Happy February everyone! What a cold start to the month it has been! The next few days should warm back up though. The grass will be pretty dead for awhile however. At least we don’t have to mow it soon!
Anyways today I wanted to give a little advice about how much you should tip your local barbershop and barber for a haircut or beard trim and shave. It seems like a lot of folks are not sure just how much, if anything you should tip for a haircut.
I see a lot of Google searches for “how much to tip a barber for a $25 haircut”, “how much to tip $30 haircut”, “barber tip calculator” and so on.
It seems like everyone expects a tip these days. Tip for a coffee, tip for making you a sandwich, tip for bagging your soda and candy bar at the gas station! Not that there is anything wrong with that.
I personally tip a lot of girls at the Dunkin Donuts shops I go to for my hot coffee. They work hard for the money! I think I have been to every Dunkin shop in Orlando!
I myself think that in general, the more personal and unique the service you are getting is, the more a tip is warranted, expected and deserved. A haircut or shave ranks way up there as a personal and unique service.
So yes, it is generally common and expected to tip your barber for a haircut or shave. You don’t have to, but most do and your barber will greatly appreciate it, just as you appreciate a good haircut.
That brings us to the next question, which is how MUCH should you tip a barber for a haircut? For most haircuts a standard tip is 15% to 20% of the total haircut cost. For excellent service and/or complex haircuts 20% to 25% or more of the total is right.
For low cost haircuts like $20 a $5 dollar tip is good. For beard trims and shaves 15% to 20% of the total is about right, with more time intensive and complex jobs deserving 20% to 25% or more.
If you have a regular barber that cuts your hair all the time you get to know them well, even becoming friends with them. In that situation a good tip makes you both feel good.
If your short on cash once they will understand if you tip a bit lower than normal. Then the next time you can leave a bigger tip. Treating someone with sharp pointy objects and razors with respect is always a good idea! 😀
Also, especially at old fashioned barbershops, tipping in cash is appreciated. These days most use their card to tip, but with the card processing fees the barber does not get to keep the full tip amount.
To recap yes it is common and expected to tip for a haircut, with the average being 15% to 20% of the total, while fantastic and complex cuts deserving 20% to 25% or more. Now I’m off to tip my Dunkin Donuts girls for another hot coffee!