

Ask HN: What's the future of tipping? - code_duck

Tipping at restaurants progressed to the credit card era smoothly, as well as the move to paying with mobile devices.<p>What about more casual transactions, such as tipping your barista or bellboy?<p>Is NFC/Bump type payments going to be accepted by people for this? Will it be possible to find an electronic method as comfortable as cash?
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portman
This is a very good question, and I don't have any answers.

But one anecdote that might be relevant...

My wife and I were on a date last month at Chima, a Brazilian Churrascaria.
The waiter took our drink orders on an iPhone. Throughout the rest of the
night, we could ask any of the wait staff for something, they would just punch
it into their iPhone and someone else would bring it right out. The system
worked flawlessly. (This was also our first date in 10+ months, so I was
probably pre-wired to be happy/impressed with anything.)

At the end of the meal, I asked to play with the app. It was really well done,
with large, intuitive buttons, and a simple interface: [1] enter the table
number, [2] choose the item category, [3] choose the item.

Most surprising of all: it was actually _his_ iPhone. The servers get the
choice of using one of the house's iPod Touches, or their own iPhones.

Now, Chima is an upscale, national chain, so it could be years (or never)
before this trickles down to your local neighborhood bar, but I thought this
was an inspiring indicator of how mobile technology might be integrated into
the service sector.

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malandrew
Do you remember the name of the app? I'm curious to know if it is something
brsnded or white-label.

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Semiapies
I'd think the penetration of non-cash tipping would be low until some sort of
casual payment system got as easy as Bump and _cheap enough_ in requirements
(including the phone) that people in those service jobs could use them.

Mind, smart-phone capabilities will trickle down to cheap, no-contract phones
eventually. Some smart developers and companies will be ready for that.

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gallerytungsten
The future of tipping is 25%.

It used to be 15%, now it's often 20%. As current economic trends continue,
expect it to go up. As for payment method, cash is best, and will continue to
be preferred.

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gcb
Really? i'm still at 10%, 15% if service was good. $2 tops if it was empty and
i had to wait.

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gcb
Only the US has tipping like the US does.

no other country has that extra tax on the food/service price like that.

Also, i'm with Mr. Pink on this. Tipping for me is the employer passing the
risk of not having clients to the employee. He should provide a steady salary
to their employees and that's it. Then he should include that premium on the
advertised price and ensure the service is good. Why should i as a client bet
my evening on the willingness of the server to get a tip that time?

~~~
portman
I've lived in the UK, Italy, Uganda, and Cambodia, in addition to the US.

All of them have tipping.

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gcb
Really? around the same 'price' in the US?

places i've lived it was an optional 10% if service was good. usually no tip
above $1-2 euro for everyday stuff

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_delirium
The American 15-20% is less common, but I think 5-10% is becoming increasingly
common in Europe. It partly depends on whether the restaurant explicitly lists
a "service charge" on the bill; if they do, no tip is expected, but if they
don't, in many countries it's customary to leave 5-10%. At least, that seems
to be the case in Italy, Germany, and the UK. Nobody in Denmark really tips,
except perhaps by rounding up. Sweden seems to tip around 5%? But Swedes I
know seem to disagree on the question.

