How Much To Tip the Pizza Delivery Guy- Too much, too less?

We have all been there where everyone is hungry, and cooking your own food might take too long. Pizza is one, if not the most common type of food to order and get delivered to you.

Your food arrives and you see that the pizza is still hot and the delivery guy made sure that it arrived in the best condition, now you wonder whether you should tip him or not?

There is proper etiquette for tipping pizza delivery guys with a certain amount to make sure that they are paid properly.

Observing the service and delivery, you can base the amount of money you tip for the pizza delivery guy. So is it really necessary to tip the driver every time you order a pizza?

There has been a surge in food delivery in recent years because we cannot go out to pick up food as often as we can due to the pandemic.

That alone has made me think that these pizza delivery guys are working so hard and are always at a risk of getting sick because of weather conditions and other factors.

So I make sure to tip the driver the minimum amount so that we are both satisfied with the order and the service. Here are the standards, factors, and more surprising things about tipping delivery guys!

Use A Pizza Tip Calculator

A pizza tip calculator is a good assistant for when you do not know exactly how much to tip the delivery guy. This Pizza Tip Calculator is my favorite because it gathers all the needed info.

As I have mentioned above, there are factors that go into tipping your pizza delivery guy and this pizza tip calculator allows you to insert as many calculable factors as you can.

By completing the required field on the calculator and by simply pressing the “Calculate” button, you will be able to give a reasonable tip to your driver.

If you look at most recommendations on the internet, you will see that the required tip for each order is at least 10% of the amount of your order.

There are some that recommend at least $5 or $3 for smaller areas so this can be confusing. With that, I have here a short explanation of when to tip a specific percentage to the driver.

1. When Do You Tip 10% Of The Total Bill?

10% of the total bill is the amount of tip that you can give to your delivery guy when he did a good job. This is the minimum tip that the driver deserves because of his hard work.

A tip of 10% is actually good and even if the delivery is pretty mediocre or nothing extraordinary, the driver still deserves to get the minimum tip when they delivered your food in good condition.

Some customers also recommend going with 15% of the total amount of your order to tip the driver if they did a good job. Going with either 10% or 15% is both completely acceptable.

2. When Should You Tip The Pizza Delivery Guy 20 Percent And Above?

I usually give a 20% tip to the delivery guy if they did an excellent job. If my pizza came in hot with the toppings perfectly cooked and the package is not damaged or dirty, then I give them 20%.

If you think that the delivery guy went to great lengths to make sure that your pizza arrived at your doorstep hot and crispy, then they deserve a 20% tip for a job well done.

I really appreciate the delivery guys that go on to deliver the food in the best condition despite putting themselves in harsh conditions and risking their safety.

So I do not hesitate to give 20% tips when they deserve it, especially during times when I cannot go out like when it is raining or snowing heavily.

Does Bad Weather Mean More In Tips For The Pizza Delivery Guy?

Tipping more when your food is delivered to your doorstep in great condition despite bad weather goes a long way. Adding 2% or even 5% to the standard tip for bad weather is great.

Remember that these drivers are already working very hard to make sure that our food gets to us as soon as possible and remain good when the food arrives.

Them facing bad weather can be a huge factor and most of these drivers appreciate it a lot when you tip more during these harder times.

If the standard tip in the restaurant that you ordered is 20%, you can tip the driver up to 25% if there is heavy rain. During snow, I would usually tip up to 30% if I have the cash with me.

Again, these drivers already risk a lot to get your food delivered to you so being appreciative of their efforts by giving an extra dollar or two during bad weather is much appreciated for sure.

I usually do not hesitate to give extra tips even with delivery charges applying to my order. I do this despite the already existing delivery fee.

Should I Tip If There Is A Delivery Charge?

Yes, tipping should not be skipped even if there is a delivery charge that comes with the pizza you ordered. More often than not, the delivery charge does not go directly to the delivery guy.

Some or most delivery charges go back to the business to pay for the delivery services, apps, and such.

When I am hesitant because of the large or expensive delivery fee, I usually call the restaurant and ask whether the delivery fee goes straight to the delivery guy.

If it does, I make sure to use the pizza tip calculator and see if it reaches at least 15% to 20% of the amount.

If the delivery fee does not reach the minimum tip, I then add the remaining tip to reach the minimum.

Some people are willing to give up to $10 of the tip while others say that it is very expensive to go with that tip. That is simply because there are a lot of factors why deliveries are expensive.

Why Are Delivery Fees So Expensive?

Delivery fees are very expensive because there might not be enough delivery guys around your area. That or the restaurant you ordered from might not have their own delivery service.

