How much do you tip a massage therapist for a 60 minute massage?
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Anonymous
So, I work retail full time, make less than $12 an hour and I really work hard every day, especially this time of year, and I don't get tipped, even though I go above and beyond what's EXPECTED of me. Why on earth would I tip 15% when I can feel a massage therapist isn't working hard for the $80 I've already paid for their lack luster massage? If I half assed my job and didn't put my all into it with every customer (which is more than one customer an hour, more like 30-40) I not only wouldn't get a tip (which I'm not allowed to accept anyways or I'd face termination), but I'd be fired. Massages are wonderful and a great benefit to one's health, but I don't tip my nurse at the doctor's office or even my doctor for that matter. When I get a massage, it's a treat to myself and I have to work a LOT to make the money needed to pay for the service in the first place. Tipping a waiter or a delivery driver is one thing as they usually get paid less than minimum wage and that's just not fair, but getting 25%-50% of the already high price of the massage session as their bar salary is not bad at all! $15 - $20 an hour is a great rate in most markets and I'd love to get that kind of pay. I'm not saying that massage therapists don't work hard and I'm not against tipping them, but I think it's wrong that a patron at a spa (not a patient in a clinic) is EXPECTED to tip for what is generally an expensive service or that patron runs the risk of being considered rude. Summary, I definitely will NOT tip as high as 15% when I can tell my therapist isn't really doing their job well. At that point, I'll still tip, but not because I want the therapist to pay their bills (that's what their wage is for), but because my grandmother, who was a waitress and bartender for years, taught me that if you tip only a little, the worker knows they should have done better, but if you don't tip at all, the worker will think you are just cheap and don't tip anybody and then they won't work to improve their service. |
Anonymous
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IF you think that your therapist is making a LOT of money....ask the front desk how much your therapist is being paid.
As a therapist at a spa and a clinic and a chiropractor I can tell you generally the rate of pay IS LOW! And yet schooling runs $10,000-$15,000 or more and requires at least 6 months and ALSO requires therapists to pay for continuing education classes every year, carry their own liability insurance AND pay for their own state licensing every single year! Figure $400 per year just to practice! Additionally due to repetitive stress to the hands, wrists and joints a therapist can't/won't usually work more than 25 hours a week MAX! Expected career span for a LMT is ONLY SEVEN YEARS! Due to repetitive stress injuries. Additionally therapists are paid ONLY for the time that they are giving massage. If I am there 8 hours but work only 90 minutes, I get paid for 90 minutes! Chiropractors pay between $18 and $33 per hour. Typically no tips. So even $5 is nice. I've seen chiro's pay as little as $15/hr. Envy/Heights/Elements (membership base clinics) pay $15-18 an hour. Will max at $20 but therapists rarely stay 5 years. Spa's usually it's like between 30% and 50% of the charge. but 50% is RARE. Where I work 50 minute Swedish is $90 and I get paid $22. Every therapist appreciates the gratuity. Some therapists are counting on it to pay the bills. But it is rare to be tipped through a chiropractic office or PT office. Otherwise here is how I feel and see others feel about tips for a one hour session (50 minutes hands on) Zero: Shameful. If you leave me nothing and come back again, don't expect my best work. Good work, but not my best. That said: I have had a LOT of bad massages out there. Communicate what you want. If it is that bad still, don't tip. $5: Wow. You better be in a tough spot. But I won't give you my best work next time. Thumbs are the first to go. And I won't give you my thumbs. $10: acceptable but nothing special or inspiring. $15: I know that you appreciate my work, my education and my commitment. $20: You get my very best every time. I am committed to you and your health and well-being. I may give you extra time, better lotion or other little freebies to let you know you are appreciated. More than that and you got the massage of a lifetime and you really do appreciate it. |
