Do You Tip Movers?
To tip or not to tip? With all of the services provided today, it is hard to know how much to tip or whether to tip at all. Moving can be particularly tricky since it is not as frequent of an event as ordering a burger or getting your hair trimmed. As a former mover for 5 years in college, I will let you know first-hand whether you need to tip, how much to tip, and the best way to tip your moving company.
Should I Tip Movers?
The answer is, it is up to you. Unlike many other services, moving tips really are not expected. Really. If you are happy with your service and you think the crew did an excellent job, then absolutely give them a tip. But if you are anything less than satisfied with your move or simply are strapped for cash, do not sweat passing on the tip. Simply treating your short distance or cross country movers with respect and maybe offering them lunch or cold drinks during the job will go a long way too.
Unlike some service industry jobs that pretty much require tips, movers are typically paid pretty well. I started out making $12 an hour in college and by my 4th year I was making $20/hr. In most cases, I did not expect or rely on tips.
How Much to Tip Movers
If you do decide to tip your movers, don’t sweat calculating a percentage of your total bill. Instead, tip based on the duration of work, difficulty of work, and how satisfied you are with your job. In general, I would consider $20 cash for 1 full day of work a nice tip. Anything over $20 for a full-days’ work was considered very good. So if you are looking for a blanket answer for how much to tip movers, $20-30 per mover per day is a safe bet. If your movers did exceedingly well, had many stairs to navigate or extra heavy items such as a pool table to move, then consider $40-50 per mover. The highest tip I ever received was $300 for 1 day of work, and the lowest I received was $10. On average, I would say ½ of my moving clients tipped, and of that ½, the average amount was $20-$30.
How to Tip Them
The best way to tip a mover is to hand cash directly to each individual mover after the job. If you add your tip to the bill that is nice, but not as nice because it is taxable, and movers will not know they were tipped until after they leave the site. The best, most personable way to tip movers is an individual envelope with the movers name on it and the cash inside. If your move takes multiple days, you may tip by the individual day or wait until the job is complete, it is completely up to you.
Conclusion
Should I tip my moving company? The answer is if you are happy with their service, then we suggest so. If you don’t feel they did an excellent job, or simply are strapped for cash and don’t want to tip, that is also completely fine. If you don’t have the budget to tip them but still want to show gratuity, you can also keep a cooler stocked or buy them lunch.
