Tipping is normalized in detail and mobile services. If you don't ask, you don't get. Turning on tip prompts at checkout adds 8-14% to revenue at shops where the service is hands-on and the customer sees the work.
Step 1 — Enable tipping
Settings → Payments → Tips. Toggle on. Pick your default tip presets:
- 10% / 15% / 20% (common for detail)
- 15% / 20% / 25% (common for premium services)
- Custom amount option always shown
Step 2 — Choose where to show the prompt
You can show the tip prompt in three places — pick the ones that match your customer flow:
- Pay-on-pickup invoice — when the customer pays as they pick up, the checkout screen shows tip options before card entry. Best for in-person pickup.
- Customer portal invoice — when a customer pays an invoice later from their phone, tip is offered as an add. Slightly lower conversion than in-person.
- Receipt-only tip — for cash/check sales where you want to invite a digital tip after the fact via the receipt email.
Step 3 — Pick who gets the tip
Tips can route to:
- The installer who did the work — most common. Configure tipping percentage split if multiple techs worked the job.
- The shop — if you pool tips and distribute via payroll.
- A split — e.g., 70% to the installer, 30% to the shop.
Set the default at Settings → Payments → Tip allocation, with per-service overrides if needed.
Step 4 — Test
Run a quote on yourself, complete it, see the tip prompt. Confirm the tip lands in the right account / payroll bucket.
What customers see
A clean three-button selector with the dollar amount precomputed. One tap. No friction.
Industry norms
- Detail / mobile detail: very common, 15-20% typical
- Tint: less common but emerging, 5-10% typical
- PPF / ceramic: rare unless mobile or premium positioning
- Wrap: rare
If you're tint or PPF and worried about looking gauche — make the default the "no tip" path and the smallest preset 10%. Customers who want to tip will. Customers who don't won't feel pressured.
Tipping and tax
Tips collected via Stripe show up separately on your Stripe dashboard. They're taxable income to whoever receives them. If tips route to installers, they're wages — payroll-tax-handled. If they route to the shop, they're revenue. Talk to your accountant about how your state handles tip pooling.