Starbucks $200 gift card, $5.30 in silver
RedTiger
Posts: 5,608 ✭
Sign of the times: Starbucks is selling a gift card made out of silver. Like many things Starbucks, the profit margins are a wonder to behold. They are charging $200 for a card, loaded with $50 in value, and about $5.30 worth of silver (someone weighed it and made the calculation), maybe another $3 worth of machining and packaging. These cards are already sold out online!
The brilliance (and chutzpah) of these companies is something to behold. The best part is that the loyal customers tend to love, love, love these companies, gladly paying the 3x to 10x to 30x markups for the feeling, the experience, the cachet of being one of a select few. The other thing is that many of these high margin companies are popular among people with below median incomes, below median savings rates. What happened to the U.S. savings rate? Starbucks and similar high margin companies have happy and willing customers putting money towards an experience, that perhaps in the old days might have gone to savings.
Is there a right or wrong to this? No, people make choices, as do companies.
The brilliance (and chutzpah) of these companies is something to behold. The best part is that the loyal customers tend to love, love, love these companies, gladly paying the 3x to 10x to 30x markups for the feeling, the experience, the cachet of being one of a select few. The other thing is that many of these high margin companies are popular among people with below median incomes, below median savings rates. What happened to the U.S. savings rate? Starbucks and similar high margin companies have happy and willing customers putting money towards an experience, that perhaps in the old days might have gone to savings.
Is there a right or wrong to this? No, people make choices, as do companies.
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Comments
<< <i>Is there a right or wrong to this? No, people make choices, as do companies. >>
Not much of a coffee drinker, but I can appreciate the Starbucks "experience". A newer shop opened a few miles away on a tired corner. A buck for a paper and I can enjoy the electricity of the place for 15 minutes.
For the rank and file, it seems to be a quick high calorie luxury to the start of an otherwise nose to the grindstone day.
....all good in my book.
<< <i>
<< <i>Is there a right or wrong to this? No, people make choices, as do companies. >>
Not much of a coffee drinker, but I can appreciate the Starbucks "experience". A newer shop opened a few miles away on a tired corner. A buck for a paper and I can enjoy the electricity of the place for 15 minutes.
For the rank and file, it seems to be a quick high calorie luxury to the start of an otherwise nose to the grindstone day.
....all good in my book. >>
What experience is that? The one time recently I stopped at a starbucks they handed me my coffee black and pointed to a table with sugar and cream for me to make it myself
I'll go to any gas station and do that for a buck before I'll spend 3 times that at a starbucks. They even had the nerve to put an empty cup out by the register for tips. It was empty so I wondered if they fill it with change in the morning and customers that make their own coffee take a few coins out in exchange for doing the help's job for them.
As for the card, its just a neat little trinket. I suppose you can refill your card as needed, which is what I do for gift cards I give out.
Still have to wonder what the cost of producing these would be.
Some might say, what a miserable way to live, skimping on lunch. Again, there isn't a right or wrong to this. $7 a day x 50 weeks a year is $1750. For someone with a low paying job that feels like a lot of money. A bag lunch or cheaper option isn't going to be free, so maybe $800 to $1200 a year saved by only doing the $7 lunch once a week or packing a lunch most days. I sound like a cheapskate, I know, but stackers often tend towards the frugal side. Then again, a person might say $7 is cheap for lunch, that $10 or $12 is common these days. Sign of the times.
<< <i> My relative walks over to a local place (not Starbucks, but another chain) and spends about $7 a day for lunch. >>
I of course do not know your young relative, but there seems to be a sense of economic gloom hanging over a generation or two.
Stuff that we took for granted, even on entry level jobs, like a decent auto, an apartment and money for a Saturday evening with a date, now seem out of reach to many.
A 20 year old man with a clean driving record is charged triple for auto insurance what his father pays. "It is the risk pool, young man". Same guy though gets no actuarial break on his health insurance "We have to take care of the sick folks. you know".
Can't blame them for shucking future security for a quick McDonalds rush.
