Tour guide tips, free

How tour guides take tips without cash

Hold up a QR code at the end of the tour. Guests scan it, pick a tip and pay with PayPal or a card, straight to your own account.

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How can a tour guide collect tips from guests who carry no cash?

Put a QR code that opens an online tip page on a sign or a card, and hold it up at the end of the tour. Guests scan it with a phone, choose an amount and pay by PayPal or card. Choose a tip page that pays your own account, and scan your printed code once yourself before the first tour.

Why Payly

Ask where guests are from

The Tour guide template asks Where are you visiting from? with every tip. Add a question of your own, such as Which tour did you join?, and read each answer beside its tip in your dashboard.

Worded as thanks for the tour

The template reads Thanks for joining the tour, with a line that tips are how you get paid. Stripe allows a tip only for something you have already provided, so ask after the tour, not before.

Amounts you choose

Set up to 8 suggested tips, and leave the Other box on for guests who want to give a different amount. The Other box starts with a minimum of $1.00.

How a tour guide tip jar works in Payly

You set it up once. Guests scan the code at the end of every tour.

Start from the Tour guide template

In Your sites, click New, choose Tip jar and pick Tour guide. Change the title, the line under it and the header photo to your own.
Set the amounts and connect payments

Change the suggested amounts. Then connect PayPal, Stripe or both under Settings, Payments. Turn on Test mode first to tip yourself with sandbox accounts.
Publish, then print the code

Click Publish. The first time, Payly asks you to connect your free Cloudflare account. Then click Download QR code under Share your form in Settings, and print it.

What you get

The Tour guide template, ready to change
Tip amounts to pick from, up to 8, and an Other box
A Where are you visiting from? question, and questions of your own
An optional name with each tip
A QR code to download and print, and a link to share
A receipt by email for every tip
Every tip and answer in your dashboard, and a CSV download

What it costs

Completely free - no paid plan, no transaction fees, no commission

PayPal and Stripe charge their standard processing fees, as they would on any platform.

How can this possibly be free?

Start from a template

Start from one of these and change anything you like, or start from scratch.

Tour guide

Tips at the end of a tour, from a QR code the guide holds up.

Honest answers

Do guests need cash or an account?

No. They scan the code with a phone, type their email for the receipt and pay with PayPal or a card. A guest who misses the code can tip from the link, which you can send in a follow-up email.

Can I tell which tour a tip came from?

Add a question such as Which tour did you join? Each answer arrives with its tip, under Donations in your dashboard, and you can download the table as CSV. Answers are private and do not show on the tip jar page. Read messages from supporters

Can I ask for tips on a tour?

Stripe allows a tip only for something you have already provided, so word the page as thanks for the tour, as the template does. Read Stripe's rules for tips before you share your link.

What currency are tips in?

US dollars, unless you change Currency under Settings, General. If you guide outside the US, change it before you share your link. Set your store currency

Is it really free?

Yes. There is no monthly fee, no transaction fee and no paid tier. PayPal and Stripe charge their standard processing fees on each payment, as they would on any platform. How can this possibly be free?