Hot take: Going totally cashless in Seattle last year changed my view on tipping culture

I work at a coffee shop near Pike Place Market. We stopped taking cash back in October. Before that, tips were mostly coins and small bills people dropped in a jar. Now every transaction is digital and the screen asks for a tip starting at 18%. Our average tip jumped from like 50 cents to over 2 dollars per order. It got me thinking - does digital money make us spend more than we would with cash? Or is it just making people more aware of how much they're actually giving? Has anyone else seen a big shift in their own spending habits since going cashless?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_jamie1mo ago

Started noticing the same thing everywhere honestly. Even at the grocery store now the pinpad asks for a tip when all I did was grab a bag of chips. Makes me wonder if we're just slowly getting nudged into paying extra for every little thing without even thinking about it.

shanef341mo ago

Just hit "no tip" without thinking twice about it, that's what I do every time... the guilt goes away after the first few times.

mianelson1mo ago

Hang on, your grocery store pinpad asks for a tip? That's some next level nonsense right there.