Tipping protocol ?

I curious what others are giving as "tips".
For example a club would have a DJ and a Host , possibly more helping make an event fun.
10, 20, 100 ? what would be considered a "average" tip?

How about if you are blessed with a large sploder win? a percentage?


--noob wishing to tip, and not look like a tightwad--

I've been here almost a year and would like to know too.

FWIW, I usually tip around L$50->100, but have no idea if that's reasonable.

Bear in mind that a tip of L$300 is just over a buck in RL money. A tip of L$20? That's less than a dime of RL money, folks!

If I tip a dancer or a DJ, it's usually at least L$250 to L$300. They usually make next to nothing in RL terms for just being there. It's the tips that make it worthwhile. So let's not insult their efforts with "tips" that are less than a dime. I've left better tips for a surly and inefficent waitress at a truck stop.

I've been wildly happy when I got a bunch of small and not so small payouts from 'sploders and random money orbs at clubs, and then laughed at myself when I added it up and realized it was only a couple of dollars that I had won that night. If I had no other funds, I'd be likely to at least give 10% to 20% of any such winnings to the club DJ, if they were doing a good job. And most do.

I've been a job as each a dancer, host and DJ. Judging by the tips I've recieved and by the amount of work involved, I tip the following:

Dancers - 50L
Hosts - 100L
DJ's - 200L

Dancers mostly spam gestures and are paid to chat up the place. Hosts run the contests and events and have the job of pulling people in.

DJ's take A LOT more ribbing than the other jobs, more demands (especially on the spot), but the job of actually setting up playlists, running them, changing them to requests, etc.

ETA: Also, do it for each shift. I've seen quite a few who come in, stay for HOURS on end and only tip the first shift or the last shift. There were tons of people inbetween and it sucks to cut them out of it.

Dancers "efforts" Umm....how much effort does it take to run a dance animation? I agree with the third poster, tips should be measured by the amount of RL effort it takes. DJ's are generally pretty busy in RL to keep things going, hosts are are also busy with keeping the events moving. Maybe I don't understand what dancers do, but it sure seems to me they just run an animation and chat.

That being said I havn't been to an event in a very long time, so I really have no idea. Thanks for posting this, I'm curious what people tip too.

If all a dancer does is run an animation or touch their own Xcite bits, they would be unlikely to get a tip from me. The good ones also keep up a lively and entertaining chatter with the patrons, in Chat or by IM. And the good ones put some clear effort into their appearance and costuming, both of which cost money to establish. I've even seen a few dancers who put together and practice custom dance routines, and res their own specially programmed, command-driven pose balls, rather than relying on the stock dance pole animations provided by the club.

I don't go to clubs very often. Too laggy and noisy for my liking. But when I do, I've observed a world of difference between the efforts of some entertainers versus the lack of effort of some others.

One good approach is to tip various dancers in smaller increments, then keep tipping the ones you want to encourage, so the ones you most appreciate eventually get a fairly decent tip. The smart ones will learn from that, and will improve their performances accordingly.

My take on the whole tipping thing:

Firstly, it all depends on your SL money flow. If you're broke, don't tip too high. If you're rich, spread the love!!

Personally as a DJ & performer, I don't expect tips whatsoever, but I love em. they are also a good way to get a read on the crowd. when tips are coming in (in any amount) it's a good sign people are having a good time.

When I go and see a show, I really want to show my love and support for music and shows I enjoy.

Live musicians, DJs, performers: are workin hard to show people a good time. Especially because they are fellow performers and they'd probably tip me if they saw my show, I like to tip high ($150-$500 if i can afford it that day).

