In the last few years the retail giant, Amazon, has begun providing a bespoke assembly service on specific items such as furniture and exercise equipment to offer a helping hand to get your new goods set up and functioning.
Amazon assembly is provided at a time of your choosing for an additional fee when you proceed to the online checkout.
If you’ve selected the assembly service (sometimes called white-glove) then you may be wondering whether you need to tip your assembler after they’ve completed the job.
With that in mind, we’ve looked at what the etiquette is for tipping assemblers. Specifically, we’ve looked at the customary practice, how much you should tip (if at all), the average salary of an Amazon assembler, and also the cost of the service.
Keep reading to find out more…
Do You Tip the Amazon Assembler? The Short Answer
It is customary to tip a furniture assembler and we’d suggest around $10-$20 is about the correct amount. Assemblers earn generally below the US average wage so it is in good conscience to offer them a tip, especially if the workmanship is of good quality.
How Much do Amazon Assembly Technicians Make?
A good starting point when deciding to tip is looking at the average salary for that profession. Some professions clearly rely on tips to subsidize their income and are paid low wages for that reason.
We’ve looked at the average salary of an Amazon Assembler and according to Indeed that is $14.90 per hour.
While their average hourly rate is above that generally expected for an assembler it’s still well below the average hourly rate in the US which, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, is $31.85 per hour as of April 2022.
Accordingly, an Amazon Assembler’s hourly rate is well below the US average and you may consider, therefore, that their job is one that should be supplemented by tips.
This is especially so given the cost of living crisis and global inflation figures.
Indeed, this is the same view we took when we looked at whether you should tip Wayfair assemblers and delivery workers.
How Much Does Amazon Assembly Cost
Amazon assembly costs differ depending on the item that you require constructing.
According to Fixr.Com, expect to pay around $35 – $90 per hour for an assembly with Amazon.
This is actually below market rate when compared to other companies such as Ikea and Wayfair:
We expect you will be looking at around 1 – 4 hours of work for most items that you can order from Amazon so the cost can add up quite quickly for larger more complicated units.
How Much to Tip Amazon Assemblers?
The average amount to tip in the US varies from between 10 – 20% of the cost of the goods or services.
We believe this is a reasonable amount to apply to assembly services from Amazon. We see no reason to depart from these figures here.
If you’d rather pay a fixed tip then we’d propose $5 – $20 is about right but you may wish to tip more if the item is more complicated to construct.
We wouldn’t recommend tipping less than $5 as that does begin to look rather stingy.
It’s important to remember that constructing furniture is quite tedious and can be fairly hard work. No doubt that’s why you’ve paid for assembly in the first place.
Are Amazon Assemblers Allowed to Accept Tips?
We have looked into this question and haven’t seen any specific policy that debars Amazon assemblers from accepting tips.
Some employers do ban tips as a matter of company policy but we haven’t seen anything to suggest this is the case with Amazon.
If you experience something different then be sure to let us know in the comments section.
Related Article: Do You Tip Amazon Furniture Delivery?
Considerations When Tipping an Amazon Assembler
Tipping is fairly customary for this type of service but there will of course be times when you certainly should tip and also times when you might want to withhold a tip.
You should look to tip an Amazon assembler if:
- The workmanship is of good quality (all the screws in the right place, a functioning product, and no damage to the item);
- The job has been done in good time and efficiently;
- The work area has been kept clean and tidy;
- The assembler has been professional and courteous;
- It’s a public holiday.
You may wish to withhold a tip if:
- The workmanship is poor – for example, if the item is poorly constructed and doesn’t operate correctly, is damaged, or is evidently rushed;
- The assembler was rude or unprofessional;
- If the work area has been left untidy;
- The assembly took much longer than anticipated.
How to Pay a Tip and Other Options?
We always recommend tipping in cash if possible.
If you attempt to pay by card then there’s always a risk the tip won’t reach the recipient and will end up with Amazon and not the assembler.
Cash is convenient, tangible, and universally accepted.
If you’d rather not provide a monetary tip then here are some other suggestions:
- Food or drink;
- A voucher;
- A positive review or recommendation;
- Written testimony or thank you card.
Final Thoughts
We think it is in good spirit to offer a tip to an Amazon assembly worker.
They are doing a fairly tedious and frustrating job and are paid quite poorly for doing so with their average salaries being well below the US average.
The cost of Amazon assembly is at least equal to if not below market rate so you’ll have saved cash there compared to if you’d used another company for this service.
In summary, we would fully recommend offering an Amazon assembler a tip and would suggest $5-20 or 10-20% is a sensible sum.
Clearly, depending on the quality of service you’ve received, there will be times when a tip should be withheld and also times when you should dig even deeper into your pocket than normal.
We shall leave that to your good judgment.
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