{"id":36084,"date":"2026-04-24T09:31:26","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T09:31:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indafunds.com\/?p=36084"},"modified":"2026-04-24T09:31:27","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T09:31:27","slug":"heres-why-most-people-think-tipping-has-gotten-out-of-hand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indafunds.com\/?p=36084","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s Why Most People Think Tipping Has Gotten Out of Hand"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Has tipping gotten out of hand?<\/p>\n

In a new survey by Popmenu, more than 3 out of 4 people \u2014 or 78% \u2014 said they believed that tipping practices have become ridiculous. Forty-four percent say they\u2019re tipping less this year than last year.<\/p>\n

Consumers aren\u2019t shy about expressing their tip fatigue online and on social media sites.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t enjoy a weekend without at least 5 prompts to tip for doing absolutely nothing,\u201d one user on Reddit said about tipping fatigue. \u201cThe anxiety that comes from this false pressure to tip a percentage on every bill is ludicrous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat have we gotten to that every place we go to is requesting a tip?\u201d a user on TikTok asked, while venting that someone taking her order was requesting a gratuity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere wasn\u2019t much service that was happening. It was just basic,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Tip Requests Are Everywhere<\/h2>\n

People feel that \u201ctipping has become maybe ubiquitous and that now we\u2019re being asked to tip for everything all the time, even for things that we didn\u2019t feel were customary or normal,\u201d Brendan Sweeney, CEO of Popmenu, told USA TODAY.<\/p>\n

Popmenu, which is a restaurant tech company, has been surveying customers about tipping for more than five years, Sweeney said.<\/p>\n

Tipping really increased during the COVID-19 lockdown era and afterward, when the hospitality industry was hurting and consumers started leaving tips for take-out or tipping more \u201cas a warm and fuzzy\u201d feeling, Sweeney said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut then I think we got to a point where it was like, wait \u2014 is this still an emergency? Is it still we\u2019re helping people? At the same time, people are really feeling the pinch of inflation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

And more digital register systems at businesses have the tipping screen built into the software, Sweeney said.<\/p>\n

Still, Sweeney said guilt tipping \u2014 or feeling guilted into leaving a tip to avoid the awkwardness \u2014 is a thing.<\/p>\n

When a digital screen asks for a tip, 59% of the respondents said they feel compelled to leave one. But that\u2019s down from 66% in September 2025. And the share of people who say they tip on a weekly basis at places where it isn\u2019t warranted also fell from 44% to 39%. Over the last 12 months, consumers estimate they spent about $130 on tips they didn\u2019t think were necessary, down from $150 when the same question was posed in September 2025.<\/p>\n

Sixty-six percent of respondents said they even tipped a worker who provided poor service. But 42% of people said they were becoming comfortable skipping gratuities for certain services.<\/p>\n

How Much Are People Tipping?<\/h2>\n

The percentage of consumers tipping 20% or higher for restaurant servers and delivery drivers fell over the last six months:<\/p>\n