Host: is usually the one who helps set up the show and also accomidates. If they help you out during the show, or you see they're doing a good job keeping things flowning, making sure people are having a good time, continually getting more party people there, then tip em too. ($50-$250 and sometimes more)

Dancers: They're not really doing much, but if they show you a good time, tip em something as well. ($50-100)

THE VENUE: This is the most overlooked but most important. The venue is person that bought the land and is paying tier, built the place, houses the events, & brings in the performers and the party... yet they rarely get as much tippage as the performers. The venue is the only one that is shelling out tons of money just to keep the place. If you love the place, tip the place!!!!! (as much as i can)
----
If you're a newbie, or are broke:
$10L says 'this is cool, just poppin a coin in to say hey'
$20L says 'Im having a good time, keep it up'
$50L says 'YES! I'm loving it'
$100L says 'I'm having such a great time Id rather tip than feed my kids'

If you're not a newbie, and have some bucks:
$100L says 'Love the song!'
$200L says 'Having a great time'
$300L+ says 'Love the show'
$1000L+ says 'Mindblowingly unbelievable' or 'I got a lot of money and want to show my appreciation and support'

If you're a fellow performer (or someone that also has a job where you make tips):
Its always always recommended to tip your fellow entrepaneurs. Pay it forward!!! You'll get great karma.

the whole point of tipping isn't to really make a substantial amount of real money. It's just to show love and support. Djs, live musicians, & hosts do it because they love doing it. They're not doing it for the tips.. it's just a nice way of saying thank you so they can have some extra bucks to spread around inworld. Me personally, 100% of the tips I make end up being spent on tipping other people or buying music for me to DJ with. (Basically a $280L tip buys me a new tune.)

Excellent feedback y'all, thanks..
This one here really puts it in perspective.

I agree with Doubledown - first it depends on how much L$ you actually have. Second, do not equate US$ with Linden. In-world the coin of the realm is Linden and you spend accordingly, whether or not someone is deriving RL income from what they are doing is only material if that is important to the audience. Tipping is a form of appreciation and should always be performed at the best level that one can afford.

Myself, if the room seems to be less than forthcoming with tips for a performer, I will drop a nice tip to try and lead the room to express some happy too. Otherwise I pay directly to the performer - it is discrete and only the two of us know about the transaction. hat way if I want to be extraordinarily generous I can be without the room knowing what's going on.

I'm a host at a club, and like a few others said, I'm really there because I enjoy being there. I always tip the DJ ($200+), because they are working their butt's off during the event. I've been to events where the Host's really aren't doing much (no banter with the attendees, nothing more than saying Hi and here's how you dance... those Hosts I will give around $50.), but the Hosts that are very interactive, they get a much bigger tip ($100+).

Receiving tips just tells me that I'm doing a good job, and that those people are enjoying themselves.

Doubldown's post is excellent feed back.

I couldn't disagree with this more (oddly enough since I often find myself in agreement w/ you).

This is first and foremost entertainment for 90% of the people in world.

I host because I enjoy it, if I started veiwing it as work I wouldn't bother. And never when I am tipped have I thought...gee this is like .05 cents WTF how insulting.

To compare what we get, spend and make in L's to $ when it comes to time and effort expended is silly. It just can't measure up.

Thanks Jerry this was a great question! I am glad to see I am falling in the norm.

I thought I might address one more aspect of tipping: game hosts. I mostly play Tringo... so I am speaking from that prospective, but I assume that other games are simular. I always save enough to pay the hostess 50 to 100L when I leave or a new host comes on. Regardless of whether I win, lose, or break even. Also if I win a pot I usually pretty much split it in thirds with a third to return for the next pot, a third for me, and a third for the host.

In response to several posts above:

I don't find it to be an insult when a tiny tip comes in... In RL, if someone sees a street performer and they're just walking by, they may reach in their pocket and grab some spare change to throw in. In RL (since I have also worked as a street performer) any tip no matter what is never insulting. It's not like tipping a waiter or valet.

another reason why someone may throw in a small tip is because people like to tip so their L$s end up in an even number. If someone gives me a $9L tip, it's probably because he has $109L on him.
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In regards to tipping a game host... i don't really play tringo and that kind of stuff...
But if i did, I would tip based purely on the speed they run the game & the excitement and fun they cause in between games. I would also tip only if I won L$s there. If I'm there and donating to the pot and the game, and losing, i don't wanna also tip the host.
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And just a sidenote: I think random tipping for help in any way should be encouraged. If you ask someone for help, for items, for whatever, it's always a great unexpected suprise for the helper to receive a tip. It's not about compensation, its just showing your appreciation. ... like in RL, if a friend scores you concert tickets, you'd probably want to treat him to a future lunch.

