A new survey says that 73% of Americans think Starbucks is overpriced, 21% said they were unsure, and only 6% came to Starbucks’ defense. (We were kidding about that sarcastic thing. Teehee.) The survey also found that the vast majority of American’s don’t go Starbucks for their daily coffee fix:
Starbucks coffee shops seem to be on nearly corner in major U.S. cities, but surprisingly 76 percent of American adults say they rarely or never visit one of the shops, and only 14 percent say they visit occasionally.
That might be because the java giant’s prices are too high.
This may explain why we’re so bored of “personal finance experts” telling people to stop going to Starbucks for their daily latte in order to save a million billion dollars a year. Apparently, you’ve already stopped.
Starbucks coffee is too expensive, new survey says [Star-Tribune]
(Photo: iwantamonkey )
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@NTC-Brendan: Nobody has to buy a gallon of beer or coffee just to get to their job. And even if you use biodiesel, you probably can’t say “Nah, I’ll just make gasoline at home instead of buying some, it’s cheaper.” You also aren’t paying higher prices for other consumer goods because of all the beer and coffee it takes to get them transported to market.
I like Peet’s better, but they can’t seem to figure out how to make a paper cup that doesn’t leak.
I haven’t stopped going to Starbucks yet, but I go much less often than I used to, and every single time, while I’m in line, I have a moment where I go, “Why do I come here?” I think it’s down to 2 or 3 times a month, now.
Of course, if Starbucks ever goes out of business, we in NYC are going to be screwed, because Starbucks essentially provides the public toilets. Maybe they could just charge people for a quiet place to sit down and toilet use. That would make money in New York.
Wait, I can brew coffee at home? In my own house? What kind of special equipment do I need for that?
I don’t see myself stopping going to Starbucks anytime soon. I stop everyday after school and get either my own 5-shot concoction or a doubleshot on ice.
At the drive-through? yeah. Over here the 7-11 coffee is decent and half as much for a bigger cup.
Inside the store? nah, not really. Of course, for a cup of coffee with flavor, 4-5 bucks sounds expensive. However, I am fully convinced that Starbucks isn’t about buying a coffee. It’s a nice atmosphere, they don’t bother you, you can work or talk for as long as you wish, and they do have decent snacks.
If you’re looking for “coffee”, then yeah, starbucks isn’t a good idea -but then again, if you’re looking for coffee, starbucks isn’t for you.
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Yeah it’s funny how that poll works out. I’m sure that over 90% of the people who took that poll purchase starbucks drinks anyway. The starbucks coffee is nothing special and the espresso is absolutely horrid. I’m surprised people haven’t noticed. I actually find gas station coffee or espresso to be about the same. Ask an honest starbucks employee, they will tell you the beans are really really cheap. As in quality, taste, and price. If you actually like coffee, go local or purchase imported beans from Costa Rica.
Seems like they are charging exactly the right amount. If you don’t like the price don’t go there. Not sure where this whole “companies that make a profit” are evil trend came from. Who cares what the margin is there a a hugely successful company that has costumers willing to pay that mark up.
I smell burnt dog hair.
Oops, sorry, I was driving past a Starbucks.
@Rider: Excuse me, but you seem to have missed the “Kick ‘em while they’re down” sign.
I’m not quite sure why Starbucks is considered to be “overpriced” – it’s just about the same as anywhere else you’d go. If anything, I think Starbucks just demonstrated to independent coffee shops that coffee was previously underpriced and others adjusted accordingly.
As far as margins go, they’re insanely high. But it’s not Starbucks’ responsibility to give you a low price, their goal is to get you to pay close to the highest amount you’re willing to pay.
I wish that any thread devoted to Starbucks in which the topic is not about how palatable the coffee is would be heavily moderated to weed out the people who just want to bash to coffee so it could stay on topic. Would the Consumerist moderators consider this, please?
I don’t think the coffee is overpriced because I believe that any time you decide to pay someone else to prepare your food or beverages, you are paying for a form of “servitude” and that shouldn’t come cheap (because those jobs should be decently paid). If you don’t want to buy an espresso machine, grind the beans and tamp them in, add the water, steam the milk, and clean up after all of it, then paying someone else $4 or so to do it for you isn’t unreasonable.
It’s not just about the value of the resulting product but about all the factors that go into preparing that beverage for you like the rent on the facility, the purchase and maintenance of the equipment, cleaning the facility, and paying the staff. Of course, you can make coffee more cheaply than they can at home, but that’s not even the point. It’s a luxury having someone do everything for you, so it’s going to cost more.
@TVarmy: It’s actually the other way around–the Frappuccinos cost practically nothing, whereas the espresso beans and coffee are the priciest things there. Frappuccino mixes are made with bag coffee, premade mixes…they make a killing off of it, because they charge $4 for something that probably costs less than $1 to make.
@Colage: Mainly because few people truly understand the basic truth that price is not related in any way whatsoever with cost. Price is only related to market conditions.
