Tipping

[Edward]

I have heard some members of this chat board mention topping. Should you or should you not. My opinion is these guys are working for themselves. If they are getting market rates, $300-400 for the first hour I don't usually tip them. Unless they render service far above expectations. If they are getting below market rates and there service is good, I usually tip them. I would like your opinion on what is protocol.

[Scorpio]

http://m4m-forum.org/threads/tipping.85123/

[thickornotatall]

no tipping here...if you don't think you're charging enough...raise your rates....matter of fact I have had such good feedback from escorts I should probably start charging...

[down_to_business]

Tipping would be negotiating rates upward and we know escorts wouldn't want any rate negotiating so tipping would be an absolute insult and a definite no-no. Pay only and exactly the stated rate.

[bigvalboy]

I always tip...

[Juan Vancouver]

Tipping would be negotiating rates upward and we know escorts wouldn't want any rate negotiating so tipping would be an absolute insult and a definite no-no. Pay only and exactly the stated rate.

 

Edward,

 

I hope you realize that Down_to_business is being facetious. I might be wrong. It's hard to read tone in the written word.

 

Again. There's no rules. And there is no other subject that is more polarizing than this one. Some will call you names for tipping, some will call you names for not doing so. Some will have very strict formulas that they will apply in very obscure ways.

 

If you like tipping and makes you feel good. Do. If you think it might make your interaction more special, make you memorable for the escort, give you the pleasure of giving, by all means tip. Tip whatever you feel is right.

 

If you feel that tipping is outrageous and that escorts are already wealthy enough, if you would feel stupid and abused, if you think about it and think about it again and don't have any idea of how much would be right, if you feel that not tipping makes you save money and it feels like a bargain, by all means don't tip.

 

Do whatever the heck makes you happier.

 

With certain escorts under specific circumstances, your tipping impulse may vary. Listen to yourself and by all means entirely disregard people's opinion in this matter.

 

There is no written rule. You're on your own. Do whatever gives you the most pleasure.

[Lankypeters]

As with any other service, if the work is unusually good, going beyond what you're accustomed to, if it's special, I tip.

[Guest Starbuck]

When I first started hiring, I was very concerned about knowing the right protocol for tipping. I started a thread about it, got a bunch of different perspectives, and at least one poster asked why we had to be discussing THIS subject YET AGAIN.

 

As you've already heard, the only definitive answer is: IT'S ENTIRELY UP TO YOU.

 

Personally, when I have a nice experience, I'm happy to leave a tip, but, given the hourly rate I'm already paying, it's not the 20+ percent that I might be giving to a wait person in a restaurant whose income is largely based on tips.

 

Sometimes, if I've gotten to know a guy, on a repeat visit I might also bring a gift or two that I think he might like--and here the emphasis is on something thoughtfully chosen rather than particularly expensive (a gift that reflects something I've learned about the guy or, perhaps, something he mentions as one of the five things he "can't live without" in his Rentmen interview).

 

I'd also like to pass along the succinctly-stated advice on this subject that I read on Kevin Slater's website. I don't know Kevin, but I remember that when I first came across his perspective, it helped me get comfortable with trusting my own instinct and judgment on a case by case basis. (So, thank you, Kevin.) ...

 

What about tipping?

 

While tips are definitely appreciated and remembered, they are not required. (Hey, $250 is already a lot of money!) About half my clients tip.

[+ VeryHappyCustomer]

In my new life as a skinflint, I'll continue tipping generously for purely selfish reasons: 1) Giving makes me happy. 2) Guys I've tipped well are more likely to be available during my tightly-scheduled downtime. I don't know which way the causality runs; but, so long as #1 remains true, I'd rather not know.

[+ purplekow]

I usually gift and sometimes tip but more and more I am tipping less and less often and less and less money.

[+ azdr0710]

I ask their favorite food store and give a gift card to it......and if they have a pet, he/she gets a gift card, too!

[AdamSmith]

I don't like to hear people talk about karma but I tend to believe in it and tip accordingly.

[Rudynate]

I pretty much tip as a matter of course. But I give myself the option of not tipping by keeping it separate from the escort's fee. It makes it easier not to tip if I don't feel like it. By and large, I have had wonderful experiences with hires. But I have had a couple of so-so experiences that I didn't think merited a tip.

[Cliff]

I'm just starting out here but unless it was not a good experience, I would not even consider not tipping. Even if the cost is high, why would one not tip for a good experience?

[coriolis888]

 

no tipping here...if you don't think you're charging enough...raise your rates....matter of fact I have had such good feedback from escorts I should probably start charging...

 

 

Exactly.

 

Although I am financially comfortable, I do not make $300.00 per hour (as do many escorts).

 

If one of my clients were to "tip" me, I would not consider that gesture professional.

