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 Linda Thomas
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starbucks-$450-card.jpg
This Starbucks giftcard, made of steel, is worth the price of about 90 lattes. (Photo courtesy Starbucks)

For extreme coffee lovers, a $450 Starbucks card

December 5, 2012 @ 7:31 am (Updated: 8:15 am - 12/5/12 )

You're standing in a Starbucks store trying to figure out how much to put on a gift card for the boss.

Sometimes $25 isn't enough, and $40, that seems like a lot for someone you don't really like. Hmmmm, what to do. #FirstWorldProblems.

Starbucks is giving customers another option. It's a $450 gift card.

The Starbucks Metal Card is made of steel, not plastic. Each specially etched card is loaded with $400. It costs $50 to make, which Starbucks says explains the $450 price tag.

Starbucks will make only 5,000 of the cards, and you can't buy them at any Starbucks store. They'll only be sold via the luxury goods website, Gilt.com.

The card comes with gold-level Starbucks card membership benefits, such as gifts and freebie refills on brewed coffee and tea.

For the rest of us, Starbucks is also announcing it'll open another 1,500 cafes in the U.S. within the next five years.

By LINDA THOMAS

More from Linda Thomas

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Comments (7)


  • Add A Comment

  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    And the holder of this card will still get to stand in line....
    December 5, 2012 7:21 am
    behind the indecisive intern sent to order complex drinks for the entire office. Her list of orders is so long, it looks like a scroll. She will of course prove to be good friends with the barista. Both will ignore the line, (snaking out the door and down the sidewalk to the corner), while they catch up on the latest dating gossip.

    They need a special line for barbarians (like me) who drink drip coffee and want fast service. That would bring them more business than a $500 pre-pay for folks who consider a visit to Starbucks a high moment in their daily routine.

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  • Citizen of Krazy Town wrote...
    It's really a $400 card. $50 to buy the card + $400 loaded
    December 5, 2012 7:34 am
    Which comes to less than two months of $7 coffees.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • hpygolkyone wrote...
    Sorry Chuck...........
    December 5, 2012 11:40 am
    ...you and I ARE dinosaurs for drinking drip coffee from Starschmucks. (you probably also carry cash in your pocket? You know that funny green stuff that speeds up the purchasing experience.)

    I wonder how these cards (if anyone actually purchases and preloads them) will impact their accounting? How will SBX reflect this on their books? Will it artificially inflate their sales figures, or do they only account for a "sale" when the card is swiped?

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  • mnpat wrote...
    With all the coffee cup trash and debris that is left everywhere....I'm think there should be a massive tax on coffee
    December 5, 2012 7:49 am
    Just like the tax they put on cigarettes….all that caffeine can’t be healthy.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • ron prevost wrote...
    $50 to MAKE the card ???????
    December 5, 2012 8:01 am
    And I was complaining last month that the Seattle Times was charging $1.25 extra for their Thanksgiving paper just because of the ads. ....... This beats that. An extra $50 just so you can buy stuff with it.

    Gee, Starbucks. You've got a lot of shops in Safeway. ... And Safeway gives you DISCOUNTS to use their FREE cards.

    Hint, hint, hint .......

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  • WAmovesRight wrote...
    Like most luxury items...
    December 5, 2012 8:06 am
    ... it's a status thing. Most of us will never understand it because 1)we're not wealthy enough and 2)we're too functionally minded...

    I hope I always stay that way. :)

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  • RnD_Fan wrote...
    Is it 'refillable?', as in can you re-load the card?
    December 5, 2012 10:13 am
    Why Steel?

    Stainless would be better.

    Plantnum maybe, but then it would be a $50 credit (for coffee), plus $400 (or more) for the physical card.

    If you played the free refills right,

    It may be worth the $50.

    No?

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