Do you guys tip, for sidejobs?

BeastMode335i · 02-08-2015, 06:28 AM

So i got my car detailed yesterday by a friend of my girlfriend, and he said $120 so i gave him $120. He details at mercedes after hours so i brought my car up there then a few hours later went and picked it up and when i left my girl said i should of tipped him, i just didnt think it was necessary to tip on a sidejob.. Am i wrong lol..? Took him about 4.5hrs to do my engine, wheels, lights, and whole car.. He did a great job but i just wanna make sure that next time I tip him if thats proper, otherwise ill just pay him however much he asks for again lol..

Efthreeoh · 02-08-2015, 06:34 AM

Being that it was a side job and you were getting a discount (I suppose), then I think an extra $20 was in order; it always helps on the next go-round.

silver07335i · 02-08-2015, 06:49 AM

Depends on the side job, price, and quality of work. In your example I would have tipped or brought him something he likes such as beer.

BeastMode335i · 02-08-2015, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by silver07335i

Depends on the side job, price, and quality of work. In your example I would have tipped or brought him something he likes such as beer.

At first he said 80-120, so i took out 120 thinking that if its any less i'll just tell him to keep it, but then he said 120 when I got there so I just gave him all I had.. We made a deal for him to do my girls car next weekend and he quoted me a price for her 128i of $80 and $30 to do my interior, so I'll give him $150 and a beer and I should be good haha.. He was a younger kid probably early 20's just tryna make some extra money and I figured since he's using all Mercedes detailing tools and products then the supply portion isn't coming out of his pocket, so I basically paid for labor and I assumed $20/hr was good.. But thanks for your feedback guys, I just didn't wanna feel like I was jippin him and now I know next weekend I should break him off a little better lol..

Tsujen · 02-08-2015, 07:31 AM

Not at all.. The person is getting the full amount, it's not like he's making $4.50 an hour doing it. If he wanted more he would have asked for it imo.

BeastMode335i · 02-08-2015, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsujen

Not at all.. The person is getting the full amount, it's not like he's making $4.50 an hour doing it. If he wanted more he would have asked for it imo.

I think this is kind of the notion I went in there with.. I always assumed side jobs were just a quick money in your pocket thing, but when my girl said I should of tipped him I felt like a dick afterwards because I started questioning whether I should or shouldn't have lol..

supergoat · 02-08-2015, 07:47 AM

If he said $80-120 and then hits you with the full $120 when he's done then you already tipped him, just didn't know it.

It's fine not to tip on a side detail job in my opinion. I used to run a detail/paint shop, if he charged $120 for 4.5/hrs then he more than made his money on that job.

cpie168 · 02-08-2015, 07:47 AM

Call me cheap but he's already getting the full amount rather than having to pay income tax on that $120, so tips won't be necessary imo.

timothy2001 · 02-08-2015, 07:59 AM

Different take on this. When someone is performing a service I almost always tip. Next time it's usually remembered and it maintains or even improves the quality of service.

Next time, if you need something and are in a bind the guy who tips is considered before the guy who doesn't tip.

Maybe this comes from waiting on tables a very long time ago.

GB-335xiCoupe · 02-08-2015, 08:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cpie168

Call me cheap but he's already getting the full amount rather than having to pay income tax on that $120, so tips won't be necessary imo.

Yeah, the tax aspect is there... However, I look at it this way:
How much would it have cost you if you took it to a "professional" service or even a stealership? So say that would be $200 (as an example). So effectively, he is saving you $80... giving him an extra $20 is well worth the return you will get in the long run (better service, priority, etc.) A 12-pack of beer also goes a long way.

Welcome to NBA Jam · 02-08-2015, 08:16 AM

I tip if I feel they did an impressive job beyond what I paid for. If they work for a corporation or major company, I send a decently-long, very positive letter to their direct supervisor commenting about the high quality of their work. Those notes and letters go a long, long way to giving them a larger raise, fatter bonus, or to a promotion. This is mainly because tipping tends to be an HR gray area, and because the benefits of my words as a customer far outweigh the $10-20 I would have given them. Also, make sure to do those surveys! Sometimes that's the only way in which their performance is judged.

The world is full of too much silence with success, and negativity when the smallest thing goes wrong. I try to offset that.

BeastMode335i · 02-08-2015, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Welcome to NBA Jam

The world is full of too much silence with success, and negativity when the smallest thing goes wrong. I try to offset that.

^^^ I dig that!

NGEE · 02-08-2015, 09:13 AM

I disagree about the beer thing. It's an item of personal taste, which I wouldn't assume to know about the person. If I buy him a 12-pack of bud light, maybe he's into craft beer. If I buy the craft beer, and he's a bud light drinker, same problem. Plus, even if you know the guy likes bud light, imagine tipping room service by handing the guy a can of beer. If you're going to tip, do it in cash.

