The Pottery Barn is one of the most popular furniture retailers in the US with a whopping three billion dollar turnover in 2021 according to Statista.
If you’ve ordered some bespoke furniture or other products from there, you might be wondering whether you need to tip the driver or if you’ve ordered the white glove service, whether you should tip the assembler.
To help you make up your mind about tipping, we’ve crunched the data and looked at what the etiquette is for tipping Pottery Barn drivers/assemblers, how much you should tip, how much they earn, and how much standard delivery and white glove delivery costs.
Keep reading to find out more…
Do You Tip Pottery Barn Delivery? Short Answer
There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to tipping furniture delivery drivers. It’s certainly not expected or required but many people do tip, especially if it’s a large item. If you do wish to tip then $10 – $20 is more than adequate.
How Much Do Pottery Barn Drivers Earn?
Many people put a worker’s salary as their number one consideration when deciding whether to tip.
We’ve analyzed various job websites and noted that a Pottery Barn driver is expected to earn $34,371 with an additional $15,768 per year in “additional pay” (likely bonuses and overtime).
According to data from Glassdoor, the average salary for a Pottery Barn driver is, therefore, $50,140 per year.
This is actually a fairly reasonable yearly income if you consider that $47,520 per year is the median salary in the US according to Zippia.
We previously looked at the salary for the drivers of one of Pottery Barn’s competitors, Bob’s Discount Furniture, and found their salaries were only $33,000 per year so considerably lower than those at Pottery Barn on the above data.
How Much Does Delivery Cost at Pottery Barn?
Another consideration when deciding whether and how much to tip is the cost of the service.
We’ve pulled the data from the Pottery Barn’s website and note the following prices:
As you can see, the delivery charges start as little as $5.95 and go all way up to 10% of the product cost. Next-day shipping is a lot more.
What About White Glove Delivery?
White glove delivery, where the furniture is also assembled, ranges from $159 to $409 depending on the location you are in the country.
The further away you are from their warehouse, the more it costs.
How Much to Tip Pottery Barn’s Delivery Driver?
The standard amount in the US is usually 10-20% of the cost of the goods or services.
However, given that Pottern Barn delivery is fairly cheap unless your product costs over $300, then we’d suggest a fixed sum of, say, $10 – $20 is more than reasonable and adequate, otherwise, your tip is likely to be in the region of only a few dollars which is probably too little.
However, delivery drivers aren’t generally expecting tips so any amount is likely to be welcomed, although we would advise against tipping small amounts less than $5.
We’ve also looked at whether you should tip Pottery Barn’s sister company, West Elm.
Do You Tip Pottery Barn Furniture Assembly?
It is customary to tip furniture assemblers as we discovered when looking at whether to tip Amazon assemblers.
We’d suggest a sum of $10 – $20 is also adequate, especially if the workmanship is to a good standard.
When To Tip More or Not at All
We’d suggest increasing your tip if:
- The driver goes above and beyond. For example, if they take the furniture into an upstairs room;
- If the driver is courteous, professional, and helpful;
- If the workmanship is good quality and the furniture is properly constructed (in the case of assemblers);
- In inclement weather such as snow;
- Around the holidays.
Refuse to tip if:
- The driver is rude or obnoxious;
- The driver is late or misses the allocated slot;
- The delivery is made to the wrong address;
- If the furniture isn’t assembled correctly by the assembler (with white glove service);
- If the assembler makes a mess or damages the furniture.
How to Tip a Pottery Barn Delivery Driver or Assembler
We couldn’t find any option on the Pottery Barn website to add a tip and so any tip should be handed to the driver or assembler after they’ve completed the drop or built the furniture.
We recommend tipping in cash as this is a much safer way of ensuring that the intended recipient receives the money and not the company (which is not what most people want).
Final Thoughts
There is no written rule when it comes to tipping Pottery Barn delivery, it’s very much a personal thing.
Their drivers are generally well remunerated compared to the Pottery’s Barn’s competitors so you may be less inclined to open up your wallet for a tip on that basis.
However, on the flip side, Pottery Barn’s delivery cost is fairly cheap as standard so you feel you can spare some change for that reason.
As such, there is not really a right or wrong answer when it comes to tipping Pottery Barn delivery.
If you do wish to tip then we propose that $10 – $20 is about right, although you may wish to increase this for exceptional service or if you’ve received the white glove assembly service.
If you decide not to tip, this is unlikely to raise any eyebrows as tips aren’t expected by their drivers.
Don’t be afraid to hold back a tip if the service you’ve received has been poor.
