OK what is the fair and proper tip for a pizza delivery person?

Not to sound like a miser, hastily counting my pennies like some kind of female hooker Uncle Scrooge Mcduck but I do not see how a pizza delivery person should be tipped based on percentage of order. Granted, if you have an order large or bulky enough that it requires two trips that deserves an extra tip but I just don't understand why if I happen to order a gourmet 12 in pizza for $50 I'm supposed to tip multitudes more than if I were to order a cheap 12 inch pizza for $10.

It makes no fucking sense to me and I feel like the actual delivery work is the same in both instances yet I feel bullied into tipping more for the SAME job under threat of having my food messed with or being thought a cheap ass (which I swear I'm not, I just want to pay a FAIR tip not highway robbery).

The delivery drivers are not waitresses and I resent paying them as if they were. How can I reach an equitable solution to this matter?
Clearly my ThreAD skills are a bit rusty.
wtfyourfired's Avatar
I think of it like this -

I order pizza from a place close to my house & the delivery guy/girl usually has an economy car so the trip to my house is at most 5 mins so honestly I tip $5 at most because like you said they aren't a waiter/waitress and that seems fair to me for a delivery charge even with the places that charge a delivery fee with the food i still tip but with a max of $5.

When I go out that's a different story as long as my drink is full and the waiter doesn't hang around my table too much they receive a good tip 30% and up.
Bless your heart for both agreeing with me and being the kind soul to give my threAD attention. LOL
russellevans's Avatar
FYI
1-18" pizza is more area than 2-12"
I also read that as LPT on reddit the other day.

edit: russell, are u the eccie troll that is always talking about BBFS with hookers and taking dumps in public areas or is that someone else? It's been a while and it's hard to keep up.
TemptationTammie's Avatar
I never tip delivery people based on how much the check is.
I normally round up to the closest 5 or 10 amount which usually ends up being 2 or 3 dollars.
They get an hourly wage plus gas allowance, and they aren't taking my order or anything more than delivering it. A matter of a few minutes is all they spend with me.
The delivery guys never get an attitude when they "only" get a 2 or $3 tip? I had one give me an attitude over a $4 tip on a $25 order.


I never tip delivery people based on how much the check is.
I normally round up to the closest 5 or 10 amount which usually ends up being 2 or 3 dollars.
They get an hourly wage plus gas allowance, and they aren't taking my order or anything more than delivering it. A matter of a few minutes is all they spend with me. Originally Posted by TemptationTammie
Britttany_love's Avatar
I typically tip atleast $5 I always order from the same pizza place and its always the same place so I knkw them. I try to always tip pretty good because I have bartended for many years and I knows what its like to bust your ass for a bullshit tip! People forget a lot of bartenders dont have barbacks so we have to get and stock all our shit plus take and serve all our bar people plus all the waitress and their customers.. I wish we got a good hourly plus gas and tips.
1.) In Most places the delivery charge goes to the establishment not the driver

2.) Many drivers don't get paid hourly (or very little if they do) and live off tips which they also give a percentage to the cooks.

3.) Unlike a waiter they bring food to your house fighting insane Austin traffic and its ridiculous lights. They also have 4-10 other deliveries to make on the run to your house. It's not just you.

4.) It's hell on their car. A considerable portion goes to maintaining their vehicle. Think $300-$600 every other month or so depending on the vehicle plus the cost of gas, which is rarely reimbursed. There's also tickets and collisions.

Tip what you want but consider the above. If you don't want to tip much, order a crappy Pizza Patron or Papa Johns and tip 10-20%. If you can afford a fancy gourmet pizza you can afford a 10-20% tip on top of that. Or just go pick it up and tip a dollar or so.

Also, a free BNG would be an amazing tip!
How would one go about finessing such a (BnG) tip? How to approach it in case he is actually in a relationship and faithful to his partner...or even worse, a sex maniac but not turned on by the person wanting to give the BnG for some reason?

I'm going to sound like a huge asshole but...the majority of the points you made are just about how much their job sucks and that seems like something they should take up with their employer. I'm not against charity but when you wrap charity up as an obligation and something that is OWED to them so they aren't even appreciative it makes me feel like a sucker (the bad kind).

