Tipping for free tours

So-called free tours are not really free. The guide depends on the tips instead of getting a salary. Therefore, you should figure a per person rate.
I’ll take this opportunity to offer my slant on the phenomenon. Once upon a time, TI offices offered true free tours. No longer. That function seems to have been outsourced to private businesses. They carry the American practice of paying low wages and expecting that tips will compensate the workers to a new low, namely no wages, just tips. I prefer straight dealing. Pay workers a living wage, and do away with tipping.

If you are set on the “free” tours, I would look on Tripadvisor to see what pay up front tours go for and fork over a comparable total amount, taking into account how many people are actually in your tour group. If you are 3 or 5 among 25, it makes sense to give less than if the total number is closer to a dozen.

This is why I avoid this type of tour. They are never as good as one led by a guide who is being paid. If you are going to tip as much as a regular tour would cost, why even go on a "free" tour? It makes no sense.

Not only do the guides not get paid, Rick has reported that they must turn over to the company something like 3 or 3.50 euros for every tour member, irrespective of how much they get in tips.

My minimum tip is about 10 euros for a tour lasting around 2 hours in a city like Wroclaw, but I'd go higher in a major city where the cost of living is significantly higher. I prefer to pay for tours directly, and the first place I look is the local tourist office.

A disadvantage of the "free" tours is the amount of time the guides spend at both the beginning and the end of the tour, going through their song and dance about how great it is that you get to try out the product before paying for it--and making it clear that guiding tours is the way they make a living.

Took a free tour in Bruges in 2018 and our B&B owner recommended €1 or €2 per person for the one hour tour. The guide didn’t put any pressure on anybody to pay.

I can only hope those guides were not working for a profit-making company that charges them a fee for every customer who shows up. I would expect a local in the travel business to be aware of the actual situation. But the heavily promoted "free" tours are a big business, and the only way the companies can make money is by making the guides pay a head tax.

Thank you for all of your input.