Tipping for a shave?

[blantyre]

There is a new AOS store in Woodfield Mall that I visited today. They offer a straight razor shave as one of the services and I plan to sign up sometime soon. The price is $35 or $55 depending on the level of detail. What's a decent tip (assuming no major cuts!).

Advice appreciated.

 

[Desdinova]

15%

 

[proxymoron]

I'm gonna go with 20%... especially if you plan on going back. It's both more skill and labor intensive than, say, serving your dinner (which, right or wrong, goes for 20). You're in a city, after all.

 

[Go West Young Man]

$35 I would round up to $40. At $55 I would leave $65.

 

[benvh]

They do shaves at AOS? Good lord, I hope it's someone other than the idiots that they have shilling their goods. I can't even go into that store anymore. Maybe it's just because it's southern CA...who knows.

Ben

 

[blantyre]

They do shaves at AOS? Good lord, I hope it's someone other than the idiots that they have shilling their goods. I can't even go into that store anymore. Maybe it's just because it's southern CA...who knows.

Ben

The people I dealt with seemed pleasant, competent and not pushy - in fact they gave me a free starter kit that I am PIFing to a friend. They are probably not familiar with all the details of obsolete shaving gear but certainly seemed to be adequately up to speed on the stuff that they stock. The barber looked well groomed and showed me the kit and facility and said call him if I had any questions. I'm certainly willing to give them a try out.

 

[blantyre]

Thanks for the input - I'll plan on a round number close to 20%.

 

[benvh]

Sounds good. Like I said, the incompetence at my local store is probably due more to the location than anything. I can see the Chicago store being leaps and bounds better.

 

[Sticky]

15%; +/- 15% based on competence.

 

[pal]

20% is kind of the standard for a job well done, but if I received a bad shave I would tip less according to how bad it was. I guess to the point that if I were all cut up and the barber talked to other patrons the whole time he was shaving me, I would tip nothing. In that case I figure I am not coming back anyway.

 

[insomniac]

I'm gonna go with 20%... especially if you plan on going back. It's both more skill and labor intensive than, say, serving your dinner (which, right or wrong, goes for 20). You're in a city, after all.

Except the servers are making below minimum wage and work for tips. The barber at AoS is probably not making minimum wage.

 

[ackvil]

They have a store in Boca Raton, FL. The personnel there are nice. Don't know how many shaves they do, thought.

 

[ouch]

There's no question that getting a shave is a luxury, but for the 70 semolians you'll cough up for an AoS royal shave you can score some pretty nice swag.

One of the great things about this hobby is that you can get an even better shave than a gazillionaire blowing 25K a year. You can do it for peanuts, and you can do it every day.

 

[blantyre]

One of the great things about this hobby is that you can get an even better shave than a gazillionaire blowing 25K a year. You can do it for peanuts, and you can do it every day.

I am not going publicly admit how much I have spent on shaving equipment of one sort or another over the last few years. It's not peanuts - I could have bought a couple of high quality mechanical watches or a decent sound system and still had enough left over for a vacation I think. I do have about 10y supply of most consumables, so I suppose I can coast for a while!

 

[malocchio]

$35 i would round up to $40. At $55 i would leave $65.

+ 1

 

[ouch]

I am not going publicly admit how much I have spent on shaving equipment of one sort or another over the last few years. It's not peanuts - I could have bought a couple of high quality mechanical watches or a decent sound system and still had enough left over for a vacation I think. I do have about 10y supply of most consumables, so I suppose I can coast for a while!

I said you can do it for peanuts. I didn't say you will do it for peanuts.

 

[pal]

I can't imagine $35 or $45 shaves. Around here you get a hair cut and a shave for $35.

 

[RHVette]

$35 seems rediculously high. When I was in Ireland, I got a full straight razor shave for 12 euro ($18-20 US)

 

[blantyre]

$35 seems rediculously high. When I was in Ireland, I got a full straight razor shave for 12 euro ($18-20 US)

T&H has a shop in downtown Chicago. Shaves are about the same price there $30-50 depending on level of service.

The "Royal shave" at AOS includes a preshave clay pack that is mixed to order using essential oils and a powdered clay material. The preshave, shave and face massage takes about one hour altogether. I don't think $50 is unreasonable for this much work in a relatively high rent area.

I wonder how much a shave at Trumper's Mayfair location would cost? I would expect a basic 10-15 minute hot lather shave in a low overhead area (say Cedar Rapids, IA) to be a lot less - maybe $20 out the door.

 

[ouch]

Rick makes a very good poiint about high rents and overhead, to which I'll add the reminder that the price of everything has gotten a bit out of hand. In NYC, where you can pay $5 for a slice of pizza, $55 for an hour's worth of pampering doesn't seem so outrageous.


Still, $50 for a shave? Don't ask what I'd expect to be thrown in.