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Starbucks claims $181M in revenue from unused gift cards (2022)

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Re: Starbucks claims $181M in revenue from unused gift cards (2022)

#61

Post by JohnFen »

streptomycin wrote: post #23
JohnFen wrote: post #16

Every so often, companies I've worked for have given me Starbucks or Amazon cards as rewards. I have no use for either of them, though, so typically I give them to someone else. Amazon cards are easy -- they go to my (adult) children. Starbucks are more difficult, though. I sometimes have trouble giving them away, then they get lost or accidentally thrown away. I bet Starbucks has made more money off me from that tha…

There are various websites that let you sell basically any gift card for like 80% of face value, such as cardcash.com. That's what I do with nearly every gift card I am ever given.

True, but to be completely honest, that sort of thing is more hassle than it's worth to me.

Re: Starbucks claims $181M in revenue from unused gift cards (2022)

#62

Post by forgotusername6 »

superzamp wrote: post #43
forgotusername6 wrote: post #28

I once had a gift card that had a management fee in the small print. By the time I remembered it the £10 had all been eaten by the 40p a month fee.

Yikes that seems insane, do you remember which vendor it was?

I think it was a love2shop card. One of those that is valid at multiple retailers.

Re: Starbucks claims $181M in revenue from unused gift cards (2022)

#63

Post by TheNewsIsHere »

sosodev wrote: post #32
hammock wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>delayed billing, which converted multiple separate song transactions into one bundled transaction to save on credit card transaction fees. Uber and Lyft do it now. It ought to be illegal, or opt-in (with a discount to the customer). Delayed billing wreaks havoc on the majority of Americans who live paycheck to paycheck

Don't they authorize each individual ride and then bundle them up into a single transaction?

This thread is confusing to me. I am in the US and I use Uber. I’ve never had this experience. Every time I use Uber, I see one transaction per ride, and depending on when I remember (or see the prompt) to tip, that may or may not be another single transaction.

Edit: s/threat/thread

Re: Starbucks claims $181M in revenue from unused gift cards (2022)

#66

Post by xwdv »

youreincorrect wrote: post #45
BoorishBears wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stuff like this reminds me of the bubble tech lives in. There are a lot of people who aren't on top of their finances at all. For them, a delayed transaction wreaks plenty of havoc because they're not keeping track of how much "ghost transactions" are affecting the account balance they see. Now you could argue it's on them for not being on top of their finances, but Uber makes a lot of money from these people. The la…

I think you live in a bubble if you feel it necessary to exaggerate the effects and coddle people who aren't on top of their finances. It's all a fairly pointless discussion because the simple solution is to suggest Uber, etc. just make this method of charging an optional feature that is easily toggled by their customers. Beyond that, it's an uninteresting discussion, and I don't care to hear people browbeat each oth…

Indeed, im pretty sick and tired of people making excuses for others lack of financial planning.

Perhaps seeing a big bill dropped on them all at once for their past purchases is the exact wake-up call some people need to track their finances.

Re: Starbucks claims $181M in revenue from unused gift cards (2022)

#67

Post by BoorishBears »

youreincorrect wrote: post #45
BoorishBears wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stuff like this reminds me of the bubble tech lives in. There are a lot of people who aren't on top of their finances at all. For them, a delayed transaction wreaks plenty of havoc because they're not keeping track of how much "ghost transactions" are affecting the account balance they see. Now you could argue it's on them for not being on top of their finances, but Uber makes a lot of money from these people. The la…

I think you live in a bubble if you feel it necessary to exaggerate the effects and coddle people who aren't on top of their finances. It's all a fairly pointless discussion because the simple solution is to suggest Uber, etc. just make this method of charging an optional feature that is easily toggled by their customers. Beyond that, it's an uninteresting discussion, and I don't care to hear people browbeat each oth…

There's so much self-indulgent angst oozing out of this comment that it's hard to pick out the intended signal but I'll try:

- It's not about credit cards, it's mostly debit. It's a large driver of the 15 billion dollars in NSF fees banks pick up yearly.

- Having 100% up to date information on your money makes it easier to not overdraft, the emotional smokescreen deployed doesn't change that.

- I don't know anyone with any level of financial literacy who would prefer less accurate data on their money: so your suggestion for a switch that makes your transaction history less accurate is questionable to say the least.

Overall you sound insecure about living in a bubble. I didn't paint people as jerks for being in a bubble, but I rightfully pointed out that you're clearly unfamiliar with a challenge in some people's lives.

If self-loathing makes you feel like a jerk for being in a bubble I can see how you could misconstrue that.

Re: Starbucks claims $181M in revenue from unused gift cards (2022)

#68

Post by BoorishBears »

xwdv wrote: post #66
youreincorrect wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you live in a bubble if you feel it necessary to exaggerate the effects and coddle people who aren't on top of their finances. It's all a fairly pointless discussion because the simple solution is to suggest Uber, etc. just make this method of charging an optional feature that is easily toggled by their customers. Beyond that, it's an uninteresting discussion, and I don't care to hear people browbeat each oth…

Indeed, im pretty sick and tired of people making excuses for others lack of financial planning. Perhaps seeing a big bill dropped on them all at once for their past purchases is the exact wake-up call some people need to track their finances.

If instead of taking uninformed pot shots you took just a moment to check, you'd see overdrafts come from a tiny slice of customers who get hit by overdrafts over and over again.

No one made any excuses for anyone, it was a simple statement of fact that batched transactions save a marginal cost for the good in question and affect the age group that's using them the most.

—

It might even be profitable for them to eat the processing fee and call out the fact there are already X dollars pending to users who have had at least one NSF in the past year as they check out. Why give the bank $20 out of your most captive customers pockets, to save .03 cents on payment processing?

There seems to be this weird idea that it can't be profitable to do things that help your users.

Re: Starbucks claims $181M in revenue from unused gift cards (2022)

#69

Post by datavirtue »

teachrdan wrote: post #42
triceratops wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're throwing them in the trash, why not give them out whenever you're expected to tip?

I've given Starbucks gift cards to homeless folks, who were always happy to receive them. And in California, businesses must give you cash for a gift card if it's less than $10 in value. https://www.giftcardgranny.com/blog/5-important-facts-about-...

That would be a great billboard...a close up of a hipster handing out a Starbucks card to a homeless person. One of those feel-good moments.

Re: Starbucks claims $181M in revenue from unused gift cards (2022)

#70

Post by Spooky23 »

prirun wrote: post #52
jstarfish wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is a discount to that customer demographic. For debit cards, imagine your account has $0.01 in it and about to be overdrawn. Each transaction from here on out will net you a $35 overdraft fee. Accounting for the fees, would you rather have 5 immediate charges of $1, or 1 delayed charge for $5? For credit cards, there's no overdraft, just a hard cutoff.

> For debit cards, imagine your account has $0.01 in it and about to be overdrawn. Each transaction from here on out will net you a $35 overdraft fee. Everyone using a debit card, especially if poor, should disable overdraft protection at the bank. The fees will eat you alive otherwise.

Nobody should ever use a debit card.
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