<< <i> My relative walks over to a local place (not Starbucks, but another chain) and spends about $7 a day for lunch. >>
So if he works an 8 hr day, he does 4 for Uncle Sam , 1 for lunch, 1 for the state and 2 for expenses, might have to find another job...
Get used to it.
<< <i>To buy lunch today for $7 IS cheap.
Get used to it. >>
You might be right. This young relative tends towards the frugal side overall, often looking for bargains and sales, and clipping coupons.
I might be frightened by what a free spending young worker spends on lunch.
Back to the $200 for $50 gift value card though, wow, I could not imagine the relative going for that. I can see it for those that make $100+ an hour like some on the forum do (or did), because then it wouldn't be all that different from the $7 lunch, but geez Louise.
<< <i>Yes. It's all about choices. Coffee at many places will run about $2+ now. Yes there are exceptions. Gas stations don't have seating or wifi. McDonalds is an awful hangout experience. Starbucks for ~$2 will provide a decent cup of basic coffee and a place you can hang out for over an hour sponging off their wifi and people watching for a measly $2. Maybe that's too expensive for some, I don't know. People complaining about the fact that you have to pour your own sugar and creme are undoubtedly the same people who would whine and complain that the barista didn't put the exact number of milligrams of sugar in the coffee or the exact number of milligrams of creme if they were "full serviced".
$7-10 today for lunch is what it is. I'd rather spend that and more and eat exactly what I want when I want rather that count how much I saved by packing PBJs or ramen noodles for lunch. Yes, it's all about choices. And if one gets off on saving a few extra bucks so they can "stack it" and wind up giving it away and then some to the volatility of PM markets, then so be it. Or if they're lucky, get their jollys off on the perception that a piece of rock sitting there is "worth more" than when they bought it. Maybe they just feel good about "saving" a couple of extra bucks a day. For my part, we're on this planet for only so long. And we only have so many appetites to spare and experiences to enjoy. Food is EXTREMELY important to most people and I'd rather not waste ANY of my appetites eating things just to fill my stomach but rather truly enjoying the taste of what I'm eating. I'd rather hang out at a Starbucks (though I don't very often), then lounge around in an office cubicle or stand outside of a gas station. Yes, it's all about choices. Make sure you don't regret the choices you make while you still had them to make. >>
What a great post. Agree.
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
<< <i>What a great post. Agree. >>
Agree as well!!!
<< <i>
<< <i>What a great post. Agree. >>
Agree as well!!! >>
Count me in on this camp also….life is waaaayyyyy too short no matter how long you live.
well said baseball!
Cheers!
<< <i>Uh Jinx. Oil is now $68 a barrel. The help wanted signs may soon get turned around. >>
In the western part of the State possibly. Fargo however has manufacturing and agricultural jobs not just retail jobs hiring. Construction is still moving quickly as well. Don't be thinking that all ND has going for it is oil.
<< <i>I won't go into a Starbucks...they don't have a "2A friendly" corporate policy >>
It's ok you have to be a special little snowflake to appreciate the place
<< <i>I won't go into a Starbucks...they don't have a "2A friendly" corporate policy >>
I often wear my NRA cap when visiting. Some of the looks are priceless!
<< <i>Yes. It's all about choices. Coffee at many places will run about $2+ now. Yes there are exceptions. Gas stations don't have seating or wifi. McDonalds is an awful hangout experience. Starbucks for ~$2 will provide a decent cup of basic coffee and a place you can hang out for over an hour sponging off their wifi and people watching for a measly $2. Maybe that's too expensive for some, I don't know. People complaining about the fact that you have to pour your own sugar and creme are undoubtedly the same people who would whine and complain that the barista didn't put the exact number of milligrams of sugar in the coffee or the exact number of milligrams of creme if they were "full serviced".