When you order through a third-party app like UberEats, DoorDash, or GrubHub, you can look at your area to see if there are available delivery guys around or not.

If there are a few, chances are you might be paying more delivery fees than where there are a lot of delivery guys around.

Using a third-party delivery app can also mean a more expensive delivery fee.

Relying on the third-party delivery service means more bills to pay so delivery fee might be more expensive than a restaurant that has its own delivery service.

During the pandemic, third-party delivery services made more money because of this. According to MarketWatch, the top 4 food delivery services more than doubled their income in just a year.

In 2019, UberEats, DoorDash, GrubHub, and Postmates made an income of $2.5 billion during the months of April to September. In the same months a year after or during the pandemic, they made $5.5 billion.

That just goes to show how we relied heavily on these delivery services and because of the high demand and lack of delivery guys, the expensive delivery fees were inevitable.

Your order can also be the reason why the delivery charge is expensive. There can be differences in the delivery fee if you ordered a large pizza or portion of food.

How Much Do You Tip On Large Orders?

Giving 10% of your total order as a tip is great for large orders. This is the standard and actually a generous tip to show that you are grateful for the delivery service.

When I order catering orders that can get up to a price of up to $100, I usually tip $12 to the delivery guy. That is a good tip for the large order that you have.

If I have the means or cash with me, I even go with $20-tips because I know that the weight of the food was not easy to handle, especially while swerving through tight traffic.

The 20% tip that is recommended by some delivery services is good for smaller orders. For those that do not usually get up to $5, but for large orders between $50 to $100 or more, a 10% tip is good enough.

Remember that you are trying to help out the delivery guy so giving the minimum tip is the least we can do for them even if the pizza or food is in bad condition or even worse, a wrong item.

Should I Tip If The Order Is Wrong?

Yes, you should still tip the driver. The order might be wrong but more often than not, it is not the delivery guy’s fault.

However, I always make sure to call the restaurant if the order is wrong so they can either send the right order or refund the order.

There are also times when the restaurant delivers the right order after I tell them what happened and gives me coupons or discounts for my next order.

It is not the delivery guy’s job to double-check the order so they should not take the blame for this.

Unless you used a third-party delivery app where the delivery guy tells the order to the restaurant, you should still tip the driver despite giving the wrong food.

Is Tipping The Pizza Delivery Guy Necessary?

Yes, it is necessary to tip the delivery guy when you get your order. Giving the minimum tip is the least we can do to thank the delivery driver for the service they offer.

While you are not obligated to tip the delivery guy, it can be considered rude otherwise.

There are myths that the delivery guys only pick up the order, deliver it to your house, and then collect the payment, and that this process is hardly deserving of a tip.

That is not true because they go through a lot of risks, sometimes bad weather, heavy traffic, safety hazards, and more.

So giving out tips when your food is delivered is necessary and is surely appreciated by the drivers.

There are many ways to tip a delivery guy so I usually find a way to make sure that the tip is given even when I do not have cash with me at the time of delivery.

How To Tip Pizza Delivery Guy With Credit Card?

The delivery guy will bring a receipt that you need to sign if you pay with a credit card. There, you can write down the amount of tip you want to give after you have calculated it and then sign the receipt.

The bill on the receipt should have the amount of the total order you are paying as well as the amount of tip that you want to give the delivery guy.

Delivery guys would surely prefer cash because paying tips with a credit card means that they do not get the tip at the exact time as it will be later sent to the service provider.

While people are divided on whether to tip via credit card or cash, most say that it benefits the drivers more if they are tipped with cash right when they deliver your order instead of the other alternatives.

Speaking of alternatives, you can also pay your order online and might be confused as to how to tip the driver.

How To Tip If You Paid Online?

I just usually put the tip to my order when I placed it on an app online. There are apps that include a field where you can fill it out with the amount of tip you want to give your driver.

Since the pandemic, we have had more and more apps that allow us to perform contactless transactions so that the virus does not spread.

One benefit we can get from that is the fact that we can now pay conveniently online, and with exact amounts as well.

If you are using your credit card, the delivery guy will bring the receipt that you will sign. For online or digital wallets like Google or Apple pay, you can add the amount of tip to your total bill.

Always Be Grateful And Generous

One quote I found online that really stuck with me about tipping delivery guys is “When in doubt, Be Generous”. This is really the way to tip delivery guys.

There are times when I do not usually have my pizza tip calculator and so I will not be sure how much I should tip them.

When this happens, I will just tip them with a generous amount(depends on how much you have) as I figured, you can never be wrong for giving more than what you can.

Having empathy for these hardworking individuals is always a great way to approach this. So always tipping the pizza delivery guys will only make us better people, all while enjoying a hot and crispy pie!

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