Tipping for Pizza Delivery - How Much?

Pizza delivery can be expensive and tips just make it more expensive, so it is natural that some people might be hesitant to make of habit of generous tips. The price of the pizza will usually include a “delivery” fee and the drivers do not receive those fees, the pizzeria keeps them. The drivers are usually working for minimum wage plus the tips. Sometimes they might receive a gas allowance or reimbursement per delivery, but in general, pizza delivery drivers are expected to make most of their earnings in tips.

Of course, no one likes cold pizza or slow delivery, but given the fact that every pizza must first be ordered and cooked, and then delivered, there are real world physical limitations to the time it takes to get one to your table. The Domino’s Pizza chain stores tried a “30 minute delivery” guarantee promotion, but had to abandon the practice because it simply was not realistic to apply it to every delivery situation, not to mention the fact that it promoted unsafe driving and created unhappy drivers.

Some pizzerias publish “helpful” tip guidelines stating that $3 is the minimum standard tip on any delivery order less than $20. Three bucks is about 15% of $20 and sounds fair for most situations. A $10 order is just as much delivery work as a $20 order, and a $3 tip is not unreasonable. If you have a huge order, special requests or additions (like a case of soda) included in your delivery, you might want to up your tip percentage to 20-25%. At least if you plan on doing repeat business with the same store anyway, as “special” customers will be treated as “problem” customers if they don’t tip fairly. It is better to earn a reputation as a “good” repeat customer; it can earn you better service all the way around in the future.

If you do live at the end of a 50-mile dirt road, don’t expect great delivery service, ever. Or at least not until your second order and after the you have shown your willingness to compensate the driver for giving up 20 other potential tips to deliver your one pizza. Extremely bad weather is another situation that calls for higher tips. If your pizza was delivered in the middle of a blinding ice storm, it might be worthwhile to slip the driver a few extra bucks for risking life and limb to deliver your hot pie.

That is, if you plan on ordering from the same store again in the future, it would be worthwhile to tip generously and in that light, repeatability is probably the key word in unlocking the mystery of how much to tip for pizza delivery service. Repeatability is the key because if you have a good pizza delivery experience and wish to repeat it, a low tip or no tip will drastically reduce your chances of enjoying a good repeat dining experience. You might consider pizza delivery service to be a relationship as much as it is a convenience, and your at-home pizza experience is entirely dependent on the relationship you build with your local pizzeria and the delivery drivers who serve your route.

Nothing is free really, not even free delivery, and most often, you have to pay for what you get. If you want both great pizza and great delivery service, tipping your driver generously is always a good idea.