Just on a side note, if you don't have L$ and want to show your appreciation, make an effort to personally thank a host/dancer/whatever.

Even something like this can make someone's day: "Wow, I really enjoyed the dance tonight since you made my friends and I feel welcome! It was very thoughtful of you to help me figure out how to start and stop dancing when you saw all of us just standing among a group of dancers "

-2fast

Yes, definitely! A personal IM like "You're the best, I'm having a great time" is great!
One step further is a message like "Wow! This is great! I'm gonna invite all my friends over now"
To take this even further, mentioning their name to some friends is always a great thing. I'd take positive word of mouth over tips any day.

I give $100L for most everything ...but noobs have no real money so...even $10 is ok...if ur low on $L...but anything is good enough...it adds up over time, regardless.

I've been djing in sl for almost 2 years now. I've seen a steady decline in the dollar amount of tips as time has gone on. On average, I would say a tip of 100-200L is considerd "nice". I dont expect tips when I dj, but, as I dont build or sell anything in game, and I only get 50L a week, Tips *are* my source of income.

I agree that DJ's are probally the hardest working of all the event staff. It requires me to run 2 pc's, one for djing, and one for SL, trying to keep up with requests, download the songs if I dont have them, keep track of who requested what, and quite often, if there is a contest or someting, I get half the IM's meant for the host of the event.

There are two ways to consider tipping your host; If your host simply says "hello" when you come in, and pretty much lets the DJ handle everything else, tip low, if at all! (gasp! is no tip acceptable?) However, if your host is actively enguaging the crowd in coversation, gretting newcomers, ect, they're probally working nearly if not as hard as the DJ! So tip higher!

Dancers, eh.. I've personally not tipped a dancer, mostly because, its not very hard to load up an animation, and take off clothing.. and quite frankly, most dancers I've seen, do just that. And occasionally say "I'll take off X peice of clothing for X more L" .. pfft.. not hard there.

However, I have tipped random club staff (dancers, co-hosts, managers), if I feel that somehow they've made the event better!


Just my little guide..

i'ld like to toss in my 2L.

[/Climbing up on Soapbox]

Back when i started, we had a 50L/stipend for new basic members. I got a job right off as a dancer. And no, DarkMajik, not all dancers remove their clothing. Some of us were there to entertain the customers and dance with the single people. To keep them company and help them have a good time. The average dancer works for... tips. No salary, just tips. And, we tipped our host, and our DJ out of our own pockets.

I've read here the belief that most dancers do nothing but run an animation. I can't say what most do now. I can say what I, and the other dancers I worked with did. We bought Professional dance chims and professional dances. Not the freebie trash, but Abrimations and others, to load the chims. This came out of our own pockets. These chims gave the customers the ability to dance in sync with us. My own chim, an Amethyst Professional, I had to save up for weeks to buy.

In addition to interacting with the customers, we also entertained them by interacting with the host. Ever walk into a club and see the Sploder or Dance Machine joking with the Host? Odds are, it's one or more of your dancers in that club. And for any of you who were in Ministry of Sound and saw it happen, that was me. Many of us worked 2 or 3 jobs at different clubs, just to get a little money.

When I became a host, all of a sudden people tipped me. I would share those tips to my dancers, spreading it out so they all got a piece. Why? They deserved it, and the only tips they were getting usually came from their co-workers.

Now, going back again to being new... when I tipped in the beginning, I would give 25-50L.
Why so little? [1] I was new, and my only income, in the beginning, was tips (which averaged 0-10L per night) as well as [2] my stipend. I'ld say 50%-100% of my stipend for the week was pretty generous. I'ld IM the DJ or whomever and explain my financial situation. Doubledown hit the nail on the head, which upsets me that I actually agree with him. It's not the size of the tip, it's how much can you afford to give and how much you enjoyed the show. I have yet to meet a performer who did not appreciate praise for their performance; myself included. Thank you 2Fast4You for pointing this out.

