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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Same as any service...between 15-20%...depending on how it went and the masseuse did.

+1!

[Anonymous]

I can't believe all the people who don't tip or only tip a small amount.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:i am both an employed massage therapist at a five star spa in a five star hotel - and - i also have my own massage practice. i have been practicing for 11 years - and i have a bit to say about all of this :
whereas - as a whole - massage therapy is very rewarding career - here are a few facts :
--the average yearly salary for a massage therapist is just over $35,000. seeing hundreds of clients throughout the year - people skimping $5 or $10 on their tip adds up over time - and can equal a mother or father's ability to pay for a child's schooling, or a well-deserved vacation.
-- the average career span for a massage therapist is 5 - 7 years. the burnout rate is high. repetitive motion takes its toll.

at the hotel - i receive roughly 30% of what the hotel is charging (minus taxes, etc - b/c i am also considered an "employee" - for their own tax purposes)
(we used to be "contractors" - but they decided to switch us to employees - and we now receive about 15% less per paycheck - a huge savings for the hotel - not so great for the massage therapists)
i now get about $30 / hour massage. as a result - i often LIVE off of my tips. as do most massage therapists. if a client tips $20 - i am still only receiving $50 / massage.
for those who think that making $50 / hour is a lot - see average massage income (above)

in my own personal business - i charge less than the going local rate (average is roughly $75 - $90 /hr - i charge $65) and i don't even think twice about a tip.
given that my clients know that the hotel charges TWICE as much as my personal massages - they tend to tip. but i do not expect it
i do expect it at the hotel. and it boggles my mind when people do not - as a rule - tip at least 15 - 20%. especially when they receive a massage that is above average.
if i'm at a restaurant - and the service is above average - i will drop 30% - no problem.

summary - if you are going to a local business to get a massage - the massage therapists are generally NOT getting paid nearly as much as they would be if they were working for themselves.
tip them WELL - they work really hard. if you can tell they're not working hard - tip them 15%. if they're knocking it out of the park - drop 30%.

Is the 35k average people who do this full time? Or includes people who are doing it part time or are lots of them just starting out. At $50 an hour that's only 700 hours of massage. That's less than 60 hours a month. Is that typical?

Seriously. I'd love to get $35k if I could only work 60 hours a month. Heck, the hourly rate is almost double what I get as a government attorney.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a massage therapist. We don't receive half of the money you're paying for your massage. For a 90 minute massage at my place of employment (which is a great, fair place of employment) I make about 25% of what you're paying. Also, massage therapists aren't supposed to work a 40 hour week due to the high demand on our bodies. (How many jobs do you have to ice your entire arms after work?). Therefore it's harder to actually make a huge income just doing massage.

When I massage I am giving you 100% of my attention and exhausting my own body to bring relief to your's. I do believe that does deserve a tip. My anatomy knowledge and staying up to date. Me going above and beyond to make your experience as perfect as possible...some clients I read ahead on new tips for their specific condition. That all deserves a tip.

For me I'd say base rate. For a 60 minute no less than $10, for a 90 minute $15-20, for 2 hours $30. That's what most of my clients pay and that's reasonable and fair, considering your tip is you directly paying your therapist for her work not the charge you're paying for the building and music and heated table and candles.

As for if someone is a private contractor I used to do house calls with my table. Tips are great but not as big of a deal. If someone is driving to you...tip them. If you feel they really did an incredible job tip them. But honestly, since they are getting so much more of the pay its not as big of a deal which means not as big of a tip.

How is it the client's fault the owner takes 75%? Why aren't therapists pushing back for a higher cut? Why do clients have to chip 8n more not the owners?

[Anonymous]

I am tired of tipping. It seems like every place you go now everyone expects a tip. I would rather pay the higher rate and let employers pay their employees what they should.

[Anonymous]

I always tip 15% minimum but don't go back if the massage is lackluster. If it is a good massage and they don't chatter through the massage, I tip $15 for a $60 massage. The last 3 massages I tipped $20 because she was really great -- but this last time she only did 45 minutes. When I asked, she said I got a "clinical hour" -- 50 minutes (I guess waiting for her to come in after I got on the table was part of that hour). I went ahead and tipped the $20 but won't go back.
I have always received 60 minutes -- is this something new or is this therapist running differently from most?

