Nobody teaches this. You learn it by watching the man in the next chair hand over a bill and trying to see which one it was. So here is the thing you were trying to see, written down, with the math done for the prices on our own menu.
In New York, the usual tip for a barber is 15 to 20 percent of the service price, and 20 percent is the common number in Manhattan. On a $35 haircut that is $5 to $7. On a $50 Royal Shave it is $8 to $10. This is general New York practice, not a policy of ours; nobody at the chair will ever ask, and the published prices are the whole bill. The tip is between you and the man who just made you look like you have your life together.
The short answer: 15 to 20 percent, 20 is the Manhattan norm
Tip 15 to 20 percent of what the service costs. In Manhattan, 20 percent is what most men do and nobody blinks at it. Below 15 reads as a message; above 20 reads as a thank you for something specific, like a barber who fixed a bad cut from somewhere else or stayed past close.
The percentage is the same one you use at a restaurant, and for the same reason. A barber’s price covers the chair, the tools, the licensing, the rent on East 34th Street and the shop’s cut. The tip is the part that goes straight to the person who did the work. New York runs on that arrangement in every service business, and barbershops are no different from the bar downstairs.
One honest note before the math. At Deja Vu the prices are published and there is no upselling, so you always know what the base is before you sit down. That makes the tip easy to figure in your head instead of at the register with a line behind you.
The tip chart, service by service
These are our published prices with 15 and 20 percent worked out, rounded the way people actually round. The right hand column is what most men in the shop hand over.
| Service | Price | 15 percent | 20 percent | What most men give |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fade haircut | $35 | $5.25 | $7 | $7 |
| Classic scissor cut | $35 | $5.25 | $7 | $7 |
| Kids haircut | $35 | $5.25 | $7 | $7 |
| Beard trim and grooming | $18 | $2.70 | $3.60 | $4 or $5 |
| Line up and edge up | $18 | $2.70 | $3.60 | $4 or $5 |
| Hot towel shave | $35 | $5.25 | $7 | $7 |
| Royal Shave | $50 | $7.50 | $10 | $10 |
| Men’s hair color | $55 | $8.25 | $11 | $11 |
Every price on that chart is on our published price list. If you are the kind of man who likes round numbers, $7 on a $35 service and $10 on a $50 one are the two figures to remember, and they cover most of what anyone orders here.
Tipping on packages and add ons
Tip on the package price, not on the sum of the services inside it. The discount is the shop’s to give; the tip is still 15 to 20 percent of what you paid.
- Sharp Edge, line up plus beard, $30: tip $5 to $6.
- Classic Combo, fade plus beard, $48: tip $7 to $10.
- Royal Treatment, Royal Shave plus beard, $60: tip $9 to $12.
- Father and Son, fade plus kids cut, $60: tip $9 to $12, and more if one barber did both.
- Full Refresh, fade plus hot towel shave plus beard, $75: tip $11 to $15.
When two barbers work on you, say one does the cut and another the shave, split the tip in proportion to the price of what each did. When one barber does a package that takes an hour and a half, like the Full Refresh, the top of the range is fair; that is a lot of chair time and a straight razor on your throat. The packages menu lists all five with what each saves.
Cash or card?
Either works, and cash is the barber’s preference almost everywhere. A cash tip reaches the barber today, in full. A card tip reaches him on whatever schedule the shop pays out, sometimes minus a processing fee, and it is visible to everyone in between.
The practical New York move is to pay the service however you like and keep a few singles and fives for the tip. A $7 cash tip on a $35 fade is a five and two ones, handed directly to the barber as you stand up, not left on the counter. If you only have a twenty and the shop can break it, ask; nobody is offended. If you have no cash at all, tip on the card and say so. The gesture counts; the format is secondary.
Apps and QR codes have started to show up in some shops. Same rule: the money should go to the barber, so if a code is taped to a mirror, ask whose it is before you scan.
When to tip more than 20 percent
When the barber did more than the service. The tip is for the work; the extra is for the trouble. Five situations where men here go above 20.
- A fix. You came in with a bad fade from somewhere else and left with a good one. That took longer and took skill. $10 on a $35 cut is normal.
- A squeeze in. You walked in at 6:45 on a Friday, the shop closes at 7, and the barber took you anyway. Add a few dollars.
