A man has shared his confusion after he was asked to tip as he made an online shopping purchase.
Noah Miller, who goes by the username @whiteboyonthebeat on TikTok, uploaded a video about the tipping dilemma on Sunday, where he wrote: “Online shopping and this company asked for a tip??”
The seven-second clip began with the camera turned on Miller, who could be seen making a face of confusion, before it flipped toward his computer screen, where it showed a prompt asking customers whether they wanted to tip while checking out.
In addition to offering recommended suggestions of five per cent, 10 per cent and 15 per cent, the online checkout page also included a “custom tip” box, as well as an option to click “none”.
“Thank you, we appreciate it,” the unidentified shop’s checkout page read below the tip box.
As of Tuesday, Miller’s video has been viewed more than 404,000 times, with many viewers equally confused by the tipping suggestion.
“Who is it going to?” one person asked, along with a crying face emoji. The question prompted a response from Miller, who wrote: “The mailman??? Idk.”
“THERE’S NO WAY,” another person commented under the video, while someone else wrote: “That’s WILD.”
“The computer gets it,” one viewer joked.
Others questioned the point of tipping during the online checkout, with another TikToker asking: “Like is the tip going to make it ship faster orrr?”
The video also prompted viewers to share their own experiences being asked to tip while online shopping, with one viewer revealing that the same thing happened to them when they were “just trying to buy bedding”.
“Bro I saw this the other day going to buy something and it made me close the tab,” someone else revealed.
Others shared additional situations where they’d been asked to tip, such as at a self-serve frozen yoghurt place and the grocery store.
“I was paying online to pick up a pizza at the store and they asked for a tip,” one person wrote.
While the majority of viewers were surprised by the tipping suggestion, some were critical of Miller’s reaction.
“I didn’t take you as an anti-tipper,” one person commented.
However, according to someone else, tipping expectations have “gotten out of hand”.
“Tipping is getting ridiculous,” another person wrote.
This is not the first time the concept of tipping while online shopping has sparked a debate, as another TikToker went viral last year when she revealed that she was asked to tip while shopping for an office chair online.
“This is getting so ridiculous,” she wrote, while noting that she wasn’t sure who the tip would be for, as the company shipped “via UPS and Fedex”. “It’s not even their own delivery service or whatever. Which would make a little more sense,” she said at the time.
The Independent has contacted Miller for comment.
