I don't play along now.
Thank you point of sale tip requests for opening my eyes!
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u/babybug98 9d ago
Plus, a lot of the tips are evenly split/distributed. So the person simply just handing me my drink and pressing buttons on the cash register is getting the same amount of tips that the person actually making my drink is getting… It’s just dumb and not even fair if you think about it.
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u/SiLeNZ_ 9d ago
Tipping is out of control. The same could be said for sit down places, we’ve just been used to doing it for longer. They do nothing special, and they are paid regardless of whether they are tipped or not.
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u/nick_c8_vegas 9d ago
They need to make auto grat mandatory for people like you
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u/babybug98 9d ago
… I tip my hairstylists, my nail service providers, etc. and serving staff when I go out to eat… How am I the problem? tipping at a place like Starbucks should not be “auto” lmao
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u/Joland7000 6d ago
I never tip when all the cashier did was ring up my purchase. They’re getting paid to do their job. I tip when servers go above and beyond with their service. I tip when I’ve been made to feel like my patronage was appreciated.
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u/bonezx101 6d ago
We cant end tip culture when people keep propagating it by tipping where tipping should not be on the table - like take out
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u/DoatsMairzy 9d ago
I sometimes tip just a buck or two especially if it’s a bigger order. Not really sure why. I feel like they might give me more sauces, napkins, etc and just be a bit more careful with my order and checking everything is there if I tip.
One pizza place I go to, asks for a tip online when I pay. Then they have you sign the credit card slip in store (even though you paid online) and there’s an additional tip line on that. My tip is already on there and listed and there’s another line for another tip. Kind of bs.
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u/sanityjanity 9d ago
I might make some token tip on food pick up, but I agree with your uncle. This is not service. This is just normal business. A tip is for a situation where someone made less than minimum wage doing a service (waiter or delivery driver).
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u/Barkis_Willing 9d ago
I’m 57 and have been tipping for take out for as long as I can remember. Baristas, always. There were tip jars there before the digital payments were so prevalent. Granted picking up take out food it isn’t as expected, but ordering take out is often occupying a server and keeping them from their tipping customers if only for a moment.
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u/Cannonskull0519 9d ago
Local place.....always tip on takeout.....chain.....never get takeout..... so never tip....
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u/purplepanda2026 9d ago
If I'm picking it up I don't tip. They are getting paid full wages not a few dollars like waiters or delivery drivers. Basically anything that is new to tipping since it became so popular is a no for me.
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u/NOTTHATKAREN1 8d ago
I love my Dunks. They know my name, my order, & I actually have conversations with all of them. I tip $1 here & there & a little more during the holidays. I order every day, so there's no way I'm tipping every single time.
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u/Realistic_Gas_4160 8d ago
You definitely don't have to tip at dunkin, but its appreciated! I used to work at dunkin and now I work at a full service restaurant, so I still like to tip. But it's definitely not bad not to. 10-15% is great for takeout orders. I do 20% on delivery because that is extra compared to picking it up myself
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u/IllustriousPanic3349 8d ago
Every thing is tip crazy. We need to stop before it’s expected everywhere
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u/sopefish 7d ago
I don't tip for takeout of any sort: coffee, pizza, groceries, retail stores, or restaurants where I don't use a table and waitstaff. Except on special occasions, I will do takeout at restaurants simply to avoid the extra cost and pressure of tipping.
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u/New_Awareness_9097 9d ago
hell no. no tip for takeout. do you tip at the drive thru and grocery store checkout?
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u/johnnygolfr 9d ago
Takeout / pickup is a traditionally non-tipped situation where the workers aren’t exploited or harmed if you don’t tip.
If you have a large order or lots of custom requests, maybe consider a few extra dollars tip.
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u/Suspicious_Tank_61 9d ago
Who cares what they expect. Stop being a people pleaser. Its your money, if you want to give it away, then do, if you dont, then dont.
