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

[Anonymous]

I've always wondered what it was good etiquette on tipping a massage therapist. I have done many different ones using vouchers. Some an individual that own their own place and others are actually with multiple therapist. So today when I went not only did I purchase the voucher for a 60 minute massage for about $30. I tipped the therapist way over 20% Because I had already received a discounted price

[Anonymous]

$15

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hello, massage therapist and business owner here! The general rule for tipping is 10-20%, depending on the quality of service. Etiquette says that you do not have to tip the business owner since they are receiving all monies for the service. The type of service or how much the massage therapist makes should not really matter here, only the quality of service and what you deem appropriate.

If I go to a spa for a relaxing massage, I usually tip 20%. But when I go to a massage therapist who bills my insurance then I don't pay a tip. Am I wrong?

[Anonymous]

I work at a massage franchaise, we only make $12 on a $49 massage. We depend on tips for our salary. so to tip me 20% of that price $10..is low since the massage value is really $79 people tip a cab driver $5 -your bartender $5 for fifteen minutes of actual service. a waiter gets 18% and avgs 8 mins of service..so to give a therapist,18- 20% tip for 60 minutes minutes of non stop service to your tense knotted body is reasonable. think its easy? try massaging someone for a full half hour and let me know what thats worth to you.

[Anonymous]

As a therapist working at a spa I can tell you we only get $15/hr for every booked client or 8.50 per hour we are booked and end of pay period we get the hire rate. So please don't think we get the money you pay for the massage in fact most of us live on our tips (fill up gas and feed our family and our self) $20 cash tip for a hour means that you truly enjoyed your session anything higher means they went above and beyond and anything lower means there's improvement that needs to be made and that's where communication comes into place

[Anonymous]

Lots of whining on this board. Most of the spas in the city charge at least $120 for 50 minutes (of which the massage usually lasts 45 minutes). Assuming the therapist gets 20% of the spa's charge, as some claim, that's $24 base. Assume an average tip of 18% at these types of places ($21.60), that nearly doubles the salary, for a total of $45.60/hour.

Now, I fully appreciate a good massage therapist, and I also understand that it is physically hard to do 40/hours a week. But that is a good salary for a job that doesn't require a college degree. And as others have said, it is a chosen profession.

[Anonymous]

Do you make $3 - $4 per hour? Probably not, that's why we tip these people!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you make $3 - $4 per hour? Probably not, that's why we tip these people!!!!

?? therapist two posts above clearly said they get $15 an hour.

[Anonymous]

My massage therapist works at a yoga center and does not accept tips - I have offered and she declines. Her belief is that she is supposed to do a good job and that is included in the price of the service. I am guessing that she likely gets to keep a greater percentage of the massage price than those working at regular spas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The majority of you have obviously never ever work in any service industry. You should ALWAYS tip 20%. If the service was bad tip at your own discretion. It doesn't matter whether you get tipped at your job or not. These people don't make regular wages/salaries. They usually depend on you the consumer for their money so even though your massage may cost 100 dollars, the person who is fighting the carpel tunnel to relax you is probably not even receiving half of that despite what some above think.... The server, masseuse, any type of service is NOT recieving half of anything.

You sound as if you're talking about servers at a restaurant. This article is about masseurs; quite different. They do indeed make a wage. My bartender got a shoulder injury; I got carpal tunnel from typing at a computer, should we tip people on the possibility the job they chose might cause an injury? You lost me there! Using that reasoning, perhaps we should tip fire fighters and policemen who are always in danger of getting hurt or killed on the job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hello, massage therapist and business owner here! The general rule for tipping is 10-20%, depending on the quality of service. Etiquette says that you do not have to tip the business owner since they are receiving all monies for the service. The type of service or how much the massage therapist makes should not really matter here, only the quality of service and what you deem appropriate.

If I go to a spa for a relaxing massage, I usually tip 20%. But when I go to a massage therapist who bills my insurance then I don't pay a tip. Am I wrong?

Do you tip your physician, your dentist, the nurse at the office? I suspect the answer is a resounding "no", so you wouldn't tip a massage therapist. I think they might even be insulted.

[Anonymous]

I consider massage therapists to be professionals,and as such I do not think they should be tipped. They have gone to school to earn a certificate for their profession, so why would you tip? Would you tip a chiropractor or a nurse???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I detail all this, because this was work i 'chose' to do. I do not imagine anyone forced you to be a massage therapist? I think it is you who are on some sort of 'high horse.'

Realize you are your own limit, and if you aren't happy with the industry average for pay, find a new industry.

+1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.
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.

While I agree that tipping should be based on the level of service provided (and can't stand this argument that consumers should tip just because the worker is not compensated well - if you don't like the pay grade, find another career), I don't think using retail work as a method of comparison achieves anything as you're compare apples and oranges. The amount of training and education required should be taken into context.

[Anonymous]

Seems to me service industry is different from salaried work or full/part time hourly work (nurse assistant RN, retail, etc), because you don't get paid unless customers come in. For those comping that they don't get tips: you get paid whether it is a slow day or whether there is a ton of activity. If the massage therapist is an employee, the boys takes a big cut. If the massage therapist is the owner, they're paying rent on business space, buying supplies, paying business taxes. It's not a question of who works harder, but the expense/payment system is different in service industry. The massage provider may get 50$ in an hour, but if only 3 people are booked today that's not a "50$/hr job".I respect that. Can I afford regular massages? No. So I don't get them. But the once a year that I do, I'll tip 15-20%.