It is a mechanism to move labor costs to the consumer. On some delivery apps , the driver can decide which jobs to take based on the pre-service tip. So the companies have effectively put the responsibility to pay driver's base wage on the users themselves, while the company still takes a huge corporate cut

> when you are given the option to give a tip before any service has been given [...] why would I give a reward for good service

Are there still customers giving tips as "a reward for good service"?

I'm trying to imagine a curve representing the distribution of "quality of service".

What shape is the curve, and where on it would a 20% tip and a 0% tip be?

It might be a way for them to prioritize your order before others as they see how much money they earn, so actually it's a bidding process disguised as tipping. I'm not sure if it's shown in the backend though, but I have seen things like this in other delivery apps.

In a Louis Rossmann video (i think it was the one on food delivery guys on e-bikes) he mentions never tipping in app but leaving a note that says he will give a cash tip if the driver brings the food straight to his door. That seems like a decent compromise as it doesn't let the app take a cut from the tip and makes so the driver actually goes the extra mile to 'deserve' the tip.

You’re not paying for a service, you’re bidding in an open market. They don’t tell you this but it’s the reality.

Drivers can tell if you don’t tip and all of the experienced ones will decline your order.

Though these apps have done a lot of work to conceal the amount the driver actually gets until delivery is completed.

we can regulate the intermediary

we can literally get the state to say it is illegal for the point of sale system to have that or sell that to merchants

we can tie it to business codes that dictate which type of business it is to payment processors

control behavior by regulating the intermediary

the beauty of this philosophy is that it works under any system of government: don’t worry about the rights afforded to merchants or individuals, don’t burden them with the law at all, only intermediaries!

poof, tips at the point of sale system before receiving service disappears as fast as it came, short Square (now Block)

we can go deeper too

That's bad, but even worse is the Bluetti website, which asks you for a service tip FOR AN ONLINE ORDER!

That's not a tip, it's a bid. Expect a lot more businesses to start operating like this if no tax on tips goes into effect.

A delivery app tip is a way to influence drivers to pick your order, they can see what the expected value of a delivery is and if your tip is too low, your order will take a while.

Consider it a premium that prioritizes your order, that’s what it actually is.

Tipping is more like a form of price discrimination. It allows restaurants to indirectly charge different customers different amounts based on ability to pay.

Tip before service is a bribe in my book.

(Uber started to pop up tip options before the ride ends, sometimes as soon as the ride starts.)

They’re just saying the quiet part out loud, the tip isn’t for service, it’s for their basic wage.

Is almost like a bribe I guess?

It's mostly a convenience, so that you don't have to look for coins or remember to tip online later. Uber here even tells you that the driver doesn't get informed about the tip until an hour after delivery, so you can still edit it in case you change your mind.

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