 

A tip would reward me for doing something correctly; something that I was already expected to do for the $300.00 hourly rate.

 

A tip is generally associated with low wage earners (waiters, bell hops, porters, taxi drivers etc) - not $300.00 per hour individuals.

 

Tip = goofy (to me, at least)

[coriolis888]

I'm not advocating for or against tipping, and this is absolutely not a comment on how coriolis888 handles things ... I just want to remark that whenever a reference is made to escorts making $300/hour, I always end up wondering HOW MANY $300 hours occur in the average work week of most escorts, even most top-of-the-line escorts.

 

 

You wonder wisely about the number of hours. We, as clients, probably would be surprised if we knew.

 

Last May 15th, I posted about an escort I have known for a couple of years. The escort received a notice from IRS claiming that he had failed to include about $60,000.00 in his 2013 tax return for payments made to him from Paypal.

 

The escort accepted a lot of his payments by credit cards and Paypal. Apparently, a fairly recent law came into effect that requires Paypal and other credit card companies to report certain amounts paid to individuals receiving funds through their systems.

The reason I cite the above is because it gives an idea how much an escort CAN make. It does not mean that all escorts make a high income.

 

Of course, not all escorts do as well as the guy who received the IRS notice.

 

The escort drives a Mercedes (no car payments) and lives in a very nice expensive and nicely furnished condominium.

 

Should I tip him?

 

Here is a link to the thread about the escort who failed to report at least $60,000.00 of income he earned from escorting:

 

http://m4m-forum.org/threads/warning-to-escorts-who-accept-credit-cards-and-paypal.104637/

 

One final note, the escort is incurring a lot of legal fees because of the IRS issue. Maybe I should reconsider my stance about tipping, at least with regard to this escort (considering the huge money outflow to his lawyer defending him against the IRS).

[+ Topseed]

I agree: tipping is very much optional. Not my thing, but go for it if you wish.

[mike carey]

Although I am financially comfortable, I do not make $300.00 per hour (as do many escorts).

I can't comment on what any other professional who charges by the hour makes, but more often than not they can schedule close to 40 hours a week, not something that one would expect an escort to be able to do. A comparison of hourly rates is not reflective of earning capacity over a week. Cariolis, you acknowledged as much when you commented that we don't know how many billable hours they work.

The escort drives a Mercedes (no car payments) and lives in a very nice expensive and nicely furnished condominium.

I don't see any reason to base a tip on how much an escort earns in a year. I would base it on how good the experience was. I wouldn't reduce my tip in a busy restauant on the basis that the wait staff would be receiving plenty of other tips. (Or that they were being paid a local minimum wage of $15/hr rather than the $2 they receive in some places.)

[MiamiLooker]

A truly professional escort will have one of these discreetly placed near his play area:

http://media1.popsugar-assets.com/files/2014/12/05/019/n/1922441/13fd4725d99b99a1_shutterstock_222923830.xxxlarge_2x.jpg

[coriolis888]

A truly professional escort will have one of these discreetly placed near his play area:

http://media1.popsugar-assets.com/files/2014/12/05/019/n/1922441/13fd4725d99b99a1_shutterstock_222923830.xxxlarge_2x.jpg

 

 

 

I notice a lot of small coins in that jar. Is that any indication of the value of the escort's services?

[MiamiLooker]

I notice a lot of small coins in that jar. Is that any indication of the value of the escort's services?

I believe there's paper money covered by the post-it, but it may just be an IOU

[coriolis888]

I believe there's paper money covered by the post-it, but it may just be an IOU

 

 

Cute!

 

I believe you might have found the paper money concealed by the post-it.

[MiamiLooker]

Posters give a lot of different reasons for tipping a professional that charges $200+ per hour. I suppose some make sense, but I tend to believe many of the findings in this article, "Tips: Check Your Insecurity at the Door", may be more accurate (possibly applicable to why some posters don’t negotiate, as well).

 

http://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/03/dining/tips-check-your-insecurity-at-the-door.html

[thickornotatall]

I can't comment on what any other professional who charges by the hour makes, but more often than not they can schedule close to 40 hours a week, not something that one would expect an escort to be able to do. A comparison of hourly rates is not reflective of earning capacity over a week. Cariolis, you acknowledged as much when you commented that we don't know how many billable hours they work.

 

I don't see any reason to base a tip on how much an escort earns in a year. I would base it on how good the experience was. I wouldn't reduce my tip in a busy restauant on the basis that the wait staff would be receiving plenty of other tips. (Or that they were being paid a local minimum wage of $15/hr rather than the $2 they receive in some places.)

any wait staff making $300 per hour?

[mike carey]

any wait staff making $300 per hour?

Of course not. The point I was making is that I tip based on the extent to which they meet or exceed my expectations, not what their hourly pay rate is. Obviously both hourly rates and terms of employment are different for escorts and wait staff.