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Caviar Tips: How Much Should You Give Your Delivery Driver?

Tipping for new delivery services like Caviar is confusing. Here's everything you need to know about tipping your Caviar driver, and how much they make from a delivery.
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The rise of the gig economy in the United States has resulted in an abundance of convenience.

You can order an Uber or Lyft car to drive you around, a Postmates courier to pick up your prescription from Walgreens, and your dinner delivered straight to your door.

While there are several third party food delivery services like Uber Eats, Seamless, DoorDash, and GrubHub, Caviar is one of the most popular startups.

Some gig economy services have delivery fees and others encourage you to tip the person providing the service.

Some companies have a delivery fee and encourage you to tip for good service.

So do you need to tip your Caviar delivery person and if so, how much is appropriate?

And can you leave them a tip on your card or is cash better?

This article will walk you through the etiquette of tipping your Caviar delivery person.

Should You Tip Your Caviar Delivery Person?

Your Caviar delivery person is an independent contractor.

Indeed.com reports the national average salary for Caviar delivery people to be $24.99 per hour.

Indeed.com does not report whether that number includes tips or not.

While roughly $25 per hour may seem generous, know that Caviar primarily operates in expensive cities and that as independent contractors, your Caviar delivery person is expected to cover his or her own taxes and insurance costs, in addition to gas and car maintenance.

While their base pay is better than that of the average waiter or waitress, Caviar drivers are also dealing with the weather and traffic to bring you your food.

Many customers are happy to pay for that convenience.

Customers often choose to tip generously when there is poor weather, an especially large order, or challenges like delivering to the fifth floor in a building without an elevator.

Delivery drivers are often paid based on the optimal time it takes to reach your building, which rarely accounts for additional difficulties like lack of parking or navigating an enormous and complex building layout in order to get to your door.

Because Caviar charges a delivery fee, tipping your Caviar delivery driver is encouraged but not required.

If the service is poor, you can choose to leave no tip, but if you’re happy with their service, you should show your appreciation by tipping.

Caviar delivery people are not allowed to ask customers for a tip.

If your Caviar driver asks, you should let Caviar know via their feedback form.

How Much Should You Tip Your Caviar Courier?

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On the Apple app, you can choose any amount between $0–$5 and on the Android app, you can choose any amount between $0–$3.

Tipping your Caviar courier is a little bit different than tipping 15–20 percent of your bill a restaurant, as Caviar asks you to choose a set dollar amount instead of a percent tip.

If you are using an Apple device, you can add a tip up to two hours after your order has been delivered via the feedback form.

Once the two-hour mark has passed, you can add a tip or adjust an existing tip by contacting Caviar Support.

If you are using an Android device, you should add your tip when placing the order.

Should You Tip With Cash or On Your Credit Card?

Caviar encourages you to tip using your credit card on the mobile app, but Caviar doesn’t prohibit drivers from accepting cash tips.

There is no added benefit to the Caviar driver if you choose to tip in cash instead of on your credit card.

Does the Delivery Driver Get the Whole Courier Bonus/Tip?

Caviar does not keep any part of any courier bonus given by customers in the mobile app.

For customer privacy reasons, there is a two-hour delay between when a credit card tip is given and when the driver receives it.

Does the Caviar Courier Get the Delivery Fee?

No, the Caviar courier does not receive any part of the delivery fee.

This fee is paid to Caviar and while some part of it goes towards the delivery person’s base salary, the size of your Caviar delivery fee does not directly impact your Caviar driver’s income.

Some restaurants will charge customers additional fees such as bag fees, restaurant staff fees, or related restaurant fees, in addition to fees required by state or local authorities.

Caviar couriers do not receive any part of these additional fees as they are set by and given to the restaurant from which you are ordering.

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Caviar delivery people can choose to be paid immediately after each delivery or at the end of the day through the Square Cash app.

Square purchased Caviar in August 2014 and has since facilitated easy payments from Caviar customers and to Caviar delivery people.

Some restaurants will have their own delivery staff and choose to use Caviar just for the order-taking part of the process.

If you know this is the case, tip your delivery person.

You can still tip your delivery person on the mobile app but the percent of the tip they get and the speed at which they get it is determined by the restaurant.

In this case, cash is best.

Do You Need to Tip on Caviar Pickup Orders?

While most people use Caviar to have their food delivered to their location, some people choose to use Caviar to simplify the ordering and pickup process from their favorite restaurants.

It’s much easier to place an order on a phone app during a commute home than to attempt a call on a crowded subway train.

If you are picking up your Caviar food order, you do not have to tip as you will be dealing with the restaurant staff directly.

It may be a nice gesture to give the person preparing your takeout food order a few dollars or 10 percent if you are pulling them from a busy dining room to box up your food, cutlery, and napkins for you.

Often this will be the case will smaller restaurants that lack a proper takeout process and delivery staff.

Where Does Caviar Operate?

Caviar is not yet available in all cities across the United States but if you’re in the following cities, you can download the Apple app or Android app and use Caviar to get your food:

  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • Dallas
  • Fort Worth
  • Los Angeles
  • Orange County
  • New York City
    • Brooklyn
    • Manhattan
    • Queens
  • Philadelphia
  • Portland
  • Sacramento
  • San Diego
  • San Francisco
    • East Bay
    • Marin County
  • Seattle
  • Washington D.C.

Tip Away

No matter where you live or how much you’re ordering, it’s a nice idea to tip your Caviar driver.

While it isn’t required, they are working hard and dealing with various obstacles in their mission to bring you your food in a timely and friendly manner.

Happy ordering!

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