How much do you tip a massage therapist for a 60 minute massage?

[Anonymous]

Obviously, you are not massage therapists. 20% +, based on what the massage is worth. And NO, most massage therapists do NOT make 50%. Unless they are on their own. A $10 tip for an hour massage is like a slap in the face. Just saying.

[Anonymous]

I work at a membership based clinic. I would love to do away with tipping. Seriously, it's a big pain in the butt white knuckling it when it comes to my finances. Though I love what I do, and I love helping people, let's face it, I'm there to make a living and sometimes relying on people's generosity and whims I fall short financially which is very stressful. An unhappy therapist isn't going to be as effective as a happy one, they'll burn out like a light bulb and you will feel it in their touch. I make $18/hr now from my work place and I can comfortably do somewhere around 20 massages a week, but due to people who feel the world owes them for existing I often have to do far beyond what's comfortable for me. Anyway I would love to be paid $40 an hour and know that that was what was coming to me for 20 hours a week. 20 hours a week would probably save me from some of the lower back pain, shoulder pain and headaches that I sometimes find myself working through only to wind up getting stiffed. Anyway, I digress. Some things would have to happen probably because the clinic isn't going to take a measly $20 for my hard work, they're used to taking 70% and giving me 30. So what would probably wind up happening if we did away with tipping and paid the therapists a liveable wage which is not reliant upon consumer generosity is that we would have to take 18 and divide it by 60. We come out with roughly 30%. So if we paid the therapists $40/hr and membership based clinics wanted to keep their split at 70%, they'd be looking at having to double their price because $40 is 1/3 of $120. Those would be the cheap guys.

So in essence we could do away with the unspoken obligation to throw at least a $10 or preferably $20 bill to the poor guy or gal who busted their asses to make you happy by charging you double of what you're paying now.

OH and if you think 20 hours a week is nothing in terms of a work load, you try doing several consecutive deep tissue or sports massages. You try to empathize with 20 different folks about their aches and pains, depression, anxiety and chronic issues and then get back to me. Believe me, if you can't empathize or relate to folks, you won't last through your first year in this profession. As for the massage itself it's not just a rubdown, it's a full body exercise and you don't get to pause for a rest for 60 sometimes 90 or even 2 hours straight. Then you change your sheets and do it again. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do, but I don't love my hard work and good intentions being abused by either employers or clients, and I don't love seeing it happen to other folks either.

[Anonymous]

$10 for 60 min service. Its $90 but I usually get a groupon etc but still tip $10.

[Anonymous]

I know this is going to sound meaner than I intend it to, and I don't begrudge anyone the right to make a living and do well for themselves. But sometimes I have a hard time when people complain about "only" making $20 per hour, etc. (40Kish) in a job that requires a HS diploma and trade school. There are those of us who make 40K and have master's degrees. Part of choosing a profession is being clear about what it takes to get there and what the market determines that work to be worth (rightly or wrongly).

[Anonymous]

Seriously after reading more and more...these MT are sure whining about their work. If you think rubbing on body is tough work, try working in boatyard or construction which sometimes pays lower than comeback and tell me about tough work. I try to imagine really how much of a toll it takes on a MT and that's a complete joke. If you think just because you give a deep tissue massage for 60 mins a day, 3-5 times a day is to much work, try carrying 70-80lbs of weight for 8-12hrs a day; and see how fast you MT see how good you really have it. Now that is really tough work which puts real stress on the body. I use to tip 20-25 dollars a massage for an HR, after reading these posts believe now that's going to drop. So where clear here at Massage Envy they make 15HR or at other places you make 20-25% of the cover charge which lets round off to 64 bucks so at 20% that's 12.80 and at 25% that's 16.00 plus normal 15%-20% tip that boost the pay to 22.40-25.60HR(20%), or 25.60-28.80HR(25%) that's more than some of the people that I know that actually work real tough jobs cleaning up messes which none of these MT would dare touch or lifting things on their backs putting real stress on it. You MT just ran off saying these office workers don't know real work....get it right you don't too. Try putting yourselves on they one of these guys shoes for a week and see how long you last. You guys think your sometimes have to go far and beyond doing what's comfortable for you, those kind of comments make me laugh. Too bad for my MT I'm going to see today since I'm a regular because you guys just lowered here tips for showing me how you MT really think and how you get paid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seriously after reading more and more...these MT are sure whining about their work. If you think rubbing on body is tough work, try working in boatyard or construction which sometimes pays lower than comeback and tell me about tough work. I try to imagine really how much of a toll it takes on a MT and that's a complete joke. If you think just because you give a deep tissue massage for 60 mins a day, 3-5 times a day is to much work, try carrying 70-80lbs of weight for 8-12hrs a day; and see how fast you MT see how good you really have it. Now that is really tough work which puts real stress on the body. I use to tip 20-25 dollars a massage for an HR, after reading these posts believe now that's going to drop. So where clear here at Massage Envy they make 15HR or at other places you make 20-25% of the cover charge which lets round off to 64 bucks so at 20% that's 12.80 and at 25% that's 16.00 plus normal 15%-20% tip that boost the pay to 22.40-25.60HR(20%), or 25.60-28.80HR(25%) that's more than some of the people that I know that actually work real tough jobs cleaning up messes which none of these MT would dare touch or lifting things on their backs putting real stress on it. You MT just ran off saying these office workers don't know real work....get it right you don't too. Try putting yourselves on they one of these guys shoes for a week and see how long you last. You guys think your sometimes have to go far and beyond doing what's comfortable for you, those kind of comments make me laugh. Too bad for my MT I'm going to see today since I'm a regular because you guys just lowered here tips for showing me how you MT really think and how you get paid.

