That’s the sort of person who pays the bill in such a way that the guests see the total and the tip. It’s part of the show, whether tackily overt or coolly allowing a surreptitious glance. If the situation doesn’t allow them to make a show of it, the same person will likely tip very low. A good server knows how to play along.
“The waitstaff didn’t do 4x the work” makes little sense. Do you do that analysis when comparing a $100 steak at one restaurant versus a $40 steak at another? Assuming quality service, you tip on the bill. I don’t see why wine is different. Factor in the tip before you pick the bottle and decide whether the total price is outside your comfort zone. If so, pick another bottle.
I believe that in states that allow a sub-minimum wage for tipped employees, the employers are still required to guarantee they are paid at least minimum wage. Of course this leads to all sorts of abuse. The employers take this as a reason to collect, then distribute the tips, so skimming is common. They also often fudge it and don’t make up for a bad shift, instead making it look kosher on the paycheck by letting the shifts average out. (Of course this is more low end diners than places with $500 bottles.)
If you can afford the wine you can afford the tip. Period.
Why is a complex question.
Above a certain price point, many (looks like about 75%in the poll) feel that the full cost of the wine just shouldn’t count in calculating the tip. I’ve heard a number of reasons, but all I can tell you as one who tips less than 20% on bottles over about $100 is that it just “feels right.” There’s not a lot of solid logic behind it. It doesn’t take any more work to open a costly bottle, except maybe an old one with a crumbly cork, but I’ll give an assist with my Durand when that happens. It also doesn’t required require any more work to serve a $10 salad than a $45 steak, but I don’t limit my tip there.
One reason for the poll was a desire to see if I was seriously out of line with common practice. But I recognize that respondents to this poll may not be representative of the typical expensive bottle buyer.
Economics have to be applied. Need to factor in the restaurant’s costs of carrying the bottle(s) in inventory.
I don’t remember when the expected tip increased from 15% to 20%, but it clearly has even if when the gratuity is automatically added it is usually 18%. Your specific scenario is very well thought out by making it clear that this level of wine purchase is something special as opposed to a regular occurrence. As with a lot of the services we pay for, it’s not really about how hard someone worked. But the fact that you are somewhat of a regular at the place, you want to protect your reputation because servers talk to one another about customers. By any account, a 25% tip on the bottom line is generous. (There are people who refuse to tip on the tax.) So in this case, I think 25% on the food and 15% on the wine purchase, would be fair.
Never really thought about it. In the US, I have spent that amount (and more) on wine during meals (in my younger, more careless days - while I can afford it more easily now, I’ve realised that there are more important things to spend on/save for), and always just calculated based on the total bill. I didn’t do so for any other reason than that was what I knew the general custom was/is. When in Rome and all. Obviously, I don’t spend that amount on wine everyday.
Tonight we went out to a very expensive restaurant. Spent much more than we’re accustomed to spending. So we just left a 10% tip. 
Just kidding. Of course I tipped regular. And If I were to splurge on a bottle, I would still tip regular %. Ok, maybe low end of my regular range, but still in the range. I know analogy between food prep and wine inventory is not perfect, but c’mon. If I were fortunate enough to be able to afford to pay $500, I can/should/will pay full tip. Fascinating poll: I would’ve expected majority to agree with me!!!
Regards,
Peter
Europe is so much easier where service is included.
+500
This is a point I don’t think I’ve heard before on this issue, but it’s great commentary.
Michael M. - you picked up on exactly why I wrote the scenario as I did. Someone who is outside of their usual buying pattern, so it’s not familiar territory, but they can afford it even though $100 is more than pocket change. And they plan on returning, so there is a desire to avoid coming off as unreasonably cheap to the staff.
Start your own thread. ![[truce.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/d/d33e712b50d5efc2425bf219c404fbdb7ed0ba50.gif "truce"){kind=small}
Instead…
Spend $475 on a great bottle, bring it to the local joint and spend $25 on the corkage. Tip 20%-25% on $175 and drink a much better bottle of juice.
This is the only solution for those of us not on an expense account…
Tip on corkage amount. Actually price of the bottle should be irrelevant.
This entire thread and question is unique to the USA.
I live in USA (well Texas actually) but am not a USA citizen. I find the tipping culture in the US to be bizarre and (personally) absurd. I find that I am expected to pay 15-20% tip pretty much across the board irrespective of the restaurant’s quality, quality of service, quality of staff etc etc. As others have noted it seems to have moved upwards to 20% and beyond. I find no correlation between service and tipping. I have lived in a number of countries other than USA where tipping is almost non-existent to where 10% was considered proper and appropriate. Nowhere has the inflated tipping levels of USA. I have never found ANY correlation with the quality of service and the level of tipping. I have experienced outstanding service in low to zero tip settings repeatedly.
I fully realize that most wait staff in the USA are not paid a living wage and tipping is part of their “compensation”. So, I tip 15-20% in the USA on entire bill. As much as it pisses me off, I play along. But then I never order $500 bottles either…
As to the original question, this gets tricky (for me anyway) as the only argument for the inflated tipping percentages in USA is the whole wait staff wages question. In the case of the $500 bottle of wine, the wait staff stand to experience a compensation bonanza that for me is an artifact of the inflated tipping practices that the modern USA finds itself saddled with.
I do agree it is a tough question…
Brodie
Nothing… In New Zealand we believe in paying people a living wage.
I personally find it hard to tip it’s just not part of our culture.
As another non-USA-ian I also find this thread quite interesting for the perspectives on attitudes and the tipping culture. I would have thought a useful consideration would be “what is a ‘great’ tip for two people given how long we hogged the table”. If the service staff do a great job, and on average make around (say) $30 per head in tips, then why would something well north of that like $50 per head be deemed inappropriate or cheap?