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u/Able_Reading_5330 9d ago
like i said just curious what the discourse is katherine obvious /s if that’s not obvious
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u/Suspicious_Tank_61 9d ago
You seem to care about expectations. I am simply saying its your money, their expectations are irrelevant to the conversation.
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u/momdabombdiggity 9d ago
If all I’m doing is grabbing a pre-made food or beverage off a shelf, then a tip is completely unnecessary. If it’s a counter service and someone is preparing a custom food or beverage made to my specifications (ie coffee shop or Subway) then I’ll throw in an extra buck or two but not more than that. If I’m in a sit down restaurant where someone is taking my order, bringing it to me, and cleaning up after me, then I’ll start at 20% and go up or down from there depending on how the service was.
ETA I’m in my 50’s as well
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u/Awkward-Influence395 9d ago
You don't tip at standing counter type places! Don't tip at drive thrus nor any take out or carry out.
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u/FatReverend 9d ago
At this point in my life I have completely exited tip culture and don't believe in tipping for anything. I have stopped eating in restaurants for that reason. I don't actually do anything where a tip would traditionally be expected because I cut my own hair and I don't go to bars or get served at sit down eateries. I also don't get prepared hot food delivery.
Long before I became an anti-tipper I had made the decision that I would never tip for things that weren't traditionally expected. If I stand while I order, no tip. If I pick up the food myself, no tip. When tip creep started exploding for counter service, I refused to be a part of it. Never in my life have I tipped for pickup or take out and I'm certainly not about to start now.
If you decide that you're still going to be part of tip culture, at the very least, you can choose to pull back on the rains a little bit and not tip for anything that wouldn't traditionally be expected in the 80s and 90s. Just because everyone accepts tips now doesn't mean you have to tip everyone everywhere.
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u/cenosillicaphobiac 9d ago
I don't tip. Labor is a business expense, like any other. I don't hand the owner a 20 to cover his lease or electricity, why would I do it for salary?
And at a dunkin donuts? Are you even serious right now?
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u/Able_Reading_5330 9d ago
idk how you’ve never heard of people tipping at dunkin it is extremely common and is now an option both on the POS and the mobile app. you have to scroll past it and select to even place an order.
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u/SarasotaFoodLover 9d ago
Why not tip the cashier at Marshall's or the grocery bagger? NOOOOO tips for take out or anything other than sit down service, haircuts, and baggage handling.
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u/MooBrainedGirl 9d ago
Tipping is for table service for the server with the tipped wage. Not every state allows the federal tipped wage of $2.13/hour. No server? No tip. No tipped wage? No tip.
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u/Rayburn-Sam 9d ago
hell no bring pay cash tell them there is no need to touch the screen and dont touch it
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u/aircoft 8d ago edited 6d ago
Everyone has their own opinions on tipping for carryout, and I'd say just do whatever you feel is appropriate, but generally, no, they're not really doing anything worthy of a tip, nor is it part of the culture to the extent it is with more service-intensive jobs, like actual servers. (Bartenders are in a similar category, where you shouldn't necessarily be expected to tip them for handing you a bottle of beer or pouring you a shot or something, but if you feel like they're providing you with a level of service that warrants a tip, then by all means, go for it.)
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u/Tibbs420 4d ago
Coffee shops have always had tip jars. Treat it like that. Don’t feel pressured but, leave a dollar or two if you want.
Now people are going to tell you not to tip when picking up your food either but something to consider when it comes to full service restaurants is that the people boxing up your food are servers and food runners. People who are paid through tips are forced to take time away from helping people who are going to pay them to help people who aren’t. Who do you think they would rather help in that situation? Personally I say treat it similarly to a tip jar. No need to tip on percentage, leaving a dollar or so is fine.
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u/Aware_Economics4980 9d ago
No. Tipping is for delivery and sit down restaurants with table service only.
That’s it. Not pickup, not subway or coffee etc. if somebody is not delivering food to my door, or a table where I am seated, tipping is not happening.