Tip vs Fee

[Prokne]

Honestly, if I'm doing something solely for the sake of helping you out, I am far more likely to be offended by you offering me a tip than I am by you simply thanking me or offering me a favor in return. (Similarly, I will sometimes run guild mates through dungeons when they ask, but I will NEVER run them through if they offer money in return.)

Its different if you are volunteering to help friends or guildies. I wouldnt be offended by them offering to pay me but I can see how it would make people feel like they think they need to pay you for your help, like you arent really their friend.

A tip is optional. If there is any negative consequence to not performing the action (such as being considered rude), then it's not truly optional. I respect the time and effort you put into what you do, which is why I personally choose to tip; however, if I don't ask a fee for my services, I have only myself to blame if I don't get one.

I dont require a tip but if I dont get anything I will consider that person rude and probably not make anything for them again. Its optional because you dont have to pay it for what is being made at the time. Itsalso a test of what kind of a person you are. If you dont think my time is worth anything, I wont help you. IDK if you only give me 1g, I dont need the money, its about acknowledging my help for them more than "ty", drop group. This only goes for trade chat people and people I dont know.

You're proposing that people who want to do things for money (ie in the fashion of a business) rely solely on the goodwill of their customers for their money. That just doesn't work... and I cannot comprehend your position regarding people who charge fees. If you're willing to pay 50g and someone's only asking 20g, will you refuse their services? (If it really bugs you to pay that much less, you can always tip them 30g; tipping is, after all, an option regardless of whether a fee is charged or not.) Obviously if you're willing to pay 50g and they charge 100g that's a person you won't go to for assistance... but then, that's just free market at work.

Yeah my dislike of fees is mostly illogical. I dont really care how low the fee is. IMO if you want to make gold business like, you should use the AH and you will make more that way anyway. I pretty much always post in trade if I need something made, what it is, I have mats and Im tipping. Sometimes I put an actual value. Anyone who contacts me then knows they will make something and they didnt have to do any extra work advertising in chat.

[gtfo_my_internets]

if a crafting fee is asked for then that is what they will get. no more, no less. as for tipping for professions, they are generally based off the amount i save by having it crafted rather than buy it from the AH and give the crafts(wo)man around 20%

mage portals get a 20g tip or whatever the mage asks for.

[Celista]

During late BC/early Wrath, I was on a mid-size, poorly progressed server where people did not tip. At all. For anything. I stopped responding to people who said they were looking for someone to craft something for them, because I got tired of cheerfully explaining to people what mats they needed for x item, waiting for them to gather said mats or offer them some of mine (if I had them), flying to them for the trade, and then watching them leave group/fly off without even a thank you. It was...horrible. By the time 3.3 patch rolled around, I told anyone who whispered me that wasn't a friend that there was a flat fee for my services, because the people on that server were so inconsiderate.

For Cata I transferred my Horde toons to a busy/well progressed Horde server, and my Alliance toons to a busy/well progressed Alliance server, and noticed that many more crafters posted in trade, and that the tipping culture was different. People generally tipped, and said thank you.

The other day I logged into my neglected 85 mage to d/e some items, and I get a random whisper from someone looking for a port. I invite them to group and cast the portal before they even fly to my location (from other side of SW). The guy thanks me profusely and gives me a 500g tip. Which was pretty amazing imo.

In sum, if people are asking for a fee from you for crafting an item, it might be because they have been stiffed enough times that they decided a fee was mandatory if they were going to stop what they were doing in order to craft/enchant that item for you.

If you ask someone to do something for you, you should tip them...why wouldn't you? I don't care if they bothered to fly to you or not (which I always did but it shouldn't be expected), if you whisper ME to craft something for YOU, cast a port etc without me advertising my services in trade, and I take time out of whatever I'm doing to do it, and I don't even know you, you should be tipping me/thanking me. Otherwise it's just rude.

[Murderdoll]

I flat out ask for a fee. If its stuff from BC or something silly, I dont care. But if its a current epic, I tell people straight up what I am charging.

If they dont want me to craft it after I tell them I want some gold, then its no skin off my nose. I just got sick of people in WotLK asking me to craft epics during ICC and giving me a 20g tip or not even at all. Then 5 minutes later see them undercut me on the AH.

Hell I remember some guy asked me to smelt some saronite ore. It took me i think it was around 30 minutes atleast, no idea how much ore it was but it was a shitload. Said he would tip me and gave me 50 gold. 50 gold for 30 minutes of smelting are you kidding?

