Piggy bank for tip

I stayed at an Airbnb in Germany and the host had a piggy bank for accepting donations. I am wondering if it is in good taste to have a piggy bank for people to put tip into. What does other hosts think about the idea?. Any comments would be more than welcome…
Thank you!
Bertil

And that’s a no from me!
Australians don’t tip, and I feel it would end up with a poor review.

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I stayed in an Airbnb in Germany where the host had set up a piggy bank to accept tip. Is it in Good taste to do something like this? Like to hear what other hosts think about the idea. Please comment! Thank you!
Bertil

I wouldn’t do it myself, but it might be an excellent idea for some hosts. If a host never gets a tip, then a piggy bank is a nice way of reminding the guests. After all, in a hotel, it’s customary to tip the staff. (I know we’re not hotels, but still…)

I find that many guests will leave me a tip without me asking them or reminding them and sometimes (well, once actually) the tip was a three-figure sum. :slight_smile:

I think it’s tacky and will offend a lot of guests and encourage bad reviews. Hosts should be charging what the place is worth and paying their staff a living wage so they don’t rely on tips.

I don’t know where you are located, but many cultures are not accustomed to tipping and would find it a turn-off.

If I stayed somewhere that hinted at, or asked for tips, I would privately message the host saying that I found it tacky. Some guests do leave tips anyway, and I have had guests bring me sweet gifts or leave a bottle of wine. Asking for tips is the antithesis of hospitality IMO.

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What do you think @baxelsson ?

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Just no. If someone is gracious enough to tip they will simply leave it. Also even if you thought this would work, a piggybank encourages change. I like a nice large denomination bill!

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It’s probably not for tipping because I don’t think tipping is big in Europe. It’s probably just a place to put all those coins that tourists can’t use back at home and the host benefits from it.

I usually just drop off coins in the church donation box but that host was creative with her piggie bank. I personally wouldn’t do it. I agree with others that it’s tacky.

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A great homeshare guest who I had a lot of fun with, left about $6US worth of change (which is useless to me, as I never go to the US) in a little basket in her room. I’m quite sure she didn’t intend it as a tip, though, just didn’t want to lug around all that change on her further travels.

A friend who hosts had 3 young German guys leave her a $50 bill, with a note saying how much they appreciated the beers she left in the fridge for them and the snacks.

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For us it would be totally off brand:

US: arms open

NOT US: hands out

… that’s not to say other hosts in other countries with guests different from ours shouldn’t do this, but it just wouldn’t fit for us. When we decide we need more money, we bump up the rates.

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This is the only thing that makes sense to me. I don’t recall their tipping customs in Germany but it’s been many decades since coins were used for tipping anyway.

Seems like a particularly clever way to deal with traveler’s coins. I usually just stick them in a desk drawer or maybe give them to a kid, depending on the country, but it sounds fun to put them in a piggy!

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We have a piggy bank for guests to put $ if they wish to purchase a book. We have gotten tips and some large ones paid that way!

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This weekends guest tipped $50, left a gift and a nice thank you card. Then went on to leave a raving review. I never met them, just waived as they drove past me working in the yard over the weekend.
No piggy bank here

RR

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Imho tacky. But that’s me.

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We don’t leave out a piggy bank, that’s tacky.

Instead on the day before checkout we leave at their doorstep a simple note.

That our story is a sad one,

That we live downstairs, in the dark, unfinished basement with its wet concrete walls and floors, damp and unheated,

With a simple hot plate to cook what food we forage or Social Services brings us three days a week,

Childless, with no one, alone,

God-fearing and so, so grateful,

With the medical bills mounting,

That if they could find it within themselves not to put any uneaten food in the garbage disposal and just leave it in the trash,

Well, that’s all we ask – pray for.

Though if they have any spare change we’d put it to good use and would remember their kindness forever and ever.

That we hoped they enjoyed their stay upstairs, in the light, with all the fixings.

On the letter we leave a flower, sometimes just a dandelion, tied to the note with a simple string.


We’ve found this very effective and have gone on cruises all over the world with our tips!

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LOL! This is a gem! I laughed so hard I woke my husband up

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I don’t think we would ever ask for or even imply that a tip is expected. In fact, when guests do leave us a tip we are surprised and a bit embarrassed! We recently had a guest leave us a $20 bill with a sweet note about how they got “so much more than they paid for.” We got a big laugh about it because the guest before them gave us our first “4 star” value score! I might be concerned that the need or implied need to leave a tip might have an impact on that value score.