That's ridiculous. Everyone thinks their job is physically, mentally, and emotionally demanding than everyone else's and everyone gets stressed out about their jobs at times and may vent. To take it out on your therapist is just wrong.

[Anonymous]

As a master's prepared health professional I have to maintain certifications, licensesure, CEU's as well as other mandatory requirements annually. I save lives for a living and I chose this profession. I don't get tips for doing my job.

[Anonymous]

Do you tip your dental hygienist?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you tip your dental hygienist?

You have a really weird dental hygienist if she is rubbinung your naked body.
These are completely different services or atleast they should be. Yikes.

[Anonymous]

If you chose to do a certain job you are aware which work you will be doing and how much money you will be making. I do not tip anyone else but servers at restaurants (if they do a great job) and childcare providers (if they do a great job). I work VERY hard for MY money too, you know...if I go somewhere and spend money on something I am not going to spend more than it says I owe. If the massage is $50, I pay $50 (probably plus tax). I will not add anything for anyone. If that's not enough money for you, up your rates. I am not responsible for someone elses shortcoming when it comes to setting rates. Take it up with your employer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
If you can't afford to tip, don't go out. That goes for anyone in any industry whether it's food, spa, or any other related. If someone busts their ass and you notice it's a slow night, yes, they would appreciate a hefty tip. If someone isn't busting their ass and just gives sloppy work then tip is up to you but as stated beforehand, if you can't afford the tip, don't use the service. I work as a waitress and trust me when I say my coworkers make sure to remember, and not take care of, bad tippers.

If you're not happy with the $10/15/20/whatever you are making per hour at your job, go get a different job. Entitled much!?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you chose to do a certain job you are aware which work you will be doing and how much money you will be making. I do not tip anyone else but servers at restaurants (if they do a great job) and childcare providers (if they do a great job). I work VERY hard for MY money too, you know...if I go somewhere and spend money on something I am not going to spend more than it says I owe. If the massage is $50, I pay $50 (probably plus tax). I will not add anything for anyone. If that's not enough money for you, up your rates. I am not responsible for someone elses shortcoming when it comes to setting rates. Take it up with your employer.

Wow. You are kind of a miserable selfish person. So if they raised the price by 20% you'd be ok with that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you chose to do a certain job you are aware which work you will be doing and how much money you will be making. I do not tip anyone else but servers at restaurants (if they do a great job) and childcare providers (if they do a great job). I work VERY hard for MY money too, you know...if I go somewhere and spend money on something I am not going to spend more than it says I owe. If the massage is $50, I pay $50 (probably plus tax). I will not add anything for anyone. If that's not enough money for you, up your rates. I am not responsible for someone elses shortcoming when it comes to setting rates. Take it up with your employer.

Wow. You are kind of a miserable selfish person. So if they raised the price by 20% you'd be ok with that?

Yes I would. Meaning I am not selfish. I hate people hiding behind bogus arguments especially when it comes to tipping. Waving around $50 massages but then expecting a $25 tip...make the massage $75, be honest about your rates and give people the choice to go and pay or not go then.

[Anonymous]

NP here. Yes it would be so much better for all involved !

[Anonymous]

If everyone just stopped tipping anywhere, the whole problem would eventually solve itself. Expected tips of 15-20% or more are just a SCAM. Prices look much less expensive that way, than they really are. Employees get paid below minimum wages and don't get what they deserve - they have to rely on the tip. That is just wrong, tips should be extra, on top of a decent wage.

Don't get me wrong, I want to pay a fair price for the service I am getting, but I want to know that price up front. I want the employee to get fair wages and to be able to pay their bills and have some extra. In most other countries, tipping is never expected. It is appreciated of course, but tips are given for above average and exceptional services, or in order to motivate someone to perform the services better or faster than usual. That's how it should be. Business owners need to take responsibility here and pay their employees fair wages, they need to charge prices that cover their expenses and the fair wages. The only way to enforce that is to stop default-tipping completely (only tip if you really liked the service). That will eventually put pressure on the employers to raise salaries, as they wont find good employees at the low wages (without the default tips). Another problem of the huge tipping habits is that most of that money (especially cash tips) does not get reported as income on the tax returns. That illegal practice costs the government millions (money they need to collect somewhere else). A tip system for only special service is more fair for everyone.