Maybe I shouldve asked how much ore it was and how much the tip was, but I was trusting. Yeah, never again.

[Deleted]

I don't get emo if people don't give me a tip.

I also don't rush to offer them my services next time I see them ask for something.

The people who apparently think you levelled the profession and got the particular recipe they're asking for by just 'clicking a button'..... Back in vanilla when they wanted enchants you had to commit furbolg genocide to get etc I used to try and educate them about that. People used to listen and understand as well. These days you just get called a cunt or something similar so I don't bother. I despair.

[Celista]

I flat out ask for a fee. If its stuff from BC or something silly, I dont care. But if its a current epic, I tell people straight up what I am charging.

If they dont want me to craft it after I tell them I want some gold, then its no skin off my nose. I just got sick of people in WotLK asking me to craft epics during ICC and giving me a 20g tip or not even at all. Then 5 minutes later see them undercut me on the AH.

Hell I remember some guy asked me to smelt some saronite ore. It took me i think it was around 30 minutes atleast, no idea how much ore it was but it was a shitload. Said he would tip me and gave me 50 gold. 50 gold for 30 minutes of smelting are you kidding?

Maybe I shouldve asked how much ore it was and how much the tip was, but I was trusting. Yeah, never again.

I would have been grateful for the 50g back in Wrath...maybe it was the influx of new players to the game or just that server but god was it bad.

It was really funny when I finally decided to start charging because people were so indignant about it. Like, how dare I?! I wasn't asking for much, either...like 10g an enchant.

[BergErr]

Every state is different, but in Kansas, where I attended college from 2000-2004, if you had a job where you received a certain of tips, or were expected to that is, the minimum wage for these employees was $2.13/hr. I didn't work at the best restaurant, so good tippers were hit and miss, but after tips my wages were probably $12/hr.

Damn, minimum for same here (if you had no education) would be $16.

[Murderdoll]

I would have been grateful for the 50g back in Wrath...maybe it was the influx of new players to the game or just that server but god was it bad.

It was really funny when I finally decided to start charging because people were so indignant about it. Like, how dare I?! I wasn't asking for much, either...like 10g an enchant.

I was on a very busy server with a very good economy. 50g was pretty piss poor. Especially for 30 minutes of my time plus bank runs etc. I was angry.

[Celista]

I was on a very busy server with a very good economy. 50g was pretty piss poor. Especially for 30 minutes of my time plus bank runs etc. I was angry.

Oh I'm sure. I had a similar situation happen with lockboxes....

[Curanhadin]

Ive never demanded a fee for crafting anything, I expect a tip varying on the rarity or newness of the crafted item though. If its some lwbie recipe that everyone in the game with that proffesion has i dont want a tip as long as the buyer comes to me but if its some old rare recipe and i have to switch toons and espically in the past when i had tp spend 20 minutes travelling to meet them and they give me 50s or something id get pissed off but never would say hey i want more.

[gutnbrg]

i tip every single time a service is performed for me, if i am performing a service for someone else, yes i expect a tip but i never ask for it and if they dont give one i just go about my day...25g here and there is really nothing nowadays.

[Mikey P]

Damn, minimum for same here (if you had no education) would be $16.

Honestly, I was waiting tables. As long as you could understand English and maintain decent hygiene, you were qualified for the job. My wages were fair. If they were not, I would have quit as soon as I found a higher paying job.

[Saffa]

In USA, tips are the normal thing irl, many low paid workers would starve without them. This probably colours their view of the game too. I always tip, sometimes it is refused, but the crafter has so often gone to some effort to acquire and learn recipes I think they should be rewarded. Also they often put their game on hold to make something for me. I am, however, an older player and was never a spoilt child who was brought up to feel entitled so tipping seems the polite way to go.

[Deleted]

In europe, or atleast the Netherlands tipping isn't needed to make a living. It is becoming more and more expected though, even though they get regular pay.
To me a tip is a thank you for exceptional service. If you go beyond your regular duties to make me happy, I'll give a nice tip. If the service is mediocore or outright bad they get nothing.
Considering you have no 'duties' in wow (nobody is going to give you 1000g at the end of the month for being an active enchanter) tipping is kind of mandatory in my book since you will always go beyond the call fo duty when crafting stuff. On the other hand I can't really be bothered when people don't tip, friends/guildies never pay ofc, unless I have to spend 30 min on it.