Tipping at spa vs tipping through RM

[Wickedsexy]

I thought I had read that we should tip more at a spa, since they get just a percentage of the fee. And not as much through RM.     Is that a thing? 

[jeezifonly]

At a spa, the bodyworkers are usually hourly/daily wage-eating employees, with taxes withheld. Most legit ops require proof of education and certification in the field, which is at the prior expense of the worker. They are on call with clients assigned, all overhead and expendables covered, and tips for them can go a long way to get them through hours cut in slow periods. If they have repeat requests by name, more hours will come their way. Some may also do private legit bodywork on the side, but some may not have a home setup for it, and others may even be concurrently attending school for PT or other further medical training, without the time to earn more than the spa pays.

If you're not inclined to be a service tipper, then don't. It's not really a problem until your next visit...

[nate_sf]

When I get a massage I tip the same whether it's a spa or the guy's own place. Somewhere around 20%. The spa I go to provides an envelope with the masseur's name on it, and you drop it into a box on the way out, so hopefully that means they're not skimming off the tips. But I can't really control what happens to the tips in a spa, so just hope the masseur gets compensated fairly.

To @jeezifonly's points, the spa covers the overhead, but the pay tends to be way less than what the spa charges. This is true of trainers at gyms too... my trainer at Equinox let me know what their compensation structure was, and it was surprising how small a percentage they get from what the gym charges, unless they have lots of clients. But having overhead covered and a good place to conduct business is significant too.

So if you think about it, the masseur in the spa has his overhead covered, but is being paid less. The guy with his own place is keeping his entire fee, but needs to cover his overhead including providing a decent place for business. Maybe that's a spare bedroom, and that has a cost associated with it. So I'd say the same amount for tips regardless.