Oh and though the delivery charge goes to the establishment they give a significant portion back to the driver to cover the wear and tear on their vehicle. And $600 every other month for car repairs related to wear and tear seems a bit much unless they bought a super old crappy car to begin with.

Also why in the fuck am I expected tip even one red cent if I go to pick it up from the pizza place myself? Don't get me wrong, I get guilted into it just about every damn time but WHY?!?! I am picking it up myself! I DO NOT UNDERSTAND! To paraphrase Ralph Waldo Emerson...I give the dollar but it is a shameful dollar which one day I shall have the integrity to deny them.

Also, the fact they have multiple deliveries seems like it's a chance to make MORE tips going less distance. Sometimes they have a few deliveries going to the same apartment complex.


1.) In Most places the delivery charge goes to the establishment not the driver

2.) Many drivers don't get paid hourly (or very little if they do) and live off tips which they also give a percentage to the cooks.

3.) Unlike a waiter they bring food to your house fighting insane Austin traffic and its ridiculous lights. They also have 4-10 other deliveries to make on the run to your house. It's not just you.

4.) It's hell on their car. A considerable portion goes to maintaining their vehicle. Think $300-$600 every other month or so depending on the vehicle plus the cost of gas, which is rarely reimbursed. There's also tickets and collisions.

Tip what you want but consider the above. If you don't want to tip much, order a crappy Pizza Patron or Papa Johns and tip 10-20%. If you can afford a fancy gourmet pizza you can afford a 10-20% tip on top of that. Or just go pick it up and tip a dollar or so.

Also, a free BNG would be an amazing tip! Originally Posted by RunswithScissors67
To answer your question, I can't but let's turn this around. When you provide services to someone do you expect a tip and if so how much, and how do you arrive at that figure. Maybe that will help with your delima.
I always tip at least $5 but probably not much more than that. The one I struggle with is the Sonic carhops. Do you tip them? I mean if I stop and just get a drink or shake for $2 it seems silly to give them .50 but that's a 25% tip and to much to give a buck or two? What do y'all do at Sonic?
Sonic carhops are a perfect extension of this problem. In answer to what is the CORRECT and DESERVING amount to tip them I have no clue. I will say that I can be both extremely generous and extraordinarily petty in either direction when it comes to Sonic carhops simply because my order total is usually so low that the resulting amount of anything from change to change plus a dollar can be far more than 20% of the total.

I've had a few carhops try to be slick and just "assume the sale/tip" with the change from my order and if they do that for more than .05 then there's a good chance I will ask for my >.05 change back plus not give them a damn thing...but I have also tipped almost $2 on a .50 grilled cheese(it was on special! ) because the girl was nice and timely.





I always tip at least $5 but probably not much more than that. The one I struggle with is the Sonic carhops. Do you tip them? I mean if I stop and just get a drink or shake for $2 it seems silly to give them .50 but that's a 25% tip and to much to give a buck or two? What do y'all do at Sonic? Originally Posted by txflyer27
When I provide services I would say the vast majority of my clients don't tip and I do not curse their names or think they are cheap asses because in my head a tip should never be EXPECTED or then it's not really a tip anymore.

Also, I require payment in advance of services and a lot of guys have some weird resentment against that so don't tip me afterwards to put me in my place OR just because they already paid, got what they were after and are looking to keep it moving out the door.

Ideally a provider/client payment/tip scenario would go like this:

client pays provider---> Service is rendered completely--->a tip is then given if the client decides he wants to give one---> client moves to front of line ahead of all non tipping clients for future scheduling

Pizza guys and escorts aren't that comparable in this scenario since the pizza guy does not have a flat rate that I must pay him regardless and then can increase if I want to. With the pizza guy the situation is starting from one of complete openendedness; some people having pizza delivered tip nothing which is theoretically fine and some probably tip up to 50% which is theoretically also fine.




To answer your question, I can't but let's turn this around. When you provide services to someone do you expect a tip and if so how much, and how do you arrive at that figure. Maybe that will help with your delima. Originally Posted by stikiwikit