Anonymous
So should you tip the mechanic or doctor? They are in the service industry... |
Anonymous
I don't sit at a desk either, and I also work hard, and our hourly rates are in the same range...but yet, I don't get tipped. So yeah... |
Anonymous
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Normal tip average range in nyc is $15-20 for a 1hr booked session with a professional therapist. $10-15 for 45/30 min service. You can always add more depending if your experience was met to your needs. Please also add alittle more for deep tissue or hot stone massage since it is very hard on the therapist's themselves applying pressure or heat or spending alil more time then your real appt session. You might not agree with everything I say in this forum and that is okay. I'm not trying to overprice gratuities, since yet again it all depends on the individual's choice
But beaware that there are a lot of well experienced therapist that don't have their own private practices and yet don't get a hourly rate pay like most workers do. Therapist mostly only get paid for what they get booked and yet they get taxed off from paycheck and cash tips by the end of the year of course as any other workers. Some francises pay the L.MT.only12-14 dollars for a booked hour session (xpress, envy, hand&stone) and they also don't get paid for training days or on shift*cleaning laundry etc . Sometimes therapists don't get credits for all their hard effort and schooling. They pay a lot of money for school and continuing education courses, cpr training renewal, 3 years state license renewal, and massage insurance every year. In the long run they use up the body to help other bodies over well being. Just be considerate sometimes. This applies to every labor job that make money of from tips. |
Anonymous
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As a massage therapist and business owner, here's what I say:
A) Before I went back to school for massage therapy, I would tip $20 for a 1 hour massage. Accordingly, a 90 min would be $30. B) For those in the comments making snotty comments about not tipping at all because it's their job, I say this: first, don't go get a massage if you can't tip. Most therapists MAYBE see 20% of that price you are paying the spa. Massage Therapy isn't just touching your body. A real MT went to school with classes that included physiology, anatomy, kinesiology, pathology and other classes. I once studied with a 1st year med student and was learning much of the same things. So, this isn't just some "fluff" profession. So the money you think MTs are making at your spa is going to the spa, not the therapist. Let's also not forget that whatever a therapist makes from a spa as an hourly wage, you can cut by about 50%, because MTs can NOT physically work a 40 hour work week. It is WAY too hard on the body. So, if they make $25 an hour at your spa and you don't tip them, it's like making $12 an hour, which, frankly, sucks. C) If you have a therapist that works out of their home or is their own boss, if they are charging you about $60 an hour, that is fair and you don't need to tip. In fact, I don't accept tips from clients. I tell them if that makes them uncomfortable, their tip can be referring their friends to me. |
Anonymous
I entirely agree with you. We are paying good money for good service. Tips should not automatically be expected for doing your job. Tips are appropriate if the person did more than what was expected or required. But society sets a standard 'tip' process and we all fall into it, oftentimes feeling somewhat resentful. To the person who paid $120 for massage at a spa and the masseuse got $60: If we agree to the 18% or whatever the percent is, it should be on what the masseuse got NOT on the spa's portion! Tricky, tricky. |
Anonymous
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I guess i'm undertipping. I tip whatever cash that is in my pocket, which is usually just $10 for a 60 min massage. If I think I had alot of knots that day and the person was working hard on them, probably a bit more. No more than $20.
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Anonymous
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Wow, Im so happy I stumbled across this site.