$7-10 today for lunch is what it is. I'd rather spend that and more and eat exactly what I want when I want rather that count how much I saved by packing PBJs or ramen noodles for lunch. Yes, it's all about choices. And if one gets off on saving a few extra bucks so they can "stack it" and wind up giving it away and then some to the volatility of PM markets, then so be it. Or if they're lucky, get their jollys off on the perception that a piece of rock sitting there is "worth more" than when they bought it. Maybe they just feel good about "saving" a couple of extra bucks a day. For my part, we're on this planet for only so long. And we only have so many appetites to spare and experiences to enjoy. Food is EXTREMELY important to most people and I'd rather not waste ANY of my appetites eating things just to fill my stomach but rather truly enjoying the taste of what I'm eating. I'd rather hang out at a Starbucks (though I don't very often), then lounge around in an office cubicle or stand outside of a gas station. Yes, it's all about choices. Make sure you don't regret the choices you make while you still had them to make. >>
So what do you make of the $200 gift card with $50 in loaded value? Would you be happy, sad or indifferent if one of your young relatives bought such a thing? Better yet, what if their serious girlfriend/boyfriend bought them that card as the main holiday gift to give to your young relative? Personally, it would annoy me, and perhaps make me shake my head. Perhaps even frighten me if I thought they was a good chance that they were eventually marrying into the family. However, as I age, I use the phrase "people are different," more and more. For the most part, I have learned to live and let live, as long as it doesn't cross the bright lines of serious ethics or serious legal issues. I tell other parents that as long as the potential girlfriend/boyfriend is for the most part honest, for the most part kind, I can overlook most other perceived flaws.
If a person might want to spend $10 on lunch every day, and that is more than their hourly wage, that's an okay choice, as long as it is a conscious choice. I might still flinch when I hear about it though. I guess that makes me sound like "get off my lawn" old guy. Ha ha.
If someone gets their jollies spending $200 for $50 in value, because the silver card might look pretty, or the company or location perhaps means something to them (maybe that's where they met), or perhaps the person is just stupid as a rock, no amount of lecturing or cajoling from me or anyone else, has much chance of convincing them to be wiser with their spending. With young relatives, I can nudge here and there, perhaps tell a story or two, but young people have to find their own way, make their own choices, make their own mistakes. I certainly was a bull-headed young person at one time and I didn't want to hear it from the older crowd.
/edit to add: no one said anything about going radical and eating Ramen noodles for lunch every day, trying to squeeze every last penny out of life. I even said, once a week going out for lunch makes sense to me. Balance and moderation in most things are what I tend to advocate. There might be times when saving every cent does make sense, but not for a young person just getting started in life. That said, I think it is clear that I am not a fan of frittering away money every day.
<< <i>
<< <i>I won't go into a Starbucks...they don't have a "2A friendly" corporate policy >>
I often wear my NRA cap when visiting. Some of the looks are priceless! >>
National Recovery Administration?
Liberty: Parent of Science & Industry
<< <i>I personally wouldn't buy that silver starbucks card. But if someone wants it because they think it's neat, or cool, or has collector item potential, who am I to argue
Those are relatively cheap toys for children of someone of means such as yourself. Giving young kids only savings bonds or precious metals as holiday gifts would be a cruel joke. I would be more concerned if kids only wanted precious metal gifts at a young age, because it may mean they have already lost their childhood, or perhaps they are well on their way to becoming another Ebenezer Scrooge, a bitter old friendless miser that nearly wasted his entire life in the pursuit of a bigger stack.
Folks like bling and Starbucks is embraced by many as a Tiffany like brand.
Your post was the first that I have heard of the silver gift card, and if still available I would have considered it as a gift for my favorite Aunt. She loves the place and we get her a gift card from there every holiday.
<< <i>I believe I side with RedTiger on this issue. I can afford luxury items (be it food or toys), but I would not buy the Starbucks card. Leaving $150 on the table just makes no sense to me. I still evaluate prices when I shop - for everything. However, I do not deny myself fine things such as wine, food or toys...just careful to look for the best deal. Cheers, RickO >>
That is the beauty of the free market. Most folks certainly would pass on the bauble. Does not matter though as 10 or 100 thousand folks were willing to part with some bucks for the card. Check out Ebay in a year and I think that their will be significant value in these, even if below the issue price.