[Anonymous]

Yes you pay a fee for a massage but it doesn't mean that person makes that much especially if they work for a company everyone needs to stop complaining if you can't afford to tip don't go! Usually it's the big businesses charging you so much n there are people out there working for you to make you comfortable on pennies you dint know their story or why they do that job mabey they like it mabey they're working in a college degree so stop jugding n just pay the darn tip ! You wouldn't have these services if it wasn't for these people that are in that industry !

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: I don't go out to eat and short my waitress on her tip because I think she gets paid enough for her "chosen" industry. I do some math against my bill for a STARTING point then add or subtract based on the SERVICE I received. If I eat $100 worth of food, why would my tip go down?

Do you make $2.46/hr like that waitress your speaking of? Because that's why she gets tipped.

[Anonymous]

$10 - Just like the hair stylist. Shampoo girl $5.

[Anonymous]

I would just like to point out that my wife is an Athletic Trainer. She is a emergency first-responder and a medical professional. She has a Masters of Science in Athletic Training, which included all sorts of medical training and cost a small fortune in schooling. On top of that, she must complete continuing education credits to stay licensed, has to pay for her licenses, and carries her own liability insurance. Her yearly costs to stay active in her field are around $600, sometimes more depending on the cost to obtain the required continuing education credits. She works with athletes on a daily basis. This includes carrying around heavy loads, working with sweaty linens and sweaty athletes, dealing with blood, bone fractures (sometimes with bones protruding from the skin), and all sorts of other gross things like wrapping sweaty feet. But despite all that, she loves her job. She gets paid about $22/hr. She doesn't get tips. She makes less than $30k per year, because she works for a school and doesn't have work to do during the summer. If she had work during the summer, she would still make less than $35k per year. Her job also includes occasional massaging of athletes. She also has to wash the linens for the athletes, and clean the water bottles, both of which she does at home at her own expense, and off the clock.

Personally, I value a good massage. And I tip for a good massage as long as the place does not explicitly state that they don't accept tips. But, I think any massage therapist making more than $20/hr ($160 per day) and demanding tips of 20% should get off their high horse or find a new line of work. Now, I actually tip $15 - $20 for a 90 minute massage if the massage was good to great. But that's only because I make over $100/hr doing consulting on top of the roughly $85/hr I make at my day job. I can cover the entire cost of a 90 minute massage with a $20 tip in a single hour of consulting. Trading an hour of work for an hour and a half of relaxation seems like a win to me. My wife, on the other hand, views the cost a bit differently. She sees the cost of a 90 minute massage as roughly 4 hours of work and the cost of tip adding roughly an extra hour, bringing it up to 5 hours of work for 90 minutes of relaxation. Her value equation is totally different than mine. And, the sad fact is that 97% of the population in Ohio makes less than me, so 97% of the population is going to see a value equation looking more like her view than my view. More interestingly, all of her earnings are going to retirement savings. I am covering all of our living expenses, and our discretionary expenses. So, technically, she is not even paying for her massages. But, she still views the cost in hours of her working time. She does not view them in hours of my time.

So, if you are a massage therapist, my advice would be accept ANY tip you get (no matter how small) as a welcome and UNEXPECTED bonus, and realize that there are other people out there who have more education costs than you, more licensing costs than you, and deal with worse body issues than you while being paid around the same or less than you, who also don't receive tips of any kind. If you don't like that, pick another line of work. And if your employer pays your less than $160 per day for a salary, find a new employer or start your own practice. If enough of you do so, your employers will be forced to address the poor pay. Be entrepreneurial and start your own practice and hire away all your employer's lower wage workers.

[Anonymous]

I tip $10/half hour. That's about what I get ripped.
But set an amount and don't just give your change. Yo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would just like to point out that my wife is an Athletic Trainer. She is a emergency first-responder and a medical professional. She has a Masters of Science in Athletic Training, which included all sorts of medical training and cost a small fortune in schooling. On top of that, she must complete continuing education credits to stay licensed, has to pay for her licenses, and carries her own liability insurance. Her yearly costs to stay active in her field are around $600, sometimes more depending on the cost to obtain the required continuing education credits. She works with athletes on a daily basis. This includes carrying around heavy loads, working with sweaty linens and sweaty athletes, dealing with blood, bone fractures (sometimes with bones protruding from the skin), and all sorts of other gross things like wrapping sweaty feet. But despite all that, she loves her job. She gets paid about $22/hr. She doesn't get tips. She makes less than $30k per year, because she works for a school and doesn't have work to do during the summer. If she had work during the summer, she would still make less than $35k per year. Her job also includes occasional massaging of athletes. She also has to wash the linens for the athletes, and clean the water bottles, both of which she does at home at her own expense, and off the clock.