Ive had good and bad massages, but I paid regardless. But I wont next time. If its bad I will get up and walk away. The worst was on a beach in Mexico. The woman was chatting with some man for half the time and I caught her pausing and looking around repeatedly during my massage after he walked away! yikes! I dont pay anything over $1=1 minute. (how many people do you know make $60/hr? with an associate degree or certificate)...plus they expect a tip?....lol Someone might of promised the MT a great stable income and great 20% tips but it wasnt me! (probably the institution that collected $10k-$15k from the MT ....Yes im talking about the schools.) Educational institutions always mark up your potential earnings in every major because they want your money and feed off your anticipation of a career. Alot of the MT seem to feel entitled to the tip. Sorry I dont think so, not at all. If you need more money get a full time night job to suppliment the part time career you chose...that way you can keep your schedule free for family and the part time massages you give. I usually only tip $5...gas money (most cars get 15 miles per gallon.) Im not trying to pay for your vacation or light bill or fill your tank. And now I read something on here where a MT said she wont do a good job or wont use her thumbs if someone tips lower than her expected amount...scary!!!!! So are you following your $15k educational training in this case?...Probably not. Either you are a professional or you arent a professional. Just recently I bought a massage package off of Groupon.com for $200 for qty:8 60minute massages! What a bargain right? I jumped right on it and even spoke with the owner. I'm frugal by nature. I'm the kind of person that likes to stretch my money. So I look for deals, coupons, shop clearance first then move into sale items then onto regular priced items...occasionally a goodwill for a large vase. But I noticed some stores have employees that get attitudes when you pull out a coupon....like at Olive Garden or hair salon...or if you remind them the sale on the outside window said 25% discount on Weds...and it's Weds 
So thats why Im online today wondering how much I should tip. But after reading all of the post. Im questioning whether to ever tip again... I used to work security which required me to walk for 12-16 hours 7 days a week for $9.50/hr no one tipped me! It wasnt easy at all and very physically demanding because I was walking inside and outside at all hours of the night/day in all kinds of weather. Cost involved too! So as one person said $35,000 is what they make a year... That's $675 week minues taxes %20..you get paid $540 a week to work part time....and you still want a tip? I concluded that I will pay my MT $3-5 and no more than that!...and that's only..only because of the exceptional discounted goupon I got of basically $25/hr! Once that deal is over I will look for my next deal. |
Anonymous
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You do realize that most massage therapist only work 25-30 hours due to the more intense job we have. I for one ALWAYS tip $20 for an hour. We as therapist touch your body, even glutes, sometimes after a client has worked out without bathing, or sun tanned without bathing, you sweat during massage, etc. You think that's necessary to complain about tipping when a therapist who works at Massage Envy is only making $16 an hour, again, only working 25 hours a week. I use my tip money to feed my family and put gas in my car because my entire paycheck goes to my bills. Or for therapists who rent their own room, they have linens to clean, lotions to buy, again, etc...the money you pay for the actual massage goes to the rent, insurance and continuing education classes we have to take to stay licensed. You people need to come down off your high horse 'oh I don't get tipped for my job' and realize the real situation. I'm sorry I don't sit at a desk for 40 hours, I bust my ass for my money.
I AGREE!!! starting its only $15 an hr.. and that's if you're massaging someone and when you're not there no pay... so image paying for daycare for two children... So if you're so cheap don't comment... |
Anonymous
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Indeed, the situation here is very different for each side.
Let's say you live in New York and you do massage that costs, say, $90, but you get $65 out of those $90, which is more than a half. Then, you don't do massages back-to-back because it is intense, and also because you won't get enough clients. You sit at your spa or sauna all day, or you commute all day, and do, say, 4 massages a day. End up being quite tired and get... $260 for this day as an independent contractor. This is comparable to getting $200 as an employee (minus job security) for an 8-hour day, which is basically $25/hour. Now, for someone who works at McDonald's, $25/hour may seem like a lot. However, for a massage therapist with 10 years of experience, who basically dedicated his life to it, $25/hour is not a lot at all. In fact, when I taught yoga and Argentine Tango, I felt teaching privates for $50/hour was, basically, a joke --- again, because of the commute, because it is unreliable, etc.etc.etc. When someone is doing a private service for you, it will ALWAYS feel expensive to you and not enough for the other person, at least at the current state the society is in (unless you are making way more money than the average person). So, don't think that $90 for an hourly massage in New York is a lot of money. Now, as far as tipping goes, I grew up in Russia and, after moving to America, at first didn't realize how it worked. I thought that tipping was for exceptional service, very special, etc. Later, now that I've lived here for several years, I came to realize that TIPPING IS PART OF THE PRICE. It is part of the price of the service, whether you realize it or not. If you do realize it and refuse to tip for no reason, well, you are taking somebody else's money. The law allows you to get away with it in this case, but it doesn't make it any more ethical. Thus, it is important to understand, what the practices are. Hence this discussion. I'd say, if you have the money, and you don't get massages often (if you do, the therapist gets at least the reliability, that he/she has you as a regular client), and you get a really good massage --- give them a generous tip  You can give 50% if you feel like it; I assure you that all massage therapists I know don't make a great living doing it. (They either have another job, or they kind of make things work.) Making a living on massage, acupuncture, chiropractice, teaching yoga, pilates, personal trainer etc.etc.etc. is not that easy for most people, and all of those things require many years of training to do well... This is just how things are.
