# tipping?



## firehawk (Jul 31, 2011)

They just recently put a stack of envelopes on the counter at the groomer with a sign indicating that they're for tipping the groomers. It's never really occurred to me to tip the groomer before since I'm already paying them directly for their services. Do you tip your groomer? If so, how much?


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## Niraya (Jun 30, 2011)

We tip our groomer. Always have. But we don't go to a store like petco or petsmart. We go to a private groomer and give her a 20$ tip.


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## Tankstar (Dec 30, 2006)

Uness your groomer owns the shop, or pays a "chair" fee like a hairdresser. a groomer only gets a certain percent of the price of the groom.
Not to mention they have many expensise involved in grooming. dealing with horrible dogs, agressive dogs, sharpening of their equipment (which isnt cheap) Id always tip. i tip my hair dresser, my waiter/waitress, cab driver. ect.

How much? Now thats up to you. I normally get 5 bucks per dog. Some people I know will tip me 20 bucks, which is awesome. But deffiently not expected. $5.00 is the normal around here, and very much appreaciated.

That said I am a groomer. and I love tips (who wouldnt). I deal with alot of crap (literally) on a daily basis. Just today i spent 2 hours demtaing a dog for a owner, I made about 15 bucks off that groom(since I make a percentage). My arms are ripped open, and bites all over, and I didnt get a tip. it was a little bit of a kick in the pants to me. Groomers have a crappy (literally) painful (back breaking, bites, scratchs ect) job. If your happy with it, id say tip. I wouldnt tip if I wasnt happy with my service


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

Grooming is a service, and services are generally tipped. Its up to you whether you truly want to tip or not. The majority of my clients tip, minimum is usually $5 on a $45 groom, but I have gotten tips before that were more than the cost of the groom. I do have some very regular clients that never tip, until Christmas, when they give me a large tip for the year. I have some tips that come in the form of a Starbucks giftcard, etc. as well, and some just bring in home baked goodies too. All are certainly appreciated, and Christmas is SO fun because of all the goodies and cards.


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

Graco22 said:


> Grooming is a service, and services are generally tipped. Its up to you whether you truly want to tip or not. The majority of my clients tip, minimum is usually $5 on a $45 groom, but I have gotten tips before that were more than the cost of the groom. I do have some very regular clients that never tip, until Christmas, when they give me a large tip for the year. I have some tips that come in the form of a Starbucks giftcard, etc. as well, and some just bring in home baked goodies too. All are certainly appreciated, and Christmas is SO fun because of all the goodies and cards.


Same here. We get a lot of tippers who dig deep around Christmas time, which is always very much appreciated. I make it a point to thank the ones who tip for their generosity. One time I was gone while someone picked their dogs up, she had tipped me $20 which is almost unheard of around here. I called her that night to thank her, because it was so appreciated and so out of the blue. We sometimes get tips for boarding, which is always a treat  And we have regulars who bring us baked goodies, gift cards, etc. 
When we worked on commission for a few other shops, tips were always ALWAYS an important part of our income, and I think a lot of people knew it. People know us well, and know we (the groomers) own the whole place, and I think tips have dropped off a bit due to that and the economy, which is absolutely fine. 
The only people I haven't tipped are people who are rude, nasty, etc. I had a horrible waitress once, who literally rolled her eyes when I asked her for a spoon that didn't have dried food all over it (!!!). No tip her for. People who do a fine job, who are friendly and at least try, are the ones I tip the most. We had a waitress in training a few years back at a restaurant, and she was trying SO hard. I could see it in her face she was going to cry, so we left a 10 dollar bill for her wrapped up in a 1 dollar bill with a little note that said "Thanks". I don't know if it made her smile or not, but it would have made ME smile.
If tipping the groomer is out of the question due to finances, another thing you could do is send a thank you card. Those always make my day, and I've kept every single one.


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## firehawk (Jul 31, 2011)

LazyGRanch713 said:


> If tipping the groomer is out of the question due to finances, another thing you could do is send a thank you card. Those always make my day, and I've kept every single one.


Sorry, just made it back here. It isn't out of the question, it was just a surprise because I hadn't really thought of it before. I've never even met one of the people who grooms my dog. I drop him off with the reception staff and they bring him back out. I don't even know any of the groomers' names. I suppose I just figured that since I was paying $80 and up for bath, brushing, nails, etc, that they were paying their people well. 

I think the Christmas gift idea would probably work better for me at this point. Especially with the puppy and the day care staff.


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## KBLover (Sep 9, 2008)

Graco22 said:


> Grooming is a service, and services are generally tipped. Its up to you whether you truly want to tip or not. The majority of my clients tip, minimum is usually $5 on a $45 groom, but I have gotten tips before that were more than the cost of the groom. I do have some very regular clients that never tip, until Christmas, when they give me a large tip for the year. I have some tips that come in the form of a Starbucks giftcard, etc. as well, and some just bring in home baked goodies too. All are certainly appreciated, and Christmas is SO fun because of all the goodies and cards.



I've always found tipping to be an interesting custom. It only is "expected" in SOME services. I wonder - do people tip mechanics? Repair men? Landscapers? Computer programmers (say one wrote a program for you personally). 

I have tipped a groomer. Actually twice - once I got her a "Lunch on me" Starbucks gift card, and another time, $10. 

