Tip for expensive artists?

knottieeda46eb336bb1b25

Hello! I was sent a contract for a makeup artist. She is 800 for the bride and 150-200 for MOH and bridesmaids. On her contract she lists prices and it states "does not include gratuity." I thought I read it wrong.... but I didn't. She also charges a travel fee. I don't want to offend the artist because she is amazing at what she does, but I think the with price she is charging, there is no way I am including gratuity. Would you even sign?

MyNameIsNot

knottieeda46eb336bb1b25 said:

Hello! I was sent a contract for a makeup artist. She is 800 for the bride and 150-200 for MOH and bridesmaids. On her contract she lists prices and it states "does not include gratuity." I thought I read it wrong.... but I didn't. She also charges a travel fee. I don't want to offend the artist because she is amazing at what she does, but I think the with price she is charging, there is no way I am including gratuity. Would you even sign?

If she's out of your budget, and that means total cost with fees and gratuity, then it means she's not the right vendor for you and you need to keep looking. $800 is rather high, but like any artistic vendor, there are a wide variety of price ranges out there. There's no shame in saying that's outside of what you're willing to spend and keep looking for someone else at a different price point. 

It would be wrong to sign a contract planning to stiff her on the tip. She won't be offended if you don't hire her, but she will be offended if you don't tip. 

short+sassy

This is more a curiosity question, but is it normal to tip a person running their own business?  I thought, overall, it wasn't usually done.  For exactly the reasons the OP stated.  This person has it in their power to charge whatever they want.  So they should charge what they actually want to make and not expect to be tipped.  Assuming they are the one doing 100% of the work.

Obviously, this particular business person expects to be tipped because they state "does not include gratuity".  But it's such a contrived and inefficient way to do it, that it would annoy me also.  Like, "If you actually want to make $900, then charge $900.  It's so much simpler."

banana468

short+sassy said:

This is more a curiosity question, but is it normal to tip a person running their own business?  I thought, overall, it wasn't usually done.  For exactly the reasons the OP stated.  This person has it in their power to charge whatever they want.  So they should charge what they actually want to make and not expect to be tipped.  Assuming they are the one doing 100% of the work.

Obviously, this particular business person expects to be tipped because they state "does not include gratuity".  But it's such a contrived and inefficient way to do it, that it would annoy me also.  Like, "If you actually want to make $900, then charge $900.  It's so much simpler."

Agreed.  I just talked about this with DH on a completely different industry (tree surgeons) but the point was that if you're owning a business then your fee should cover your tips. 

I'll be honest:  If the $800 is for bridal hair and makeup on the wedding day I think it's absurd and to add the disclaimer that it doesn't include tip when the person is self-employed just gives me a sour taste.   Who are this person's clients where this is what is charged and there are enough that this is a living?  I live in an area that's not exactly low cost of living and unless I was about to be interviewed by Ryan Seacrest on the red carpet I would find someone more in the $100-$200 range for bridal. 

ILoveBeachMusic

My regular hairstylist owns her own business, and I don't tip her. I have always been told you don't tip someone who owns their business because of the above mentioned reason. $800 - good grief that is above reasonable in my opinion but obviously she expects a tip. Don't sign the contract.

maine7mob

I'm with the don't sign camp. She sounds like someone who is used to dealing with people with very deep pockets. If that isn't you, keep looking.

And yes, I think it's tacky for the business owner to expect tips. She should build that into her price. Some clients will likely tip anyway, but the owner should not expect this.

MesmrEwe

The answer is "She is out of your budget, do not sign"...

Consider that she's going to take the day away from seeing her regular hair/makeup clients and would be traveling to your event along with the expenses that go along with that type of business, so yes, I can see where she gets her price-point from if you're in more of an urban environment..  So, $1000 to do your wedding day makeup plus travel is an easier way to figure it.  $1000 goes a long way on a lot of other wedding details - that's almost a whole designer wedding cake depending on the size of your guest list or the DJ in many areas.  If you really want her, go for it, it's your money, but think of it on the scale of the rest of your wedding if it's a reasonable part of your budget.

short+sassy

banana468 said:

short+sassy said:

This is more a curiosity question, but is it normal to tip a person running their own business?  I thought, overall, it wasn't usually done.  For exactly the reasons the OP stated.  This person has it in their power to charge whatever they want.  So they should charge what they actually want to make and not expect to be tipped.  Assuming they are the one doing 100% of the work.

Obviously, this particular business person expects to be tipped because they state "does not include gratuity".  But it's such a contrived and inefficient way to do it, that it would annoy me also.  Like, "If you actually want to make $900, then charge $900.  It's so much simpler."

Agreed.  I just talked about this with DH on a completely different industry (tree surgeons) but the point was that if you're owning a business then your fee should cover your tips. 

I'll be honest:  If the $800 is for bridal hair and makeup on the wedding day I think it's absurd and to add the disclaimer that it doesn't include tip when the person is self-employed just gives me a sour taste.   Who are this person's clients where this is what is charged and there are enough that this is a living?  I live in an area that's not exactly low cost of living and unless I was about to be interviewed by Ryan Seacrest on the red carpet I would find someone more in the $100-$200 range for bridal. 

One of my first jobs out of college was being the office manager for a tree care company.  People occasionally tipped our employees, but not usually. It definitely wasn't expected, but was a nice surprise when it happened.

Back in his early days, the owner would occasionally be tipped also.  But, by the time I was working there, he rarely worked at jobsites.