Tip Jars in Retail Stores

I have a wishing well, I dont consider that the same thing.. it's more like a novelty and sometimes someone will put 1L in and make thier wish. But a tip jar no.

How about a tip jar that has a picture of you and ever time it goes over a certain amount it removes one of your clothes in the picture.

Oh yes, in many places in Europe it is added into the check. I believe a few places in the USA do that, but only a few.

I am sure that most of the places in SL that have tip jars out is to meet expenses. A hard thing to do in there sometimes. Every penny counts.

Okay. It is not that way here at all.

Waiter/Waitresses make less than minimum wage in mane cases as a wage / And then get mostly paid for with tips.

A lot of other jobs are minimum wage or darn near and supplemented with tips - such as Valets / Pizza Delivery Drivers

And other jobs pay a bit more but its still heavily tips - such as hair-stylists /etc.

And of course some jobs are ENTIRELY tips - such as exotic dancers.

I have a tip jar that gives out a random fortune when people tip it, I have considered making different types (looks) and putting them for sale, but for now it just sits and gets a few tips

I did it because I thought it was cute, people tip it because they want to
has nothing to do with greed

That would be paying for a *ahem* service

I've allways frowned upon merchants who expect their customers to offer them tips. If they can't cover their tier then they should either make better products of downsize until their sales can support their expenses.

However the above view does have exceptions. Rustica for example. I've visited that store a few times with no intention of purchasing anything, but purely to marvel at the build and enjoy the experience. I thnk stores like Rustica are as much an attraction as a commercial business so in that instance I would have offered a large tip to show my appreciaton to a fellow builder (seeing as the official rating system was abolished). I never saw a tip jar there so the store earned itself a place in my picks. Stores like this a rarety though.

Unless it had a lot of freebies, I would say that a tip jar in a store is tacky.

Well, we used to have tipjars in our store.. but that was a pretty different business. The idea was, we had a sales force, employed people who were earning something like 90L perhour, to sit in the store, greet people, answer questions, etc.

The tipjars in the store, allowed customers to "tip" the staff.

I've never really understood the strength of a "tipjar" concept, I mean.. you can just pay the person directly, except as a way for unscrupulous club owners to skim their dancers' tips. (yes, I said unscrupulous). However tipjars DO provide something of a visual inducement, at party venues and such, to "tip the DJ" who may otherwise go untipped. And a dancer without a tipjar, will earn a lot less in tips than a dancer with one.

Honestly, I can think of several reasons someone might operate a tipjar in their retail store.. particularly if they regularly hold classes, or provide some form of community hangout space, or.. if they routinely do custom fittings or whatever... the tipjar is a handy reminder to tip.

Something also to keep in mind, "Freebie" and "cheapbie" shops don't pay their own bills with sales, and very often DO run on the goodwill of the owner, and the donations of others.

In my shop, there's not much call for one. There's no staff, and unlike a few shops I can think of, there's not a huge meeting space for classes or hanging out. It's just a store.

Of course, if I ever get my little sidewalk cafe set up, the coffee cart probably will have a small tipjar.

4K for a Door?..

maybe I am undercharging in a big way .. haha



anyway.. Begging for Tips in a store that has product for sale is Rude and Disgusting. If I felt that I needed extra income, I would make more stuff or raise my prices ..

There is no way I would ever expect a tip if someone has already paid my asking price. Setting up a "fake" Tip Jar, which I am sure most are looks fishy and I would never buy one thing from that person, because it looks like a con-job to start.

If you want to feel more loved and appreciated for your work.. put up one of those silly Voting Stations. I have one.. and even though it does absolutely nothing at all.. it still make you feel better when you get the daily email of how many people clicked on it.. even if its just 1 or 2 haha

unless you of course are so desperate for self gratification that you use your alts to vote for you..

I must admit I have never understood this part of US culture.

Paying for service is one thing, and that is clearly not hard to understand but service charges should be a fixed amount and not even remotely optional in any part as they are not linked to performance.

A tip is entirely different, a tip is a reward for doing something outstanding which is not in the scope of the job. This is something that is entirely up to the patron to decide how much.
However in the US it has been my experience that if you do not tip a waiter/waitress/performer regardless of how good their service has been then it is considered to be really bad form.

It seems that tipping the US way is a mixture of both concepts and it is no wonder other nations have difficulty with it.

I personally would not tip a shop that just sells products. I would tip venues and performers etc if/when I feel they have earned it in some way. If the performer was rubbish then I would not tip them for their time as they have in effect wasted mine. Sounds harsh but that is the true nature of tipping. If a person feels they deserve a less risky income then an upfront charge is more appropriate.
it comes down the expectations on both sides and the term "tipping" is very much misused in my opinion.

A merchant and frequent poster here has what I think is a perfect alternative. She has in her store a place where you may contribute to her favorite charity. It happens, also to be mine, but that is beside the point.

If you like the charity, you can contribute - if you appreciate the merchant, you can contribute. It is the exact opposite of "tacky" (as is her store and her merchandise) it's first class in every way.

after seeing how people feel about tipjars I am removing the one I have in the store, I thought it was cute, it was not there as a form of begging, and now that I have the lucky fortune teller game, the fortune telling tipjar is kinda redundant hehe

I might make some different "types" and put it up for sale... we will see

Basically ..

You tip what is expected for reasonable service.

You tip well for exceptional service.

You tip poorly for poor service

You don't tip at all for atrocious service.

How is a person from another culture supposed to know what is an expected amount? Or even what constitutes reasonable service. It even differs from region to region. All too subjective for me I am afraid. I like my dining out and shopping to be simple, tell me what I owe you and then I pay. If the service needs to be paid for then add it to the bill as a service charge. I do not want to be paying your staff part of their wages directly. If the staff do something truly exceptional just for me then I will consider tipping, otherwise I want a straight bill.

Re tipping in U.S. restaurants and bars. Yes our system is awful. It allows the owner to underpay the wait staff and allows the customers to stiff them. A much better system would be the wait staff receiving such good wages that they'll give great service to avoid losing their good paying jobs. But then the restaurant owner would have to raise prices and they are all afraid they will lose business if they do.

As for how do strangers know what to do, if they want to avoid faux pas I guess they have to research our strange customs before they come. (A 15% -20% tip for food servers is customary, by which I mean you are stealing someone's labor if you give less and making their day if you give more.)

As for putting a tip jar in a retail shop there are probably lots of reasons why it would be appropriate in some places. I wouldn't expect to see one in a place that has quality merchandise that people are willing to pay for.