Tipping at a Spa: A PSA of sorts [nothing to do with the Prostate]

[gallahadesquire]

I'm curious, and send me a conversation if you'd prefer, on how you tip a masseur / nail therapist / hair person at a spa / salon? Do you tip? What percent?

 

I ask because I have to deal with my nephew, who is a massage therapist, getting stiffed. He had a big, well-muscled dude for an 80 minute massage, and the guy tipped him $10. (The massage was well over $100.)

 

He's particularly worried as this upcoming weekend is Valentine's day, and he's book solid, with a preponderance of couples' massages [Grammar police: Sorry if I apostrophe'd incorrectly], the issue being that after a massage and dinner, they don't tip.

 

And, as a suggestion: If you can, tip in cash. He gets that weekly, and they take out 10% for taxes. Credit card tips are paid with his paycheck.

[bigvalboy]

I tip 25% + depending on how attentive they are. And I always pay the masseur in cash when he returns to the room to take me to the spa area. I hand it to him directly. I was at a Burke Williams in LA once, and the masseur told me that when tips are paid on the credit card, those tips are split between all the masseurs. When I found that out, I started tipping the masseur directly. It's up to him, how much he wants to put into the general tip fund.