Granted, I typically go to Petco, so I figure I'm not paying them directly - they are getting some salary (I'm guessing?) - and those two times were exceptional jobs. Wally had great hair, very light, loose and airy. One is my favorite - and she even gave Wally a bandanna she made. She's the one the got the gift card.


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## katielou (Apr 29, 2010)

KBLover said:


> I've always found tipping to be an interesting custom. It only is "expected" in SOME services. I wonder - do people tip mechanics? Repair men? Landscapers? Computer programmers (say one wrote a program for you personally).


 Yep sure do! 
People tip me as a Funeral director all the time also.

I usually tip the groomer at least 20% however mine only go once or twice a year.


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## Graco22 (Jul 16, 2007)

firehawk said:


> Sorry, just made it back here. It isn't out of the question, it was just a surprise because I hadn't really thought of it before. I've never even met one of the people who grooms my dog. I drop him off with the reception staff and they bring him back out. I don't even know any of the groomers' names. I suppose I just figured that since I was paying $80 and up for bath, brushing, nails, etc, that they were paying their people well.
> 
> I think the Christmas gift idea would probably work better for me at this point. Especially with the puppy and the day care staff.


If your dog is not getting an actual haircut (bath and brush breed) and you are going to a business that is a large facility with boarding, grooming, daycare, etc. its unlikely a groomer is doing your dog at all. Most of the time (most, but not all) these business employ people at minimum wage that work in the kennels, walking dogs, cleaning up, and bathing. Most places also train them to trim nails and tidy feet too, but they are NOT groomers. Also, why don't people ASK these things? I would want to meet the groomer..talk to them, explain how I wanted my dog groomed..not relay that info to someone, and hope it gets to the person in the right words. As a professional groomer, I am shocked that people just drop their dogs off and never meet the groomer?! Don't feel like you cannot ask to talk to the groomer directly, and if the groomer is "too busy" to come talk to you, find another place. As a groomer I have relationships with my clients AND their people. How do you explain what kind of haircut you want? Ask questions? Ask how a certain length would look on your dog? I find most owner have no idea how to ask for the cut they want. I have to ask alot of questions to figure out what exactly they want, so the haircut IS what they want. Owners, do NOT be afraid to ask to see and talk to the groomer!


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## Damon'sMom (Aug 2, 2011)

When we owned our Miniature Schnauzer (RIP) and Giant Schnauzer (RIP) we visited a professional groomer every 6-7 weeks. 
We showed these dogs so they were kept in show ready shape at all times.
We got cuts, trimming, wash, toe nails cut, teeth cleaned. It always came to $100 for the Miniature and $170 for the Giant. We tipped $30 to the Miniatures groomer and $60 to Giants groomer. 
Our dogs were always took in for trims on December 23 so that they would be looking good for photos with the family. On those days we tipped the regular but also gave Christmas presents such as gift cards to the mall, Starbucks, or restaurants.
We choose to do this because we went so often and they were all so kind. We also choose to do this because we were so picky about the cut they got.

Not everyone tips like we did, I know my sister has a beagle and a Alaskan malamute and they tip $5 for the beagle and $20 for the Mal each time they go. I think it just depends on the person and the animal being groomed. If your animal puts up a fight then I would tip more, if they don't I would tip less (if you wanted to). (Our dogs were great for the groomers. lol that's not why we tipped what we did. XD). OP the place you say you go to sounds kind of strange to me if you are happy with what they do that's good. If not I would try to find somewhere else to take my dogs.


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## Blue_Heeler (Jul 31, 2011)

KBLover said:


> Granted, I typically go to Petco, so I figure I'm not paying them directly - they are getting some salary (I'm guessing?)


That really depends on how many dogs they do versus how many hours they work. My groomers and bather-brushers RARELY commission out (they get either a set percentage of their sales OR an hourly pay, whichever is higher) because we generally don't have a lot of people coming in to drop off their dogs (big pit bull area). For example, a pit bull type dog would probably be apx $30 to wash, trim nails, clean ears, dry and brush. The bather-brusher get's less then half that for a dog that will probably take 2 hours. Doesn't sound like terrible pay, right? Now imagine if that's the ONLY dog they do in an 8 hour shift? Guess what...they're not getting that commission. They're getting an hourly rate. And no, I can't send them home. Someone has to be there to answer the phone and tell customers how much different services cost and book what appointments they can get. So I say tip them.


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## LoMD13 (Aug 4, 2010)

I don't tip EVERY time, but I do try to leave 5 dollars when I can. I'm there every 6-8 weeks, so I don't feel too guilty if I don't have the cash on me, I just get them the next time. I always leave a good tip for Christmas because they give each dog little Christmas presents, it's really sweet.


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## LazyGRanch713 (Jul 22, 2009)

katielou said:


> Yep sure do!
> People tip me as a Funeral director all the time also.
> 
> I usually tip the groomer at least 20% however mine only go once or twice a year.


I tip quite a bit--I know what it's like to practically live on tips, and I know how much difference a few bucks here and there can make. 
Customers have asked me at work if people tip us. I find it an awkward thing to answer, so I usually say "people have, but it's not necessary". I never know what to say. "NO! NEVER tip us! It's against our religion!" or "Yeah, people tip us ALL the TIME, because our backs hurt, our knees ache, and our neck muscles are on fire from what we do for a living". I mean...really? xD


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