That, and people forget that Starbucks doesn’t sell coffee. It sells an image and an atmosphere. For some people it’s worth it, for some it isn’t.
I love Starbucks, but I’m aware it’s VERY overpriced for what you get. I actually don’t think any coffee, but I love their creme fraps and their passion tea and lemonade. As a result of things getting tighter financially, I have definitely made less visits there. Last year at this time, you would see me there every night after work for a drink and a slice of coffee cake, but the only times I’ve been there since January have been recently because I got some gift cards from co-workers when I moved as a good-bye present. I know when the gift cards run out my boyfriend and I won’t be there because we can’t justify spending $4+ each for a drink, even as a treat…
Well duh just about sums it up.
Starbucks had it’s run,the party’s over,cash in,go home,forget about it.
@Grive:I agree it’s as much atmosphere as about coffee but it’s also a $5 coffee,$2 donut and $10 for internet for some atmosphere-uh???
I always felt Starbucks and some others attracted the same crowd that hung out in places like Barnes & Noble during the 1990s-yuppies nursing a drink,reading,trying to show how ‘intellectual’ they think they are-AND NOT even buying the book or magazine.Barnes and Noble isn’t in great shape either.
They’re cheaper than almost every small coffee shop, their coffee is always very consistant, and it’s not that much more expensive than Dunkin Donuts or anywhere else. It may not be the same price as the gas station coffee, but the idea that Starbucks regular coffee is somehow ridiculously overpriced is absurd. It seems like a regular occurance that some Dunkin donuts drinker tells me that I’m paying so much more for my coffee, when I’m not… a 16oz coffee at Dunkin Donuts is like $1.92 and it’s $2.05 at Starbucks. Considering that, at DD, you put up with some of the worst service known to man and that the coffee ranges in flavor from being “barely drinkable” to “absolute garbage,” I’ll pay the extra… $0.13, once a day… totalling up to a staggering $0.85 a week that the average drive-thru user probably spends idling waiting for their nasty over-creamed and over-sugared french vanilla blueberry crap.
Just wondering: Since when has starbucks been FIVE DOLLARS for coffee? Like where is this coming from? It’s $2.05 (tax included) in Massachusetts.
And just drop the “image oriented yuppie” idea. I’ve listed why I go to Starbucks before, but most of it comes down to two things: I like their coffee and I love their service. They treat their customers like they’re important, the coffee people there are friendly and welcoming, and you don’t put up with the same haggard malcontents that fill up the Dunks or Honey Dew’s around here. Going to Starbucks is one of the better moments of my work day.
@MichaelBrazell: At least with Starbucks, the coffee tastes like coffee. No idea how many times I’ve gotten iced coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts only to be given iced tea… although I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened more often and I just couldn’t tell.
I do wonder if Dunkin’ Donuts employees around here think “at least we’re not Tim Horton’s”…
the regular coffee is only a dime or two over mcdonalds these days.
and you can be sure the starbucks is reasonably fresh.
mcdonalds, if its not rush time it might have been sitting there for hours on the warmer:P
and mcondalds workers are less trust worthy than starbucks workers, slightly lower standard and pay me thinks. plus its out in the open. i’ve bought mcdonalds coffee a couple times that has tasted rather stale. either its not fresh or the equipment has not been washed recently. worst is the order mistake at mcdonalds where the drive through attendant barely speaks english. even if they do, since they aren’t the one handling the coffee mistakes are made anyways. i get cream added when i ask for none, i get too few sugars, sugars added for me, or claimed added sugars when in fact there was none. its like coffee is a bit too complex for the staff to deal with:P
as for 7/11, the cleaning issue comes up again. i think their standard is probably a lot lower in many stores where the 7/11 dude just can’t be bothered to do anything more than the bare minimum. and of course their stuff can be rather stale at times as well. it does cost slightly less, but with price increases over time, its not that significant these days.
everyones raised their standards of course, mcdonalds more so than 7/11. but they still arent as good as starbucks.
Never visit. Waste of money IMHO – I use a decent single-cup maker at home that costs ~$.18/cup. Occasional Dunkin visitor for b’fast sammich & coffee.
@cwlodarczyk: Let’s keep the image size a little bit less epic next time, please.
@Consumerist-Moderator-Roz: Can we also keep the image content less “see, if you change the name” HI-LARIOUS and more… well, original and witty?
Starbucks is *definitely* overpriced. Unfortunately, I’m a chai fanatic and they’re the only place near me where I can go to get my fix. I tried buying powdered chai, but alas, it’s just not the same. Every time I go for my iced chai latte I curse Starbucks for their overuse of ice – the entire cup is full of ice which they then pour about a half cup of chai over. Total ripoff. I long for the days when my local Dunkin Donuts starts selling chai.
@dracona1031: Easy solution: request light ice. Problem solved.
I love Starbucks, but do have to limit my addiction to once a week, otherwise it is too expensive. However, with all the closings in my market, finding one now will be the tough part.