Money Matters
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Pizza Delivery Tipping

@csuave's post reminded me I've had a tipping question I've wanted ask you all.

What do you all tip for pizza deliveries?

My H and I tip $2-$3, depending on the size of our order.  But our good friend was, semi-jokingly, chastising us for being cheap.  He said he tips at least $5, sometimes more.  He said (paraphrasing), "If someone is showing up to MY DOOR.  With FOOD!!!  They deserve a good tip."

For what its worth, I've done a lot of pizza delivery mystery shops, and the instructions always say they'll reimburse the tip up to $2.  So I've always figured $2 must be okay/average.

Re: Pizza Delivery Tipping

  • I would think the MS guideline is a good one.  A few bucks or in the neighborhood of 10% sound ok to me but I don't have pizza industry experience. 



  • mmabemmabe member
    10 Comments Name Dropper 5 Love Its
    I rarely order pizza for delivery, but when I do, I tip $5 or 10%, whichever is more.  This is one of the reasons that I generally pick the pizza up.  I prefer fresh pizza that isn't out driving around in a car and the places I order from are convenient enough that the tip is not worth it to me, especially since DH usually picks up the pizza.
  • anywhere from $3-5 depending on the order. 
  • labrolabro member
    Fifth Anniversary 500 Comments 250 Love Its Name Dropper
    Usually around $3 unless we happen to have a $5 bill on hand but that's pretty rare. We rarely order pizza but I guess I'd consider tipping more if we regularly saw the same delivery guy or ordered in on a weekly basis. I guess this is pretty at odds with our restaurant tipping behavior which is always in the range of 18-20%.
  • We don't have pizza delivered.  Too cheap to pay the delivery tip and some places are adding a delivery fee "that doesn't go to the driver"  wtf???
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  • jtmh2012 said:
    We don't have pizza delivered.  Too cheap to pay the delivery tip and some places are adding a delivery fee "that doesn't go to the driver"  wtf???
    We order pizza several times a month and the "delivery fee" is super annoying since it doesn't go to the driver.  We normally tip $3-4 but the places we order from are all within a three mile radius of our house so they aren't going far.
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  • We only pick up- the pizza place we go to is only about 6 blocks away. 
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  • I usually tip $5 for delivery and $2-3 for carry out.

    Does anyone else tip for carryout??
  • abrewer5 said:
    I usually tip $5 for delivery and $2-3 for carry out.

    Does anyone else tip for carryout??
    This is pretty much my M.O.  The only time there's an exception is when I order a whole lot of food, which pretty much only happens when we have a lot of people over and order Chinese. Then I tip close to $10. But $5 for pizza delivery and a couple bucks on carry out. 
  • abrewer5 said:
    I usually tip $5 for delivery and $2-3 for carry out.

    Does anyone else tip for carryout??
    Nope. If I'm paying in cash I'll sometimes dump any coins I get back into the jar. Why is going and buying a pizza any different than going into a non-restaurant store and having them ring you up?

    *I say this partly as someone who worked at Dunkin' Donuts and Taco Bell in high school. I got tons of great tips working at a coffee shop and not a penny at a fast food restaurant even though the base pay and amount of work/effort involved was identical. I never understood the tipping discrepancy and still don't. 
  • abrewer5 said:
    I usually tip $5 for delivery and $2-3 for carry out.

    Does anyone else tip for carryout??
    For pizza, no.  For a more traditional place where the servers are probably preparing the togo bags, yes.
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  • mmabemmabe member
    10 Comments Name Dropper 5 Love Its
    I do tip for carryout, but am not consistent with my tips.  Sometimes I follow the direction of the restaurant.  If there is a tip jar, I'll throw in $1-2 because that seems to be the norm.  For larger orders at nice restaurants, I have tipped 5-10% because I don't know what to do.
  • abrewer5 said:
    I usually tip $5 for delivery and $2-3 for carry out.

    Does anyone else tip for carryout??
    Nope. If I'm paying in cash I'll sometimes dump any coins I get back into the jar. Why is going and buying a pizza any different than going into a non-restaurant store and having them ring you up?

    *I say this partly as someone who worked at Dunkin' Donuts and Taco Bell in high school. I got tons of great tips working at a coffee shop and not a penny at a fast food restaurant even though the base pay and amount of work/effort involved was identical. I never understood the tipping discrepancy and still don't. 
    I'm pretty sure if the grocery store gave me a tipping line on my receipt I would tip them too LOL. I'm a weirdo and just assume that any time there is a tipping line, they expect me to tip.

    I also thought 20% was the standard for tipping so when I get a massage I usually tip $15-20 (cost is $65 for an hour). This weekend my massage therapist was talking about people who tip so little and she mentioned when people tip $15 or less and I was like ohh crap, is this her subtle way of hinting at me? Haha so I guess I need to reconsider my tipping percentage.


