5 ms·

If you must tip, only ever use cash. Otherwise you're also subsidizing Square, Toast, Visa, Stripe, etc. Did they give you exceptional service today? Use cash.

princevegeta89 2y ago
Tipping cash is great whenever you have it, but it's not convenient. Not in the age of digital payments that can be completed with your mobile phone.
- hoosieree 2y ago
  You're absolutely right, cash is indeed inconvenient. But all digital payments make you pay a middleman "platform" which tries to extract as much of the transaction as possible while providing the minimum possible value. Oh and by the way this platform's also trying to become a monopoly so it can eventually provide less than the minimum value without losing you as a customer. Crypto claims to be a solution to this, but in practice approximately all crypto transactions go through a middleman (exchange) which takes a cut. It's unreasonable to expect your barista to go through the effort of accepting crypto payments without involving an exchange. Cash doesn't have this problem. I'd love to be proven wrong about this. Is there a digital payment method that runs on phones that doesn't subsidize a middleman?
  - seanmcdirmid 2y ago
    Chinese payment platforms are the closest to a light middle man, but this might just be VC subsidizing things. Cash has its own expense of course, you need a middleman regardless, even if it’s just your local bank branch taking daily merchant cash deposits.
pembrook 2y ago
If it means I don’t have to carry around a wad of bills in a gold money clip and hand them out like I’m John Gotti, then yes, Visa did give me exceptional service.
- atq2119 2y ago
  That's Visa's normal service. Considering that exceptional is silly.
  - voxic11 2y ago
    So should I not be tipping for normal service? Its pretty confusing because in my country tipping seems to be the expected default, not something reserved to exceptional circumstances.
    - hiatus 2y ago
      Do you similarly tip your phone company, or electricity provider?
      - voxic11 2y ago
        Do you if the service is exceptional?
    - atq2119 2y ago
      All things equal, I do think tipping for normal service from people who are employees is messed up. Unfortunately, culture in many countries is to tip in certain situations, especially in restaurants, even for normal service. But just because it's culturally normal to tip in restaurants in your country doesn't mean you'd tip a giant corporation like Visa. That's not how culture works.
lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 2y ago
Not that I disagree with this point but I'd say the best reason to choose cash would be that you can control who receives it. Give it directly to the person who provided the service you're tipping for, whenever possible.
- hoosieree 2y ago
  Exactly! Otherwise you're giving control over the money to someone else, who will use that control to further screw over the already marginalized service worker.

princevegeta89 2y ago

Tipping cash is great whenever you have it, but it's not convenient. Not in the age of digital payments that can be completed with your mobile phone.

hoosieree 2y ago
You're absolutely right, cash is indeed inconvenient. But all digital payments make you pay a middleman "platform" which tries to extract as much of the transaction as possible while providing the minimum possible value. Oh and by the way this platform's also trying to become a monopoly so it can eventually provide less than the minimum value without losing you as a customer. Crypto claims to be a solution to this, but in practice approximately all crypto transactions go through a middleman (exchange) which takes a cut. It's unreasonable to expect your barista to go through the effort of accepting crypto payments without involving an exchange. Cash doesn't have this problem. I'd love to be proven wrong about this. Is there a digital payment method that runs on phones that doesn't subsidize a middleman?
- seanmcdirmid 2y ago
  Chinese payment platforms are the closest to a light middle man, but this might just be VC subsidizing things. Cash has its own expense of course, you need a middleman regardless, even if it’s just your local bank branch taking daily merchant cash deposits.

pembrook 2y ago

If it means I don’t have to carry around a wad of bills in a gold money clip and hand them out like I’m John Gotti, then yes, Visa did give me exceptional service.

atq2119 2y ago
That's Visa's normal service. Considering that exceptional is silly.
- voxic11 2y ago
  So should I not be tipping for normal service? Its pretty confusing because in my country tipping seems to be the expected default, not something reserved to exceptional circumstances.
  - hiatus 2y ago
    Do you similarly tip your phone company, or electricity provider?
    - voxic11 2y ago
      Do you if the service is exceptional?
  - atq2119 2y ago
    All things equal, I do think tipping for normal service from people who are employees is messed up. Unfortunately, culture in many countries is to tip in certain situations, especially in restaurants, even for normal service. But just because it's culturally normal to tip in restaurants in your country doesn't mean you'd tip a giant corporation like Visa. That's not how culture works.

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 2y ago

Not that I disagree with this point but I'd say the best reason to choose cash would be that you can control who receives it. Give it directly to the person who provided the service you're tipping for, whenever possible.

hoosieree 2y ago
Exactly! Otherwise you're giving control over the money to someone else, who will use that control to further screw over the already marginalized service worker.