Mediocre coffee at a massive markup are two of the reasons Starbucks does poorly where I live.
We already had good coffee at reasonable prices and Starbucks’ business model can’t really compete.
They have opened and closed a branch down the road from me twice over the last ten years, meanwhile the nice couple who own the cafe in the same block have done ok.
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completely unsecured debt
Here I was going to say Venezuela…profit! But with the cards denominated in the fiat currency, the -10% comes with the same compound disinterest oil options had. How about staking it in ETH then?
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Starbucks 16-oz coffee is $2.10. I am unaware of any even remotely passable coffee that’s cheaper. I am not a fan of Starbucks or their coffee, but overpriced it is not.
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It’s definitely an interesting read and bears scrutiny. But the relevatory tone of the OP is silly. This has been the genius of the whole idea of gift cards. I’ve always been fascinated to learn what % dollars are never used, what the “lifespan” of a GC is (IE how long does it take before fully used, on average), as well as how they lead to additional buying because of the perception of using “free” money, etc…
I mean we’ve all made that additional purchase just so we wouldn’t be left with a GC with $1.23 remaining, right?
Except that these days, Gamestop will close your store and keep the pre-order money.
But really, Starbucks is just more successful at gift cards than anyone else. They’re a popular brand (of burnt coffee) and customer loyalty can be a wonderful thing.
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It’s the espresso concoctions/desserts-in-a-glass that give them a bad name. You know, paying $7 for a cup of frozen caramel and whipped cream. Their basic cup of coffee is sufficiently sufficient. But then again, I’ll drink Speedway gas station coffee in a pinch.
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Made more sense when Gamestop was doing better say 10 years ago but these days i wouldnt trust a Gamestop with my money
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There’s certainly a lot of fraud with gift cards, though there are also people who are gifted cards who dont have use for them. I’ve looked into reselling some i’ve gotten in the past, i didn’t because i’m lazy 
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Yeah, and their espresso drinks are quite good, unless you are going to a much more expensive coffee shop (Peet’s, Stumptown). And if you travel for work like me, I know I can get the exact same latte wherever I am. Going local is great if I have a recommendation from a local, otherwise, it’s a gamble.
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Still prefer their coffee. There’s only so much Dunkin Donuts coffee I can drink. It either has too much or not enough when I go through the drive through.
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Mediocre = OK
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I find Starbucks’ basic coffee decent enough, though I put cream and sugar in mine, so I’m not really a connoisseur. 
Or maybe I just got used to it. I once worked at a shop down the hall from a Starbucks, so it was easy to take a quick break, grab some caffeine and a quick chat with the servers, who were lovely. (Plus since I worked in the building, I got a discount, which was also nice.)
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Used to work at Starbucks, its alright but I rarely have Starbucks because i can just make mine at home. That said the rare time i do get coffee from there i have their regular coffee with an extra shot of espresso, along with sugar and cream 
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Someone please give me free money, I could use it right now to start my own 1 man shop. I promise I won’t waste it.
If only I were Starbucks 
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This. The people I know who drink Starbucks get things that barely resemble coffee. Diabetes and heart strain in a cup. I see such the same as I see soft drinks. They are desserts, not beverages.
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Could you please elaborate on the insurance comment? I don’t understand what you’re getting at here.
If you’re thinking about paying for a year’s car insurance with one annual premium, the interest the insurer earns on the premium over the year isn’t a “free loan” to the insurer. Rather, the insurer has factored that interest into the premium calculation. When interest rates are low, the insurer expects to earn less interest and so will be setting premium rates higher to compensate. It’s not a big effect compared to other things that influence premium rates, such as climate change and policy changes in the injury compensation field, but it is still an effect that is quantified by the actuaries.
The situation is clearer if you look at life insurance, where the customer usually gets the choice of paying monthly or annual premiums. Their premium calculations do allow for the fact that the annual premium mode gives them more investment earnings than the monthly premium mode. That is, they don’t just make the annual premium 12 times the monthly premium and “pocket” the extra interest. Rather the annual premium is less than 12 times the monthly premium.
(There are also other reasons for the annual premium to be less than 12 times the monthly premium. The big one is that processing 12 monthly premiums costs more than processing one annual premium. For example, if the customer is paying by an automatic bank debit arrangement, the bank is charging the insurer a fee for each premium payment, so from the insurer’s perspective it is one bank fee each year versus 12 each year. The premium calculations also allow for the fact that if the insured life dies in say the 6th month of the year, then depending on the premium mode the insurer is getting either the whole annual premium or just 6 of the 12 monthly premiums for that year.)
Except a chequing account doesn’t result in breakage - you aren’t likely to lose or forget about the money that is in there. Sure it is still an interest-free loan to the bank, but unless you are keeping large sums of cash on hand the impact on your finances is small (unless your bank charges an exorbitant monthly fee for a chequing account, but there are several places that offer no-fee banking or get rid of the fee if you use other services through the bank).
But really, how many “This Smells Like My Vagina” candles do I need?
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It’s not just paying your premium once a year versus every month - it’s the time gap between when premiums are paid (today) and when claims are made in the future. That’s the “float” and it’s key to the insurance industry - homeowner’s, auto, life insurance policies.
Policyholders (collectively) are paying premiums today for claims that will arise in the future. Insurance companies can make money either by:
- Collecting more in premiums than they ultimately have to pay out
- Earning interest on those premiums they have collected before the claims are made
I’ve been paying homeowners insurance premiums for almost twenty years and never made a claim until this past summer. Those premiums I’ve been paying have been invested in bonds and other investments over the years and generating interest for the insurance company. And since the insurance industry is pretty competitive, the profits they earn on the float helps keep premiums down.
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