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Anonymous
| I can tell that just about everyone who has replied to this post is very uneducated one what is the appropriate tip for massage therapist. I actually read when one of the post that a person believes that the massage therapist received $120-$60 an hour that is completely incorrect. Just because you pay massage envy or a spa to do a massage therapist does not get the full amount as a matter fact that therapist gets very little their hourly wage to employee. As an hourly waged employee they rely on tips for the majority of their income for example if you have a massage envy nearby you and you go to massage envy therapist only receives $15 an hour for giving you the massage so your tip is very important to supplement the wage. The appropriate tip for an hour massage is $20-$25 if you cannot afford the tip do not get a massage. |
Anonymous
| I am an RN now however I have worked in the service industry in the past as a waitress. In the US you get to choose your career. I get paid an hourly wage and must pay my bills, my daughter's college, vacations, and anything else that comes up. I budget my money to make it work. Some pay days are shorter than others because I haven't put in any overtime. At no point in my day between bathing a patient, cleaning up vomit or poop, or being a therapist for family situations do I expect to get a tip. I have to maintain certifications and buy supplies as well but I CHOSE this career. I do think that tipping is out of hand. I tip waitresses well (when deserved) because I know they don't make much an hour. As a masseuse you can work as little or as much as you wish just like a nurse. |
Anonymous
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I have a physically demanding job and have had many injuries from it requiring surgery. So I have been a regular with my therapist for the last few years. My income isn't high enough to support a luxury but my body tells me that massage is a requirement to continue doing my job, not a luxury.
I pay $60 per hour get massages at least once a month, more frequently during recovery periods. I do not tip when the owner (my long-time therapist) is the one doing the massage since all the money goes to her. When she has to schedule me with an employee, I tip $5. And even this adds up if I'm getting one every other week on top of paying for PT and doctor visits, so it becomes outside my price range. At my last session the employee accidentally went over by 30 minutes. I told her she could charge me for it because I felt bad that I had obviously needed it but she didn't because she said she probably could have gone faster if she needed to squeeze everything in but as I was her last customer she didn't hurry, so I doubled my usual tip. I wish I could afford to be more generous, but the reality is that since I don't make a lot of money and need to go regularly, I just can't. I try to make it up by recommending their business to everyone I know and work with (they are a relatively new company). I've been able to get a bunch of people in there to see them. I don't think any have become as regular as me, but most become repeat customers. Also, I don't believe that a tip for anything is mandatory. I work very hard for every dollar I earn, and I don't have money to throw away. I tip well for those working in the minimum wage range for a good service, less or nothing for a bad service (depending on the severity). If you suck at your job, why should I pay you extra money? You need an incentive to get better at it, or to find another job more suited for you. |
Anonymous
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I am a massage therapist also. Yes, when I am working on someone, I make a good hourly rate, but you have to spend alot of time waiting on walk-ins and it takes quite awhile to build your clientelle. Also there is overhead such as marketing, laundry ,etc.
All this stuff aside, a massage therapist is providing you with a service. If you are grateful, and receive a good massage, you should give a gratuity, so that your therapist can afford to stay in business and help you to feel good. |