tip baiting

noun

In fast food delivery, the practice of promising a large tip (usually on a delivery app) so that the deliverer feels incentivised to swiftly reach their destination, only to deliberately decrease or cancel the tip once the delivery is completed.

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Meanings

nountip baiting (uncountable)

alternative tip-baiting

  1. InternetuncountableIn fast food delivery, the practice of promising a large tip (usually on a delivery app) so that the deliverer feels incentivised to swiftly reach their destination, only to deliberately decrease or cancel the tip once the delivery is completed.

    Happy Holidays, from tip baiting Instacart [grocery delivery service] customers.

    2019 November 28, MatthewTelles, Twitter
    2 more examples

    Lindstrom said he has heard from drivers who have been burned by tip baiting frequently, while he has only experienced it once.

    2022 January 5, Scott Stump, “What is 'tip baiting'? Delivery driver explains deceptive practice in viral video”, in Today

    The topic of "tip baiting" has gone viral on TikTok once again after one driver, who works for both Uber Eats and DoorDash, recently discovered firsthand what the term means.

    2022 November 15, Cecilia Lenzen, “'I am so disgusted': Uber Eats driver calls out customer who tip-baited her—making only $2 on an originally $15 order”, in The Daily Dot
verb

alternative tip-baiting

  1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of tip bait

Origin

From tip + baiting. Popularised during the 2020s with the rise of food delivery services because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but attested slightly earlier (see quotations below).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

tip baiting. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tip%20baiting

MLA

“tip baiting.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tip%20baiting. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tip baiting,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tip%20baiting.

Source: tip baiting on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.