Is it customary to tip your electrologist? If so, how much do customers usually tip for a one hour session? Does it make a difference if the electrolysis is performed in a spa or a doctor’s office?I have had electrolysis from the same practitioner both in the doctor’s office and in a spa where she works part time. I do tip at the spa. But it seems out of place to tip in a doctor’s office.RJC2001
I had the same question when I started, and everyone on the board said not to tip.
Though I’ve been soooooooooooooooo thrilled with the results so far and since I’ll still be at this in december, I’m thinking of a giving a nice hefty xmas tip.
For more on Tipping, see this link.
It is not a hard and fast rule that you don’t or can’t tip your electrologist, you just have to discuss this with your electrologist. Those who work for others might be more receptive than those who work for themselves for obvious reasons.
Thanks for the input everyone. I get the idea there is no hard and fast rule about tipping. My practitioner is now working exclusively in a doctor’s office so I will discuss tipping with her and make sure there is no policy against it in the office.RJC2001
Well, I don’t really tip my electrologist. I buy her breakfast every time I visit. And sometimes, she buys me lunch after the treatment, if time is allowed.
You are correct. The only hard and fast rule on gratuities and electrolysis is that you will need to carefully and politly discuss it with your electrologist. You will also need to understand that while most will simply tell you their stand on the subject, (mine is that I would not dishonor a birthday present by refusing to accept it, and you don’t have to give me one of those come October 7th either, but I still have room in my closet for more number 7 sports jerseys if you want to get me one 
) and some electrologists actually get offended that any one WANTS to tip them, because they associate tipping with “menial jobs” like waitressing.
I do find that for many people, the option of treating the electrologist to a meal is popular, however, for a busy electrologist like myself, it is not frequently practical unless the person is bringing something into the office, and I get to eat it prior to their appointment, which is not practical either for anything other than a light snack. Luckily, many electrologists do have the time to visit an eatery with you and relax.
Just read the previous post-string provided in the link, and maybe add your own take on the subject to that string. I do want the electrologists to understand why clients want to do this, and just how the client comes up with how much they wish to give. It can go a long way to settling everyone’s stomach on this issue even if it doesn’t settle the issue of should you tip YOUR SPECIFIC electrologist. It will provide you with all the tools to get that question answered between the two of you.
All we need is respect and understanding.
Let’s try this again.
Practitioners need your help in understanding YOUR side of this question.
People here are always asking about how to tip, and what to tip, but when electrologists talk about this, the argument is should one even accept a tip.
I have not had much luck in getting the readers of this forum to post why they tip when they tip, and what it means to them when they do. Please do us a favor and take some time to post something on this subject. YOU are the expert here. I can’t tell practitioners how you feel, only you can.
If you have never posted to the forum, here is the perfect place for a first post.
I decided to tip my practitioner for a job very well done, $10 per session. It just seemed like the right thing to do. I had just never thought of it until the past year.
RJC2001
I personally NEVER accept a tip. I see myself as a professional offering a professional service. I also own my business and have no other employees. My compensation is seeing great results and hearing people tell me what a difference I’ve made in their life.
I started my treatments in a Beauty Salon. After several sessions, where I didn’t tip, I found out that other customers were tipping for things like facials and so on.
That made me feel awkward, so instead of tipping, I started putting all the money that I would have tipped into a pot at home, and gave it as a Christmas bonus at the end of the year.
It made me feel a bit better, anyway.
The next electrolysists I had specialised in electrolysis only. They ran their own businesses. Two of them politely told me that they didn’t expect to be tipped when I offered it. So I didn’t offer agin, and I don’t feel bad about it. The third one accepted my tip, so I tip her all the time.
If I ever went somewhere else, I think I’d offer a tip and if it’s accepted, I’d be happy to continue tipping. If it’s declined, I’d thank them very much, and just not offer it again.
A good electrolysist will really appreciate how much you value your sessions without you giving tips.
Yes, most electrologists don’t expect you to tip, and won’t think that you should.
Most will explain that you don’t NEED to tip. They might also explain that tipping is not expected, and that they want you to understand that no one is looking for one, or judging you if you don’t. At the same time, some will still accept your tip if it is made clear that you are doing it out of gratitude, and not just the thought that you won’t get the best service if you don’t tip.
The point is you must have the conversation so that you both understand where you two are coming from, and what your particular sitation is.
http://etransgender.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2104
Do you tip your electrologist?
by Gwen Cooper | Published on Wed Jul 15, 2009 7:38 pm | eTransgender :: Transgender Forum
IMO, there isn’t too many professions where you can make $93.00 an hour. Why in the world would I tip them in addition to it, unless your just plain rich… but I always wonder, am I the only one? So, do you tip your electrologist?
I am an electrologist. I charge $65 an hour to non trans patients and only $45 to my trans patients. I am ashamed to have to say that all my non trans patients tip me but only 1 of my trans patients tip. My trans patients know that I’m struggling financially but my non patients don’t know.
Another thing you need to consider is, whatever the hourly fee is, there are costs involved (rent, insurance supplies, utilities…) also they are not working 8 strait hours each day.
Besides all said, it’s tradition just like tipping your hairdresser, waitress…
Thu Jul 16, 2009 3:04 pm
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jpru
Location: florida
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I’m an electrologist. Electrologists vary greatly on the tip issue. The best thing to do is to ask your electrologist his/her tipping policy.
I charge (different than earn) $65/hr. It’s on the low end for my area, and I’m due for a raise. But until the economy improves, I’m going to try to stay at $65. I prefer that my clients not tip me.