Tipping is a very gray area. Sometimes it works, sometimes it backfires. I sometimes have a local guy work on my car. He lets me stay and watch - get under the lift, take photos, help out. So in a job that cost $400, I pay $420. Some might say that's insulting I suppose. But I figure it's buying lunch for letting me hang around.

Anyway this thread reminds me of a recent issue I had. Had a new roof installed on the house. I wanted to rent a metal brake to wrap the fascias and rakes. Foreman agreed to come back and bend the metal for me. Set him up in my garage on a cold rainy day when he had no job. Work took a couple of hours. I asked how much and he said "just pay me for gas". I gave him $100, which I thought was pretty damn good. But I sent him texts to have him come back and do more work - all have gone unanswered. Probably just busy, but makes me wonder if I paid too little. I mean he did save me the cost of renting the brake and all.

hongsc · 02-08-2015, 09:26 AM

I would have tipped him $20. That's 4.5 hours of work.

PTinVT · 02-08-2015, 09:31 AM

Car service is not one of those areas where tipping is customary... it's never occurred to me to tip anyone in that business - I'd be more worried about insulting them, i.e. coming across as "I'm a rich BMW douche, here's some extra money" and them not wanting to do more work for me or making the relationship unpleasant.

my 2 cents (+18% for parties of 6 or more)

MORTON · 02-08-2015, 09:50 AM

I think you did right man. Girls can be more liquid with money sometimes and emotions factor in. We tend to be a bit different and what a man prices you is what he'll get. If for instance a guy does a detail job for you and spends 4.5 hrs on your car and only asks for $40 bucks then yeah throw him a tip. But in your case he said $80-$120 and you gave him the max and he didn't complain then that satisfied your dealings with him.. If you gave everybody a tip for every job they did for you then you would be broke, such a waste if the situation doesn't obviously call for it. Moral of the story use your judgement not your emotion or anyone else's. You did the right thing IMO.

Efthreeoh · 02-08-2015, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PTinVT

Car service is not one of those areas where tipping is customary... it's never occurred to me to tip anyone in that business - I'd be more worried about insulting them, i.e. coming across as "I'm a rich BMW douche, here's some extra money" and them not wanting to do more work for me or making the relationship unpleasant.

my 2 cents (+18% for parties of 6 or more)

They all think that anyway.

rick100 · 02-08-2015, 10:44 AM

120- divided 4 hours is 30 $ an hour for cleaning your car maybe 10 $ in materials? . That is a little bit more than what I make fixing airplanes for a living and I get no tip. Not even a thanks many times. Plus you are already getting him more business by bringing your girlfriends car next time.

My detailer charges about the same to do interior and exterior , however he actually has a garage/ warehouse with waiting room to do it , so he has to pay for rent and all that. And he takes credit cards and he never has the option for tip

Personally I wouldn't tip. If he charged you less than 100 $ maybe I ll round it up to 100 bucks.

I bet he ll be happy if you get him more business.

bimmette · 02-08-2015, 11:01 AM

Maybe I'm wrong but it sounds like the detailer is using his employer's supplies after hours so it costs him nothing. I think he should be more than happy with the $120 tax free income. No tip was needed.

gds52 · 02-08-2015, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeastMode335i

Quote:

Originally Posted by silver07335i

Depends on the side job, price, and quality of work. In your example I would have tipped or brought him something he likes such as beer.

At first he said 80-120, so i took out 120 thinking that if its any less i'll just tell him to keep it, but then he said 120 when I got there so I just gave him all I had.. We made a deal for him to do my girls car next weekend and he quoted me a price for her 128i of $80 and $30 to do my interior, so I'll give him $150 and a beer and I should be good haha.. He was a younger kid probably early 20's just tryna make some extra money and I figured since he's using all Mercedes detailing tools and products then the supply portion isn't coming out of his pocket, so I basically paid for labor and I assumed $20/hr was good.. But thanks for your feedback guys, I just didn't wanna feel like I was jippin him and now I know next weekend I should break him off a little better lol..

If the job done was really good and he was a good guy, no harm in tipping or giving beer/whisky or anything.
I've two good shops and really nice guys. After good job I generally take donuts from a local famous bakery shop.
I also give a bottle of bourbon to my SA at BMW. He always helps.

John 070 · 02-08-2015, 01:26 PM

Yes. I had a subframe welded on my Nissan (lower rad support). Body shop wanted $1600, and these dudes in North Jersey did it for $130. They saved me so much I gave them an extra $100. They were ecstatic. Was like a 19 yo kid and his buddies. They do know it's a $1000+ job at a body shop, they just don't realize how much their work is worth....

