We’re not Starbucks whores as it were, but we certainly enjoy our fancy Starbucks espresso beverages, be that a simple latte, or a fancy seasonal like Starbucks’ exceptional Pumpkin Spice Latte. We’ve done the Starbucks card thing in the past, but unless the two-hours of free internet accompanying a drink purchase is what you’re after, the basic Starbucks card is a waste of wallet space: it’s just as easy to charge a drink to a credit or debit card, or pay in cash. That’s why when we heard about the Starbucks Gold Card, we were skeptical. Then we read more about it.
In short, the card costs $25 per year. It works just like a normal Starbucks card, only you don’t need to put any money on it at all. Instead, just hand the card to the cashier when you make a purchase, and you get 10% off. In addition, buying the card earns you a free drink of your choice that day, and registering the card earns you a coupon for a free drink on your birthday. For us, this means saving about $6.40 given current prices. In our case, we even lucked out and got two drinks for free the day we bought the card, so out-of-pocket at the end of the year, we’ve only spent $15.40 on the card. With 10% off on our usual drinks (saving $0.32), we need to buy 48 drinks in a given year to break even. That’s a mere four drinks per month, so even if one Starbucks drink at the end of the work-week is your reward for a job well done, the Gold Card is worth every penny.
We’re not quite sure how Starbucks is making money on this thing, but we’re glad we picked one up. Sounds like an exceptional stocking-stuffer for the upcoming holiday season, too.
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I have a Goldcard also.
But it’s clear how Starbucks is making money on it, because the profit margin on each item at Starbucks is very large, a very high markup price on coffee, drinks etc. The 10% discount doesn’t cut into the profit margin at all, and it’s a good marketing device and advertising tool. If they sell 1 million GoldCards, that is 25 million dollars. An excellent way to help a company that is struggling.