If you think the dancers are doing nothing, look again, and look a third time. Are you certain of that? Always tip the DJ. That is the single hardest working person at the event. Tip your host, whose the 2nd hardest working person. Behind the scenes, the host had to plan the event, post it, choreograph it if applicable, arrange for the free giveaway items if applicable, schedule the dancers AND make sure they were in house and ready before the event, get people into the club, keep them there, focus them on whatever is making money for the club, juggle dozens of IM's all hitting at once while maintaining a lively banter, Try and convince you to tip the staff... while still putting your money in the sploder, raffle or whatever. Looking back, I don't think i would take the promotion to hostess again.

Now, I've left that life far behind me. And on the rare occasions when I actually visit any club, my tips are now far more generous. I do not forget where i started from or what it took to get here. So don't forget the lowly dancers. To a new dancer, even a tiny tip is better than no tip at all, with today's zero stipends for new players.

[/end rant]

I built and maintain my own club (more like a pub, none of the big light flashing lag you to heck stuff that most clubs have) just a nice relaxed atmosphere.

I also put out a tip jar for tips that go to the club, which helps maintain the place and tier fees.

Anywho... we were running 2 events a night at 10 and midnight SLT... (taking a short break prolly start back up sometime next week)

and when I could I would DJ the events, but for the most part it is streamed music which a lot of ppl like, gives the host the ability to change the stream to fit the crowd (have a large assortment of streams available)

I have noticed though when I was able to DJ it did draw more of a crowd, and when I did a fantastic job (which I usually did heh) everyone seemed to get better tips...

so.. does that mean if the music is good and the DJ is great at entertaining, everyone benifits? I think yes

oh yeah the topic was what would I tip, well as many said I first and formost look at the DJ, how well they are doing, are they keeping me entertained is the music good do they talk, etc, if so they get 500L, next is host (does the club use vote boards or is it im the host) that will determine the amount of tip host gets one causes more work than the other (I personally prefer the boards)

lastly is the dancers,,, low tips because most dancers I have seen run animations and attempt to talk to ppl, but not with much feeling or excitement

so anyway tipping from me depends on what the person is doing and how well they are doing it... (being I have done and still do some of those things covered... I did and still do DJ, I have done hosting both with and without vote boards, and I have danced... I prefer DJing anytime LOL

anywho.... thanks for listening... and yes I sometimes ramble just as much when I DJ. LOL

No problem, Nyx. I know of very few people, anywhere, who agree with each other 100% of the time.

Actually, I would have to agree that with ANY work in SL, if you're not doing it because you like to do it, if you're only in it 'for the money', you should think long and hard about just logging off and getting a RL minumum wage job somewhere to pick up a few bucks, and just use some of that money to buy Lindens for when you play in SL. Because even the best paying work in SL doesn't pay as much money as most of the lowest paid real world jobs in America or most of the rest of the world. You can earn more in an hour by walking along a line of traffic at a busy intersection with a bucket of water and a squeegee, offering to wash people's windows for tips while they wait for a long traffic light, than you can spending the same amount of hours doing almost any job in SL, short of whole-sim building projects or being a major land baron.

It doesn't matter if youre dancing, or being an escort, or designing and selling clothes, or building whole sims. If the work itself is not enjoyable to you, the small compensation you earn in tips or in direct pay within SL doesn't amount to enough to make doing something unpleasant a worthwhile way to spend your time.

Unfortunately, a lot of people are playing SL with no stipends, no credit card, and no way to earn Lindens other than low-pay jobs where you work mostly for tips. Until they learn some better skills or come up with a way to buy L$, this is the best many of them can do. And I would definitely rather have them entertaining people instead of sitting like zombies on camping chairs or dance pads, just to scrape up a few L$. So I would still say that if you can afford to tip them well, try to do so.