    PS: I'm so sorry, I totally didn't mean to hi-jack the thread by asking if people tip for carryout.
  • I never order delivery, everything that I'd have delivered is within walking distance anyhow. 

    I am inconsistent on tipping for carryout stuff.  My pizza place doesn't even have a tip jar, so that makes it easy.  I randomly tip at my coffee shop since I am a regular there, so if I have an extra dollar in cash, I'll leave it, but I don't tip every time I'm there.  There is really only one other restaurant I get takeout from, and I will leave a couple dollars for a tip there, because the servers and bartenders put the orders together there. 
  • I typically don't tip for any food in that classification: carryout, curbside, donut/coffee shop, etc.  There are exceptions for mom and pops, big orders, curbside in the rain, etc. but as the norm, no.  I also don't place these kinds of orders on Friday/Saturday nights when they would be super busy.

    Going back to when I worked at the Italian restaurant, I started out there as a hostess and did part of the carryout orders.  The kitchen boxed it up and all I had to do was check it for accuracy and maybe put in some napkins and stuff.  It really wasn't hard and I got paid above minimum wage for being as hostess which wasn't very hard overall.  The kitchen staff did as much work as I did and if I got a tip I wouldn't have an easy way to share it with them or even know who to share it with.  Just because I was the face of the order though I would have been the tip recipient.  I rarely got tipped for takeout orders.  It was nice when I did, don't get me wrong, but since I got paid a decent wage (for a teen at a low skill job) it didn't really even make a dent in my overall earnings.

    One time a new retail store was opening up across the street and they placed a large order for their employees that were getting everything set up.  I was sitting around doing nothing as a hostess that afternoon (with another person as my backup) so I offered to help carry the order to the store.  I got tipped that time but honestly I was just happy to get some fresh air and have something to do for a few minutes.
  • mmabemmabe member
    10 Comments Name Dropper 5 Love Its
    abrewer5 said:

    I'm pretty sure if the grocery store gave me a tipping line on my receipt I would tip them too LOL. I'm a weirdo and just assume that any time there is a tipping line, they expect me to tip.

    I also thought 20% was the standard for tipping so when I get a massage I usually tip $15-20 (cost is $65 for an hour). This weekend my massage therapist was talking about people who tip so little and she mentioned when people tip $15 or less and I was like ohh crap, is this her subtle way of hinting at me? Haha so I guess I need to reconsider my tipping percentage.

    This is a sign that tipping is completely out of control.  I think I am a very generous tipper and $15-20 on a $65 massage seems very generous.  I would rather see an increase in the base price than an expectation for a huge tip.

    I hate the automatic tip lines that are added to carryout receipts because I do feel like I should tip.  In Vegas, I once bought doughnuts at Krispy Kreme and the receipt had a tip line.  I tried to write in a tip and the guy told me that I couldn't.  He said the line was there, but I couldn't use it.  It was fine with me!  I normally would not tip for doughnuts, but I thought, if I am tipping everyone else in Vegas, why not this guy!
  • mmabe said:
    This is a sign that tipping is completely out of control.  I think I am a very generous tipper and $15-20 on a $65 massage seems very generous.  I would rather see an increase in the base price than an expectation for a huge tip.
    My issue with tipping is when it's needed to make a persons base salary, not as a reward for a job well done.
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  • I do not tip for carry out - I even heard some people tip if you are at sonic - i was like WTF?
  • I always did $3-5 for any delivery.

    Not going to lie, I hate how much tipping has gotten out of control in the US. You can tip for anything and everything.  The one that has gotten to me is the tipping line at the coffee shop.  The person who takes my order is a different person than who actually makes my drink.  So who am I tipping and what for?  Does that mean I'm supposed to start tipping at McDonalds now too even though I get and take care of my own food the way you do at a coffee shop?
    Now I'll tip if it's a small place and the barista is especially helpful in answering my questions or helping me decide on what to order (I'm indecisive) and they're the same person that also makes my drink.
    But to tip at Starbucks?  Doesn't make sense to me.

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  • For places like a coffee shop, I'll typically throw whatever my coin change is into the tip jar.

    At a restaurant for take-out, I'll usually tip a couple dollars.  I don't tip for carry out pizza, though.

    @jtmh2012, I was reading an article about a Japanese/sushi restaurant in NYC that started a "no tipping" policy.  They pay their servers an attractive wage, including health care.  Their menu prices are appropriately higher.  Their staff loves it.  Their customers love it.

    @abrewer5, I've also heard that massage therapists should be tipped 15-20%.  Similar to a server.  I think $15 is a perfectly good tip for a $65 massage.  I just did the math.  It's a 23% tip.

  • mmabemmabe member
    10 Comments Name Dropper 5 Love Its
    There is a new bar/restaurant in my town that also has a no tipping policy.  You pour your own beer and servers serve the food.  The prices already include gratuity.  The prices are definitely higher, but I like the model.
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