02-08-2015, 06:28 AM	#1
BeastMode335i Maximus Decimus Meridius 1130 Rep 4,584 Posts Drives: F30 335i Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Down South iTrader: (2)	Do you guys tip, for sidejobs? So i got my car detailed yesterday by a friend of my girlfriend, and he said $120 so i gave him $120. He details at mercedes after hours so i brought my car up there then a few hours later went and picked it up and when i left my girl said i should of tipped him, i just didnt think it was necessary to tip on a sidejob.. Am i wrong lol..? Took him about 4.5hrs to do my engine, wheels, lights, and whole car.. He did a great job but i just wanna make sure that next time I tip him if thats proper, otherwise ill just pay him however much he asks for again lol..
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02-08-2015, 06:34 AM	#2
Efthreeoh General 17317 Rep 18,740 Posts Drives: The E90 + Z4 Coupe & Z3 R'ster Join Date: May 2012 Location: Virginia iTrader: (0)	Being that it was a side job and you were getting a discount (I suppose), then I think an extra $20 was in order; it always helps on the next go-round. __________________ A manual transmission can be set to "comfort", "sport", and "track" modes simply by the technique and speed at which you shift it; it doesn't need "modes", modes are for manumatics that try to behave like a real 3-pedal manual transmission. If you can money-shift it, it's a manual transmission. "Yeah, but NO ONE puts an automatic trans shift knob on a manual transmission."
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02-08-2015, 06:49 AM	#3
silver07335i Captain 25 Rep 755 Posts Drives: 335i titanium silver metallic Join Date: May 2013 Location: CA iTrader: (5)	Depends on the side job, price, and quality of work. In your example I would have tipped or brought him something he likes such as beer.
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02-08-2015, 07:31 AM	#5
Tsujen First Lieutenant 87 Rep 319 Posts Drives: 2007 BMW 335i Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Chicago iTrader: (1)	Not at all.. The person is getting the full amount, it's not like he's making $4.50 an hour doing it. If he wanted more he would have asked for it imo.
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02-08-2015, 07:47 AM	#7
supergoat Second Lieutenant 94 Rep 294 Posts Drives: 2013 335xi Sedan Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: Charleston, SC iTrader: (0)	If he said $80-120 and then hits you with the full $120 when he's done then you already tipped him, just didn't know it. It's fine not to tip on a side detail job in my opinion. I used to run a detail/paint shop, if he charged $120 for 4.5/hrs then he more than made his money on that job.
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02-08-2015, 07:47 AM	#8
cpie168 Major 173 Rep 1,117 Posts Drives: 2010 E90 328i 6MT ZSP BSM Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: K/W and GTA, Ontario, Canada iTrader: (1)	Call me cheap but he's already getting the full amount rather than having to pay income tax on that $120, so tips won't be necessary imo.
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02-08-2015, 07:59 AM	#9
timothy2001 Major 850 Rep 1,181 Posts Drives: 2011 E92 M3 6MT ZCP Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: NE Florida iTrader: (0) Garage List 2011 M3 E92 [0.00]	Different take on this. When someone is performing a service I almost always tip. Next time it's usually remembered and it maintains or even improves the quality of service. Next time, if you need something and are in a bind the guy who tips is considered before the guy who doesn't tip. Maybe this comes from waiting on tables a very long time ago.
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02-08-2015, 08:16 AM	#11
Welcome to NBA Jam Is it the shoes!? 3884 Rep 5,112 Posts Drives: (Sold) 2011 E92 335i ZMP 6MT Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: USA iTrader: (1)	I tip if I feel they did an impressive job beyond what I paid for. If they work for a corporation or major company, I send a decently-long, very positive letter to their direct supervisor commenting about the high quality of their work. Those notes and letters go a long, long way to giving them a larger raise, fatter bonus, or to a promotion. This is mainly because tipping tends to be an HR gray area, and because the benefits of my words as a customer far outweigh the $10-20 I would have given them. Also, make sure to do those surveys! Sometimes that's the only way in which their performance is judged. The world is full of too much silence with success, and negativity when the smallest thing goes wrong. I try to offset that.
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02-08-2015, 09:13 AM	#13