- A kid who did not want to be there. A barber who gets a calm cut out of a crying four year old has earned the top of the range on the $35 kids cut.
- A regular relationship. If the same barber has cut you every three weeks for two years, a bigger tip around the holidays is the custom in New York. A service’s worth, so $35 to $50, is common.
- A long ticket. The Royal Shave at about 45 minutes, or the Full Refresh at an hour and a half, is sustained close work. Round up. The full timings are in our guide to how long a haircut takes.
What does not require extra: a hot towel on the neck, which comes with every haircut here. Do not tip for things that are part of the price.
When it is fine to tip less, and when it is not
Tip less when the service was genuinely poor and you said so in the chair. Do not tip less because the cut was not what you pictured and you kept quiet. A barber cannot fix what he does not hear about, and most will fix it on the spot for nothing.
Three things that are not reasons to cut the tip. A wait: the wait is the shop’s scheduling, not the barber’s work, and the barber usually lost money on it too. A price you think is high: the prices are published, you saw them before you sat down. A barber who did not talk much: some men want conversation and some want quiet, and a barber reading that correctly is doing his job.
And one thing that is a reason: nothing. If you got what you asked for, the tip is 15 to 20 percent. The haircut being merely good, not extraordinary, is the baseline the percentage was built for.
Tipping for a kids haircut
Same percentage, same price. A kids haircut is $35 at Deja Vu, so 15 to 20 percent is $5 to $7, and most fathers hand over $7 or round to $10 if the kid made it a project.
There is a logic to rounding up on a kids cut that has nothing to do with generosity. A barber cutting a four year old is doing a harder job than cutting you. The head moves, the clippers are frightening, and the parent is standing beside the chair watching every pass. A calm, even cut on a child who did not want to be there is a skill, and the tip is the only place that skill gets recognized, because the price is the same $35 as an adult cut.
On the Father and Son package, fade plus kids cut for $60, tip on the $60. If one barber did both heads, the top of the range, $12, is fair. If two barbers worked at once, split it. And if the first haircut went well enough that the kid wants to come back, that is worth a dollar or two on its own, because you just saved yourself the next six visits.
How to actually hand over the tip
At the end, standing up, directly to the barber, with a thank you. That is the whole etiquette, and it has not changed in a hundred years of barbershops. What to do before you sit down is in our guide on washing your hair before a haircut.
If you paid at the register and the barber is already sweeping, walk back to the chair. If you paid the barber directly, hand him the service and the tip together and say which is which, or say “keep it” if you are rounding a twenty up on a $18 line up. If you are tipping on a card, the terminal will usually ask; pick the percentage or type the dollar amount, and tell the barber you did. Silence at the card reader leaves him guessing until payout.
Men who get a line up every two weeks sometimes ask whether it is strange to tip $5 on a $18 service, since that is almost 30 percent. It is not. Small tickets round up; everyone understands that $3.60 is an awkward number and $5 is a bill.
Tipping at Deja Vu Barbershop
Deja Vu Barbershop is at 101 E 34th St between Park and Lexington in Murray Hill, two minutes from the 6 train at 33rd Street and about eight from Grand Central. The prices are published, there is no upselling, and the tip is entirely yours to decide; this post is general New York guidance, not a house rule. Every barber is New York State licensed and every haircut ends with a hot towel on the neck.
Hours are Monday to Friday 8am to 7pm and Sunday 10am to 5pm, closed Saturday. Walk ins are always welcome, or book online. Call (212) 576-1062 with any question before you come in.
Questions readers ask
How much should I tip on a $35 haircut?
Between $5 and $7. Twenty percent is $7 and is the common figure in Manhattan; fifteen percent is $5.25, which most men round to $5 or $6.
Do I tip on a package or on each service?
On the package price. The Classic Combo is $48, so a 20 percent tip is about $10. If two barbers worked on you, split it in proportion to what each did.
Is it rude to tip a barber on a card?
No. Cash reaches the barber faster and in full, so it is the preference, but a card tip with a word to the barber is fine. Silence at the terminal is the only real mistake.
Should I tip more at the holidays?
It is the custom in New York for a barber you see regularly. A service’s worth, around $35 to $50, is common from men who have been in the same chair for a year or more.
Do I tip the shop owner if he cuts my hair?
Same as any barber. Owner or not, the tip goes to the person who did the work, and 15 to 20 percent is the figure.