Tips higher if menu prices lower?
Do you believe clients tip more generously if services are more affordable?
Seems counter-intuitive to me. I know in some industries the "trading up" phenonenon has been well documented -- Priceline/Hotels.com has allowed travelers to splurge more on dinners, shows and spa with the money they saved -- but I don't think they tip housekeepers and bell staff more during their stay, nor does it hold true in our category when it comes to tips on services.
Maybe they would spend the money they save coming back more often or on product purchases, but I still think the tip mentality is predominantly based on % of cost, not on perceived savings
I was checking pay ranges in a new market we were entering by going through CraigsList ads in this city and was surprised at the logic of this response.
"Hi,
The commission is not over 50%. But the tips are generous because it's affordable. I see your point and wish you well.
Best,
Cxxxx
From: 24daa1c4761d72f2c1ad9e929@reply.craigslist.org
To: 24daa1c4761c1ad9e929@reply.craigslist.org
Sent: Thu, October 31, 2013, 7:58 AM
Subject: Massage Therapists and Estheticians
Views: 255
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by mk on
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In my experience, people tip on the price they pay for the service. If the service is lower, they tip lower. If the service is complimentary (think gift certificates), its a crapshoot of either overtipping, or not tipping at all.
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Permalink Reply by Cindy Greenwood on
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My experience is exactly as Kim described.
Lower service price always means lower tip.
GC redeemers, if they are not regular clients or spa goers, often do not tip.
BTW - commission of 50% is as much as you will find anywhere - most places pay a much lower commission for entry level.
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Permalink Reply by Relax & Rejuvenate on
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commission of 50% is as much as you will find anywhere - most places pay a much lower commission for entry level.
I know, just fascinated by the logic when trying to sell a potential employee.
I only pay in the neighborhood of 30%, but our prices are about $30 higher
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Permalink Reply by Nina on
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Commission just at 50% is pretty high I think...at least where I live in Long Island, which generally pays good money, I made 20% commission at a semi-upscale medical spa I worked at awhile ago, but then again that's a little parrt of the reason I left other than the fact they wanted me to keep coming in to do "free mini facials" for them, without getting paid to do so, they had very low facial/skincare clientele so they hired and relied on me to build it, and that was the way they wanted me to do it, keep in mind they didn't promote it like they promised they would, it was agreeable at first, It sounded promising, but then after 4 months, still doing free mini facials for free, no hourly pay or set schedule, just made 20% commission on the FULL treatments I did only, no commission on products which I sold a ton of, just packages, and then their attitude about it when I eventually tried pushing for more after I had gained clientele that loved me, was that I was crazy because that was the best opportunity I could get, and that people would kill to be in my shoes...lol..it got very draining after awhile and I stopped falling for all the bs so it was time for me to go. I was very new to the industry at this time, so I knew better, but at the same time I didn't know better, that's why I stuck around for as long as I did. I did wish that I had looked into this subject more before I went ahead and just took the job and accepted what I did just like that, but it was defiantly a good learning experience. My mistake was that I let them take advantage of me in the beginning, I got pushy a little bit too late. But at the same time, don't want to be overly pushy, i have never heard someone making more than 50% commission while working for someone, but that doesn't mean you can't ask, that's just not something I would demand. I will say that I have heard, and experienced, that it can be very hard to find the right fit in this field. And although I agree with the tips generally being higher for higher priced treatments, that doesn't always apply, I mean the treatments at that medical spa I worked at were $60 for microdermabrasion which is incredibly low in my opinion, and $75 for a basic facial, and there were times I made $20-30 tips for these treatments, sometimes, I made none because people don't know any better some went on and on about how great my treatment was but left without tipping, some thought because it was a medi spa, it should be treated like a medical office where you don't tip doctors, even though we know giving a facial is very different, some just don't understand, and then some just don't care...it really all depends, but I think that if you walk away from a treatment knowing and feeling that you did your very best, that's the biggest reward of all. And an attitude like that will save you from a lot of disappointment, because everyone thinks differently, and this economy is just different.
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Permalink Reply by Jessica on
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I agree that the tip is based on % of cost and not perceived savings. Also, in my experience a client is either a good tipper, a bad tipper or a non tipper. I could do a wonderful service and the client goes on about how they loved it and re-books with me even but leaves no tip or will under tip.
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Permalink Reply by Samantha Maline on
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That's an assumption that the clientele that you attract (or the demographic if you like) are the same for the lower priced facials as the higher priced facials. In my experience as well, tips are not guaranteed let alone guaranteed to be higher if the facial is priced lower. That doesn't make a lick of sense. You price your facials to the demographic you serve, and you offer services and product accordingly.
I don't think that 50% is high. I started at 42%, 10% product commission, and tips. I earned my way to 50% based on percentage of return clientele. I made 33k last year overall. Facials at my spa range from $65 to $125 which is appropriate for our demographic in Idaho. I would think that 40-50 percent is the only way to make a live able income.
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That's great that you make that much, but like I said all places and areas are different. 50% for a starting Esthetician around here is pretty hard to find.
Speaking of areas, I think location plays a huge role in tips and whatnot as well. I live in a very good, pretty wealthy area, spa I worked at was located right here as well, and although many times I made no tips no matter how much they 'loved my treatments', I was generally tipped pretty well. I noticed that most of these clients that tipped well lived in the same good area as me, and the spa I worked at, and as I said, since I live in the same area too, I know it well enough to say that. But at the same time, their pay was horribly low. They did have a lot of hidden issues though, just like many business do, and that also needs to be taken into consideration, except it's kind of hard to predict that in some places before you take the job. Other places in my area, may not pay as low as 20% but I do know that 50% is still scarce around here regardless of the wealth in this town, it's also the economy these days, everyone has to realize that, and take that into consideration. So its kind of hard to tell..
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I certainly did not want this to wander into a discuss of % commission.
% commission is meaningless. What matters is the $$ you take home. Can't pay the rent with %.
the only reason I mentioned it in the original email exchange is that with such low prices, the % would have to be high in order for the $ per service to be worthwhile.
In most major cities, it is very hard to find technicians who will work for less than $35 a treatment, unless you are being paid a fixed hourly + a commission, which was not the case here.
The issue was the comment justifying low pay by claiming tips are higher because the service costs are lower
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Tips are not higher because service prices are lower. In my experience clients base their tips on percentage of the cost of service. If I were a client considering a facial and that spa is charging 30 dollars less than the spa down the street for seemingly the same thing I would assume that the quality of product is less, the ambiance/experience is less, or that the experience of the technician is less. Costs have to be cut somewhere to be able to undercut the competition. And in this case it seems as if they're being absorbed by the technicians paychecks.
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Permalink Reply by Dana White on
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I've never experienced that. I agree with OP, I always think of tips as being based % of cost.
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