NGEE Fuck it dude, let's go bowling. 888 Rep 2,480 Posts Drives: 1M Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Not Massachusetts iTrader: (0)	I disagree about the beer thing. It's an item of personal taste, which I wouldn't assume to know about the person. If I buy him a 12-pack of bud light, maybe he's into craft beer. If I buy the craft beer, and he's a bud light drinker, same problem. Plus, even if you know the guy likes bud light, imagine tipping room service by handing the guy a can of beer. If you're going to tip, do it in cash. Tipping is a very gray area. Sometimes it works, sometimes it backfires. I sometimes have a local guy work on my car. He lets me stay and watch - get under the lift, take photos, help out. So in a job that cost $400, I pay $420. Some might say that's insulting I suppose. But I figure it's buying lunch for letting me hang around. Anyway this thread reminds me of a recent issue I had. Had a new roof installed on the house. I wanted to rent a metal brake to wrap the fascias and rakes. Foreman agreed to come back and bend the metal for me. Set him up in my garage on a cold rainy day when he had no job. Work took a couple of hours. I asked how much and he said "just pay me for gas". I gave him $100, which I thought was pretty damn good. But I sent him texts to have him come back and do more work - all have gone unanswered. Probably just busy, but makes me wonder if I paid too little. I mean he did save me the cost of renting the brake and all. __________________ 1M. Previously: '13 135is; '07 E90 335i; '02 325i; '99 Z3; '98 328is; '87 L6; '77 320i
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02-08-2015, 09:26 AM	#14
hongsc Captain 153 Rep 982 Posts Drives: 2011 BMW 328i Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Amazon Prime iTrader: (1)	I would have tipped him $20. That's 4.5 hours of work. __________________ 2011 BMW 328i Space Grey\|18" Avant Garde m359\|Michelin Pilot Sport A/S2\|Eibach Pro-Kit Springs\|Koni FSD\|M3 U+L Control Arms\|Lux Angel Eyes\|Stoptech\|Hawk 5.0\|aFe Race Pipes\|BMW PE
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02-08-2015, 09:31 AM	#15
PTinVT armchair enthusiast 221 Rep 1,019 Posts Drives: 18 340xi, 02 325Cic, 93 850Ci Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Burlington, VT iTrader: (3)	Car service is not one of those areas where tipping is customary... it's never occurred to me to tip anyone in that business - I'd be more worried about insulting them, i.e. coming across as "I'm a rich BMW douche, here's some extra money" and them not wanting to do more work for me or making the relationship unpleasant. my 2 cents (+18% for parties of 6 or more) __________________ '18 340i xDrive EB/Dakota, 6-speed manual, M-sport '02 325Cic vert AW/Montana leather, 5-speed manual, premium/removable hardtop '93 850Ci Oxford Green/Parchment, auto '71 Buick Riviera, 455 V8 land yacht
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02-08-2015, 09:50 AM	#16
MORTON Major 352 Rep 1,403 Posts Drives: 08' N54 6SPD E90 Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: Palm Coast, FL iTrader: (1)	I think you did right man. Girls can be more liquid with money sometimes and emotions factor in. We tend to be a bit different and what a man prices you is what he'll get. If for instance a guy does a detail job for you and spends 4.5 hrs on your car and only asks for $40 bucks then yeah throw him a tip. But in your case he said $80-$120 and you gave him the max and he didn't complain then that satisfied your dealings with him.. If you gave everybody a tip for every job they did for you then you would be broke, such a waste if the situation doesn't obviously call for it. Moral of the story use your judgement not your emotion or anyone else's. You did the right thing IMO. __________________ Best thread on this site Must Read! http://www.e90post.com/forums/showth...ight=335+vs+m3
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02-08-2015, 10:44 AM	#18
rick100 Colonel 551 Rep 2,293 Posts Drives: 328 Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: canada iTrader: (0)	120- divided 4 hours is 30 $ an hour for cleaning your car maybe 10 $ in materials? . That is a little bit more than what I make fixing airplanes for a living and I get no tip. Not even a thanks many times. Plus you are already getting him more business by bringing your girlfriends car next time. My detailer charges about the same to do interior and exterior , however he actually has a garage/ warehouse with waiting room to do it , so he has to pay for rent and all that. And he takes credit cards and he never has the option for tip Personally I wouldn't tip. If he charged you less than 100 $ maybe I ll round it up to 100 bucks. I bet he ll be happy if you get him more business.
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02-08-2015, 11:01 AM	#19
bimmette YouTube.com/TvTara 6454 Rep 4,715 Posts Drives: like I stole it! (11 m3 E93) Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Vancouver iTrader: (0)	Maybe I'm wrong but it sounds like the detailer is using his employer's supplies after hours so it costs him nothing. I think he should be more than happy with the $120 tax free income. No tip was needed. __________________ Watch my DIY mods at: YouTube/TvTara Follow me on Instagram at: TvTara1
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02-08-2015, 01:26 PM	#21
John 070 Lieutenant General 1705 Rep 14,829 Posts Drives: 335i cpe Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: ZSP/ZPP/ZCW iTrader: (0)	Yes. I had a subframe welded on my Nissan (lower rad support). Body shop wanted $1600, and these dudes in North Jersey did it for $130. They saved me so much I gave them an extra $100. They were ecstatic. Was like a 19 yo kid and his buddies. They do know it's a $1000+ job at a body shop, they just don't realize how much their work is worth....
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