To hit a few more nails on heads:

Tips (in SL and RL) come when someone in the service industry does a service for you personally... and this translates as to why the DJs make the most tips, the host makes the next highest, and the dancers make less....

If anyone thinks they aren't making enough tips, its not because the people aren't tipping anymore. It's because you're not doing the right things to subliminally induce tipping.

Tips don't come because of the amount of work someone does for the event to be a success. tips come when a service is personally done for a patron. People in a club aren't going to know who did what to make the event happen.

As a DJ, I definitely know what to do to cause an influx in my tips.... and it's not because I'm 'handling a bunch of things at once' or 'doing a good job' (I teach workshops for DJs in SL, the 'how to induce tipping as a DJ' topic is part of that. IM me inworld if you are interested)

.... The reason why dancers are feeling slighted in the tips is because the dancers are not doing the things that could be done to cause more tipping. They may be working their butts off, and they may be doing a lot.... but if they are not getting tips, then either the patrons do not realize how hard they are working, or the dancers are not doing the right things that would cause someone to tip. Anyone not getting tipped needs to take a step back and try to figure out what they can do to change their act.... It's not the patron's fault because they don't tip the dancers.

It really has to do with a person to person interaction and a service provided.
speaking for myself, I wouldn't tip a dancer if they are offering me things I don't want.
Each patron may be looking for something different, and when you hit their interest, that's when the tip comes. One person may want a dance with a dancer. Another person may want the dancer to strip. Another person may want a good conversation. Another person may need help with the club.

The one other aspect to this is the method of receiving tips.... this is very important and usually forgotten. The DJ gets a lot of tips because he is in one spot, and the tip jar is right next to him. If you're going to move around because your job requires it, you need to have a tip jar that follows with you. People need to be able to look right at you and see a tipjar directly to the side of you always, so they know that you're there working and accepting tips.

EDIT: One other important thing is to have all of the staff filled in and supporting one another. The DJ with very little ease can say over the mic to tip the dancers, host, etc.
Furthermore, working together with your staff to help eachother tips always works better.
It's free to type and have conversations... use it as a subtle promo for a fellow co-worker.
When I am not DJing, but just hanging out at the club I work at (or partaking in something I want to tip for but don't have the money) I usually say "This party is so cool!! These people deserve your tips. Hook em up" or something like that.

Interesting question.

When I was a hostess, we were paid by the owners of the club. There was a tip jar for the venue, not for the staff, and at the end of an event, if the owners or an off-duty hostess was there someone might suggest that the patrons "show their appreciation for the hostess". Some said thank you, some tipped, and I was happy with either. I'd say a usual tip from those who did was 50-100L.

We didn't have dancers, and usually if there was a DJ it was the owner or one of the hostesses, so I can't really address that part of the question based on my work experience.

At the club I go to now, I usually go on trivia or MadBonds night, both of which take a LOT of effort on the part of the hostess. I try to tip both hostess and DJ 100L near the beginning of the evening, and if I do well at the game and it looks as though I'll be leaving with more lindens than I came with I tip them again. I've not yet spotted a tip jar for the venue, so I try to do a little shopping at the owners' store after the event.

As far as the value of money in SL - sure, 250L is just under one US dollar. It's also roughly the cost of an average dress, hairstyle, pair of shoes, dance at Sine Wave, or week's skybox rental. (Maybe a low average, but roughly...) I never made any RL money as a hostess, but even smaller tips added up fairly quickly to help finance my SL.

(Gosh, y'all are making me nostalgic. This thread is almost enough to make me want to start hostessing again...)

/me grins. Well if you were hostessing back in 2006 it's definitely got to make you feel nostalgic, because that's how old this thread is... O.o

Ack! Caught by a necropost!

I was a hostess from May 2007 until the middle of this year, with a few months off here and there when RL caught up with me.

Interesting, though - I know there's been a more recent thread about tipping at clubs, and the comment was made that tipping had declined "in recent times" - and yet I see the same statement being made in a two-year-old thread...