Any moving company folks here?

[gdub81]

I've got a startup business encouraging and capturing more tips for service workers. It seems like it might be relevant for moving companies but I'm struggling to get direct feedback from moving companies and workers.

My question is this;

How important are tips to the company (e.g. worker retention?) and for the movers themselves (i.e. are tips a meaningful amount of your income?)

Thanks in advance for any feedback you have!

 

[buzzard]

@gdub81 I was a mover for a while and I found tips to be quite motivating. Sometimes you could actually make a lot depending on the client and your work ethic. I got tipped after pretty much every move, between $20-100. At the time I was making $15-17 hourly so it certainly made a difference

 

[gdub81]

@buzzard Thanks for the feedback. I really appreciate you taking the time to respond.

Were the tips in cash always, or did the customer pay the moving company and they passed the tip on to you?

 

[buzzard]

@gdub81 More often than not the tip was with their card and I got it through the company later on. It was probably an 80/20 split

 

[gdub81]

@buzzard That's super helpful. When they paid on a credit card did they have to ring the office to make that payment or does the mover take payment on site, like with a square reader?

 

[buzzard]

@gdub81 We had a debit machine for each truck so we always took payment on site at the end of each move

 

[softhenic]

@buzzard Hey mate, shot you a DM.

 

[r025]

@gdub81 I am the owner of a junk removal company. I know junk removal is not moving, but they are sister industries so I hope the info will help. Tips are a significant portion of my employees' pay. Typically, my crews make an additional 20% - 30% of their hourly wage in tips, depending upon the season. And that is just the tips I track that are paid via credit card and that I then pass on to them via their pay check. They do get cash tips semi-frequently as well.

Happy to answer additional questions here or through DM.

 

[gdub81]

@r025 Super helpful, thank! I'll reach out via DM.

 

[listeninginphoenix]

@gdub81 I worked at a moving company that my friend owns for 3 years. Tips are extremely important (more for the movers not as much for the company) and make up around 50% of what mover’s make. When movers would not get tipped or get tipped poorly they would not be happy (to put it mildly)

 

[tx_ldy]

@gdub81 I own a moving company. Tips are definitely significant but aren't the deciding factor in staff retention. It's a very hard, not usually well-paid job that wrecks your body over the years and a lot of people in the industry are difficult to work alongside. Tips are just a nice little extra. Nobody is staying because of the extra $20 here and there.

 

[gdub81]

@tx_ldy Thanks, thats good context.

When your customers want to give a tip is it relatively easy for them to do that on their credit card? And do you then pass on the all the tip to the worker or take the credit card fee out?

 

[tx_ldy]

@gdub81 Tips are almost always in cash. Distributed out then and there, split equally between whoever is on shift. Only exception is if it's a multi day job and the guys were on the job for varying numbers of days. The guy who put in 3 days gets more than the guy showed up on the last day. If its a lot of money we do it down the street since its a bit unsightly to handle money like that in front of the client.

 

[gdub81]

@tx_ldy Thanks. Im surprised tips are still in cash. Is there a reason the customer doesn't just add a tip to the credit card invoice?

 

[tx_ldy]

@gdub81 My customers pay in advance. As is standard practice in the UK.