How Much Should You Tip for a Massage?

How Much Should You Tip for a Massage? A lot of questions are asked on how much you should tip a massage therapist and the normal tip amount given. What’s too much? What’s too little? Is it just a flat rate or should you tip by percentage of the bill?

Tipping Guidelines

Tipping a massage therapist is like tipping your waiter or your waitress at a restaurant. Here are some guidelines for tipping when getting a massage.

• If you feel as though that the massage therapist at least did what they were supposed to, give them a 10% tip.
•  If you feel as though your massage therapist did a good job, give them a 15% tip.
•  If they went above and beyond for you, it’s a general rule of thumb that you give them a 20% tip.

Most massages range in the cost of $50-$100. So if you give a tip of 15%-20%, you should be tipping your massage therapist between $7.50 and $20.

Questions to Ask Yourself

Consider a couple of things though before you tip your massage therapist:

• How often do you get a massage? If the answer is that you don’t go regularly, tip according to the service you were provided. If you go often, don’t feel obligated to tip, especially if tipping means that you can’t afford to get another good massage. Don’t worry about whether or not the quality of your service will be impacted on whether or not you tip. If you get massages at honest and good quality places, there should never be a worry about whether or not you get the quality of a massage that you paid for.
•  What does your budget allow? As stated above, if tipping prevents you from getting a good and well-deserved massage, just don’t tip. Be sure that your massage therapist deserves how much you tip them. Know what your budget is and know how much, if any, money you can tip to your massage therapist.
•  Did your massage therapist live up to your expectations? Were they rude? Were they too rough and applied too much pressure? Did they give you what you wanted?

Before you tip, be sure you have these questions answered.

How your massage therapist acts towards you and what they do for you should be indicative on what kind of tip they are given. After all, a tip is more of a way to say thank you for what you’ve done for me. It certainly isn’t something that is required to do, and you aren’t forced to tip.

At the end of the day, though, the amount of money you tip is all up to you. If you wanted to balance your checkbook or your bank account, then you can always just round up to the closest round number. For example, if your bill comes to $105, make it $120. There will never be a judgement on how much and even how often you tip your massage therapist. There are no ground rules as to tipping, so just do what feels right to you. It’s your money, so it’s all up to you what you do with it and how you spend it.