Am I supposed to tip the clown I hired for DS's b-day party?

[vald1977]

Hi,
My DS's birthday party is in a couple of weeks and we have hired a clown to come to the house. She performs for an hour and the cost is $100.00 . Am I supposed to tip the clown on top of paying this or just pay the $100.00 ? If so, how much of a tip? I have no experience with this and am just trying to figure out how much I need to save up. Thanks for any advice .

 

[grinningghost]

I don't know about tipping, but I hope she doesn't turn out to be a clown like the one in "Air Bud".

 

[TigerBear]

Is this her own business or does she work for an agency? If she works for an agency, I would probably tip her.

 

[vald1977]

Air Bud -- I haven't seen that one but it is on our Netflix list .

I am almost positive she doesn't work for an agency. She does this on her own.

 

[disneychrista]

If this is her own business I would NOT tip her.

 

[buzzlady]

If she works on her own and not for an agency, then NO, I would not tip her. At $100 an hour that would be more than enough! If she worked for an agency, then maybe, as she wouldn't be getting the entire $100.

 

[diznygirl]

Especially if she works for herself - tip her if you can afford it. My brother is a DJ that works for himself and tips are like found money. He doesn't expect them, but he sure appreciates them.

Of course, only if she's tip-worthy....

 

[grinningghost]

Originally posted by vald1977
Air Bud -- I haven't seen that one but it is on our Netflix list .

I am almost positive she doesn't work for an agency. She does this on her own.

I loved "Air Bud". It put the final nail in the "I AM getting a golden retriever" coffin. And I got one.

 

[shortbun]

Tip her. What's the difference who she works for?
Working with kids is hard and fun. If she's good, tip her.

 

[vald1977]

Okay, so how much is an appropriate tip?

 

[disneychrista]

Originally posted by shortbun
Tip her. What's the difference who she works for?

The difference is if she works for herself she gets the entire $100 if she works for an agency she will likely only see a portion of that money.

 

[diznygirl]

But if she's working for herself, she's probably not a millionaire just doing this for the smiles of the children. She's got bills. Show a little love..... give her a tip if she does a good job.

 

[SandiH]

If she works for herself - she's paying a lot of that $100 to self-employment tax so as far as her take home pay - who she works for is probably fairly mute. Tip if you want - tip what you want.

Sandi

 

[shortbun]

Originally posted by SandiH
If she works for herself - she's paying a lot of that $100 to self-employment tax so as far as her take home pay - who she works for is probably fairly mute. Tip if you want - tip what you want.

Sandi

Exactly! Our taxes total at 42% because my DH is self employed.
It's ugly. I'd say 10 or 15% is right. That's what I would do
anyway.

 

[charabby]

I wouldn't tip b/c even with taxes, etc. taken into consideration, she's making $50-$100 an hour, depending upon how long her show is. IMO, tips are getting out of hand. Sometimes the fee is just the fee.

 

[TigerBear]

I always thought that you are not supposed to tip business owners. If I am wrong, please tell me.

From http://people.howstuffworks.com/tipping3.htm

Who are we NOT supposed to tip?

There are still a few people out there who we are NOT supposed to tip. Some of these include:
Restaurant owners
Salon owners
Other owners of establishments where you tip the service providers
Food deliveries under $30, such as those from the grocery store (although this is debated)
Airline flight attendants
Busboys in restaurants (waiters usually give busboys a percentage of the tips they receive)
Hotel desk clerks and doormen (unless they provide some special service for you)
Bus drivers
Theater ushers
Museum guides
Salespeople
Employees at fast food restaurants

 

[disneychrista]

Originally posted by charabby
I wouldn't tip b/c even with taxes, etc. taken into consideration, she's making $50-$100 an hour, depending upon how long her show is. IMO, tips are getting out of hand. Sometimes the fee is just the fee.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[vald1977]

Thanks for the opinions, everyone. This is a woman who actually works with DH but is a clown on the weekends. We have seen her at different functions and she is really very good. I guess what I will do is give her a tip if she goes above and beyond but I just wanted to make sure I wasn't expected to tip (like at a restaurant). My other option would be to have DH ask her if she is usually tipped but that could be awkward for DH. We'll just see how it goes .