I am a one person business. Even when I did work for someone else, I still did not accept tips. I consider myself an allied health professional. I don’t tip my physician, nurses, dentists, etc. I don’t equate myself with a waitress who makes under $3/hour or a hairdresser who makes 50% commission. I run my business very much like a medical practice. My attire, advertising, the appearance of my office all reflect a medical to med-spa type atmosphere. When a client refers a friend or family member to me, that is the best “tip” I could ever receive.
Some insist on tipping, and I accept it graciously. But I do tell them my preference. Most of my clients don’t even offer, and I think it’s because I do look like a medical professional (I get called “Doctor” often, because of the lab coat.) and I never mention tipping. I’ve had many hair stylists make comments on how much another patron tipped. I think that is their way of telling me they expect a tip.
But I have to admit, I do rack up at Christmas. My clients are extremely generous with the Christmas gifts. When I know a gift was chosen specifically with me in mind, it does make me feel appreciated much more than a few dollars that I never know for sure if the tip is given out of a since of obligation or because they are showing true gratitude.
Thu Jul 16, 2009 7:14 pm
Guest
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If it’s customary to tip, i would, just to make sure that things are copacetic with the person shooting lasers at me.
Tue Jul 21, 2009 12:53 pm
rileykilo
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I think the advice I’ve heard is the waitress line… Unless you’re making $3.50 an hour and doing it on roller skates the job shouldn’t consist of a tip.
Tipping is an overtly American thing as well, I doubt if any electrologist in any other country than the U.S. has ever gotten a tip.
Tue Jul 21, 2009 7:02 pm
Gwen Cooper
Leader of the Transgender Battalion of Death
Thanks for that link Audrey, but this post string was designed to have people explain why they wanted to tip. We have at least two other post strings for discussing to tip or not to tip.
Would you care to weigh in on the subject of this post string? Why do you want to tip your hair removal provider?
yes, I actually read that article earlier and thought some people might find it interesting. Personally, I haven’t started getting electrolysis done. I started to think about the tipping aspect about electrology and I found this forum helpful. The way I look at it, I think electrologists are people who can actually change your life because so many people are terrified with unwanted hair and once that’s gone, it can boost your confidence. I’ve read here some where, I think it was Alan_Prince, Why would you NEVER take any tips from your clients even though they might be whole heartedly willing to give it to you? What’s so bad about that?
Here is the funny thing. People like Alan_Price have bought into a programmed world view that says that if they want to be “on the level of the doctors” they will take offense at the very idea that anyone would even try to tip them, as if they don’t make enough money. It is my view that this mind controlled blindness ignores the motivation and intention of the client. I liken it to refusing a birthday gift and spitting on the present after throwing it down on the ground. It reminds me of the old British shopkeeper thing where they used to look down on actually selling you anything, and looked at advertising one’s business, or prices to be the height of debasement.
Most people who tip actually do so out of gratitude, not some idea that the practitioner is expecting a bribe for good service, or extorting them for just a little bit more. Of course, when I say these things, many in the industry discount what I am saying. It is only through people like you telling them why you would consider tipping that they will get it. I don’t know why it is so hard to grasp the relationship difference between the client and electrolysis provider. I would hazard to guess that more electrolysis providers get invited to client weddings than client doctors, lawyers and such.
I personally have been at the head table more than once, and was even the best man at a client’s wedding. A plastic surgeon’s work might have as much of an impact, but he doesn’t often get the wedding invite.
I really wish more people would participate in this thread.
One of my clients told me that she always gives her hair stylist a $40 tip after a cut and color. She has never offered me a tip and she is 99% finished with what was a severe beard problem (PCOS). If she had offered a tip, I would have said, “not necessary”. I’m thinking that what I have given her is the gift of permanent hair removal, along with, a renewed self-esteem. What an electrologist does is not something that goes on for the rest of one’s life, like cutting and coloring hair. No, I don’t expect to be tipped and I would never even hint about such a thing. Logically thinking would say, when one looks at skilled permanent hair removal verses having to repeat the same process of cut and color every 2-3 months, then it would make sense to tip for the former.
I don’t tip. It’s $70 an hour and I do dozens and dozens of hours. Simply can’t afford to pay an additional 10% on top of the $400 a month or more. This year, however, I gave a nice Christmas gift. I listened to her likes all year, and found an extra-special gift that I know she will enjoy for years. That is much more meaningful to me than an extra (more than a) few bucks each session.
I estimate your good taste Bryce, a gift chosen personally has much more value than another thing.
This demonstrates that the person who does the gift, has taken the inconvenience to think, searching, buying, wrapping and delivering.
I also have received a gift today.
Such a delicious and nice gift like the person who has done it. Thank you S.
Dee’s comment me has remembered many clients saying:
“How can I be grateful what you have done for me?”
Naturally this one is a rhetorical question because since the Phoenicians invented the currency, nobody has this problem.
Personally, I prefer the chocolates. The problem is that my creditors do not share my preferences. 
I’ve been having treatments for about a month now, and I’ve tipped the electrologist twice: for (a) her birthday, and (b) Christmas. Although she’s the owner of the salon, she’s also an excellent electrologist. Her skill and speed in removing my beard is greatly appreciated. Ordinarily I would not tip the owner of a salon, only the employees. In this case, she’s been fantastic, she’s an active member of the state electrolysis board, and she’s a great resource and friend to the local trans community. She offered me an appointment in the afternoon for Christmas Eve, but I declined because everyone’s schedule is already busy enough on that day.