Tipping Your Budtender – The Fresh Toast

Tipflation is increased rates that people are now expected to tip at restaurants and for other goods and services, especially in areas where historically there wasn’t the expectation to tip.  Prior to 2020, people generally tipped food servers 15% to 20% based on the service received. Today with tipflation, it show up on screens almost everyone – with the base starting at 15% and going up.  Consumers are annoyed. But what about the marijuana dispensaries and tipping your budtenders?

At legal dispensaries, budtenders are key. They act in several different capacities, assisting customers in finding the best possible strain, showing them new products and answering questions to help them with the best possible experience. It is important work, especially when dealing with a new customer whose only experience with marijuana was one time back in college when they took a hit off a bong. Think of them as a cannabis sommelier.

One of the things a new customer might notice while browsing the display cases in a dispensary is the presence of tip jars. This trend started to take shape around a decade ago when medical marijuana was first beginning to build momentum across the country. But now they seem to be turning up more in both the medical and recreational sectors. The idea, as with any situation where a tip jar is present, is to give the budtender an opportunity to earn additional income.

It is also an incentivizing measure. If a budtender believes he or she can earn an extra $50 or more each day by simply providing superb customer service, chances are they will come to work ready to make it rain.  

Still, some people take issue with tip jars becoming more commonplace in dispensary life. Some feel that while a budtender might deserve and extra $10 or so for helping them identify a strain most effective in treating their specific health condition, others think it is flat out BS that they must cough up extra cheddar just because one sold them a package of edibles. And while tipping is always optional, many argue that some budtenders act as though they are entitled to a tip for spending a few minutes with a customer. 

RELATED: Want To Be A Marijuana Budtender? Here’s How To Do It

So what is the right thing to do? Should you tip budtenders, or simply treat them the same as liquor store clerks? After all, the people who sell beer do not get tipped for pointing the Baileys or Lagunitas.

The answer should be simple, but it is actually a bit tricky.

For starters, what exactly is a budtender’s job? According to the California-based employment agency Vangst, it is to provide “excellent customer service to all patients and customers in medical and recreational dispensaries. Uses point-of-sale system and other technology to ensure all cannabis product sales are properly tracked. Provides information to customers on product choices, consumption methods, compliance, and safety. Remains up to date on all cannabis regulations to ensure compliance within the dispensary.”

RELATED: Let Your Friendly Neighborhood Budtender Help You

No doubt, there is a lot of responsibility involved with being an exceptional budtender, which is the reason they are paid an above-average salary right out of the gate. Budtenders often start out making around $16 per hour. These are not excellent wages, but they are significantly higher than most small retail/fast food places where employees are not compensated with tips.

It is also more money than the average untipped liquor store clerk earns. While there is rarely a qualm about tipping bartenders simply popping the top on a beer and setting in front of them, clerks seem to be something else.

So, do we tip budtenders or not? 

Don’t feel obligated to leave a tip just because a dispensary has scattered jars all around. However, if a budtender is friendly, helpful, guides you to exactly what you are looking for and makes your dispensary experience a pleasant one, by all means, don’t be afraid to leave a something extra. Yet, if all a budtender does is ring up a package of edibles or pre-rolls, a tip isn’t exactly necessary. Products are already expensive enough with all of the additional taxes for people to be required to pay more just because an employee punched a few buttons on a cash register.

But, here’s the thing: Good people who do good work and, above all, help you in ways that could not have been achieved without them, are always deserving of more. It is a classy move to offer a gratuity for exceptional service.