When cleaner José Zaragoza finished his job at a home, he was surprised to find he'd received a $100 tip on Venmo.
"I was like 'hey you made a mistake' - you sent an extra zero," but the customer told him he'd given him a large tip "to help you and your family in these tough times."
Mr Zaragoza's business has dropped dramatically since the coronavirus pandemic hit the US. Right now, he has only had one cleaning job a day, and needs to take extra precautions including wearing a full body coverall, a mask and gloves, and washing every piece of his cleaning equipment before starting a job.
He's noticed his regular customers are tipping him more - something he's grateful for. "Many people tip me the equivalent of an extra hour's work because they know I don't have a lot of jobs," he says, adding that the tips have helped him pay the rent.
There've been similar reports of generous tipping - sometimes extremely generous - across the US, as states start to re-open.
In Austin, Texas, one restaurant reopened on 30 April - and found a customer left $1,300 to staff as a "welcome back" tip.
Some delivery apps have also noticed an increase in tips since the pandemic began.
"Diners are being more generous with their tips to drivers, with percent tip across Grubhub and Seamless going up nearly 15%," a spokeswoman for the food delivery service told the BBC.
