Do you tip after the massage? I always tip my eyebrow waxer who works in her basement (she used to have a salon but the guy she rented the space from didn’t pay his mortgage for over a year and she ended up losing everything, I tipped her back then too).
No, I never have. I put his treatment in the same category as health care. I don’t tip my chiropractor or PT and they are all working on the same issues.
It’s funny when I think about it. I didn’t tip my massage therapist who seemed more like a health professional. But when DH and I go to a commercial massage parlor, we tip them. We like to go for couples massages, which are harder to find lately due to staffing issues.
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Interesting. I went to a massage therapist as part of cancer treatment and I always tipped her. She was on a list recommended therapists by the hospital, but she worked out of her own rented space.
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That’s not an April Fool’s article, either!
I just got back from England. I noticed that most places automatically add the tip, and that it has increased from 10% to 12%, and some places had a 12.5% option. Still no tipping at the pub though, which I love.
I asked friends and family how they felt about the increase in tips there. They didn’t seem bothered. I wonder if tipping is getting more widespread in Western culture.
I wouldn’t tip when I buy a package of massage treatments, but would tip after each treatment at the full amount, not the discounted amount.
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I thought this was reasonable advice. Good context about Covid. I am shocked that people don’t tip at a sit-down restaurant, though our next-door neighbors are horrible tippers so I probably shouldn’t be.
I rarely do massages, but I do buy a package for facials and manicures because the price for each procedure is reduced by a few dollars (both services are offered in the same salon). I tip the person providing the service after each service, usually 20% of the service price. I try to get the same person every time, but that doesn’t always happen.
We recently purchased a new induction stove and the appliance place gave us the name of a company that would remove the old stove and take it away. Our old stove was quite large; it was also heavy. My H tipped the guys who removed it $25 each ($75 total). They had to go up/down a few stairs from the kitchen and then out the front stairs. He asked the head guy if he owned the company–the guy said “if I owned the company I wouldn’t be doing this, I’d be sitting in the office.” I asked if H wouldn’t have tipped the guy if he had been the owner and H said he probably would given them all a tip. The cost of the removal was $500, so not quite 20%.
There are so many different situations outside of restaurants that I’m sometimes not sure if I should tip. In some situations it’s clear, but in others it’s not. I usually don’t tip the plumber or the electrician–I assume that they know what they need to make a living. I give my cleaning people a big cash gift during the holidays and a bottle of prosecco (I know they like it)and will often give them extra $$ if the house is really messy (they charge me a flat rate) or I ask them to do something extra.
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I always tip for appliance and furniture delivery, but not electricians or plumbers.
Because they pay them like under $6 an hour in many states!
That is a decent reason to do so in those states, I agree. In those that pay waitstaff minimum wage or above, I would not see a reason to pay in cash.
Unfortunately the majority of states have lower minimum wage for tipped positions, NJ finally went from $2.13 to $5+, regular minimum wage is $14+.
From CNBC:
I always carry cash and tip at hotels. Workers are often folks who really need the money, are remitting to folks back home, and may be immigrants and those without English skills for employment. But I had never thought about daily rather than at the end of the stay tipping.
I don’t tip at hotels because I don’t get cleaning/maid service. I tend to keep my room pretty neat and don’t need clean sheets every day! 
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I’m happy that Japan doesn’t expect tips and in fact finds it insulting. It’s a refreshing change when the price is the marked price.
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@Himon I went to Australia in January and I found the no-tipping so refreshing!!
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Was this article already linked? How Much and Where Are You Really Supposed to Tip?
Seems I was well ahead of the game when I started this thread last year. 
I want to remind everyone: we don’t have to feel guilted into tipping and we have a choice. I am no longer tipping on a lot of things, and I am not feeling guilty about it. I am speaking up about it more. A couple of weeks ago, there was no option to buy a ticket for something without a tip so I purposely asked for a new bill that didn’t include the tip on it.
I am also no longer contributing to Petco donations at the register, etc… They get the tax write off and make a huge profit. I donate directly to the nonprofit in question.
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On the one hand, there’s so-called “tipflation”. On the other hand, there’re stories like this:
$388 in Sushi. Just a $20 Tip: The Brutal Math of UberEats and DoorDash - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
People have been generously tipping the delivery people in the early days of the pandemic, but apparently not any more. Should they be tipped in the same way as we tip waiters in restaurants whom we have much more interaction with?