Personally, I value a good massage. And I tip for a good massage as long as the place does not explicitly state that they don't accept tips. But, I think any massage therapist making more than $20/hr ($160 per day) and demanding tips of 20% should get off their high horse or find a new line of work. Now, I actually tip $15 - $20 for a 90 minute massage if the massage was good to great. But that's only because I make over $100/hr doing consulting on top of the roughly $85/hr I make at my day job. I can cover the entire cost of a 90 minute massage with a $20 tip in a single hour of consulting. Trading an hour of work for an hour and a half of relaxation seems like a win to me. My wife, on the other hand, views the cost a bit differently. She sees the cost of a 90 minute massage as roughly 4 hours of work and the cost of tip adding roughly an extra hour, bringing it up to 5 hours of work for 90 minutes of relaxation. Her value equation is totally different than mine. And, the sad fact is that 97% of the population in Ohio makes less than me, so 97% of the population is going to see a value equation looking more like her view than my view. More interestingly, all of her earnings are going to retirement savings. I am covering all of our living expenses, and our discretionary expenses. So, technically, she is not even paying for her massages. But, she still views the cost in hours of her working time. She does not view them in hours of my time.

So, if you are a massage therapist, my advice would be accept ANY tip you get (no matter how small) as a welcome and UNEXPECTED bonus, and realize that there are other people out there who have more education costs than you, more licensing costs than you, and deal with worse body issues than you while being paid around the same or less than you, who also don't receive tips of any kind. If you don't like that, pick another line of work. And if your employer pays your less than $160 per day for a salary, find a new employer or start your own practice. If enough of you do so, your employers will be forced to address the poor pay. Be entrepreneurial and start your own practice and hire away all your employer's lower wage workers.

I'm an MT who can't stand the tipping culture. And if my employer gives me a good cut of what the customer pays, that's enough for me. Actually, I prefer not being tipped and being paid well instead.

You should know that we too have to pay our continuing Ed, licensing and insurance fees which equal about the same as your wife's.

You may PAY $55 for an hour but your therapist is making at best, half that and most likely making more like $14.

Starting your own business requires a lot of money which many people don't have. Also, we can only work about 20 hours a week without injuring ourselves out of the field. I personally tried to be an exception and was injured for two years.

Many of us have undergraduate and masters degrees, just not in this field. Stop assuming that our education is limited to high school and 6 months of massage school.

If you don't like the tipping culture, tell the owner you resent having to cover what should be his/her expenses. You seem to be upset with the wrong person.

[Anonymous]

I totally agree that masseuses are not the same as a waitress. They get paid more than $2 an hour. Waitresses rely on tips to fill in for their hourly wage. For the woman who said she busts her butt giving massages 25 hours a week, and doesn't sit on her butt at a desk all day, you got jokes!!! Sitting at a desk all day, working for higher ups, meeting deadlines, dealing with harrassing clients, jammed up copy machines, neverending phones ringing, and bosses breathing down your neck is FAR more stressful than standing in a dimly lit room smelling incense and listening to relaxing music. Please... I haven't seen a single masseuse break a sweat giving me a massage, and sadly, the last 5 out of 7 massages I got all sucked! Its the one luxury I afford myself and I pay $54 a month for a 50 (not even 60) minute massage. Last one was so bad, I literally wanted to get off the table halfway thru and just leave. But I didn't want to insult the woman so I just stayed quietly HOPING something better was about to happen. But it never did. I still left her a decent tip. Just because you chose to be a masseuse doesn't mean you're entitled to XXX amount of money! Get over yourself! Many professionals with years of experience and college degrees can barely find work for more than $10 an hour these days. Stop with your jokes!

[Anonymous]

depends on if it came with a happy ending!

[Anonymous]

Always, always 20%