“Generally, in-home services don’t require a tip in the same way the service industry does,” says Chaz Wyland, former handyman and carpenter. “That said, it does happen—and I’ll tell you through first-hand experience, it’s much appreciated,” adds Wyland. While it’s not always the norm to tip for these services, there are a few situations where it would be a good idea to tip a service provider for work in your home.
Tip Etiquette for Home Services
For regular service professionals that come to your home, you could give seasonal tips, such as around the holidays. “A seasonal tip would be a nice gesture. It would be nice to give that person a tip equal to the cost of one week’s service,” says Ted Rossman, senior industry analyst at CreditCards.com. You could also give a gift as a token of appreciation during the holidays. Tipping people for providing exceptional service in your home is a good way to maintain a relationship with that person, and show your appreciation. “I always tip the cleaner at my rental property whenever she does something beyond her scope of work,” says money-saving expert Andrea Woroch. “It just goes to show that I appreciate the extra effort and am not taking her services for granted,” she explains. Again, how much you give doesn’t matter as much as the gesture itself when it comes to tipping for at-home services, so feel free to base it on the level of service and nature of the job (i.e., leave a tip if it’s a particularly difficult or strenuous repair). “I don’t think it’s expected by any means, especially if you negotiate a rate for regular monthly or weekly service,” she adds.
