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For $45 Per Month, All the Coffee You Can Drink

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Re: For $45 Per Month, All the Coffee You Can Drink

#81

Post by SyneRyder »

EC1 wrote: post #56
andrenotgiant wrote: post #49

This will only exacerbate an existing problem at coffee shops in NYC: The "Coffice" phenomenon where people use the coffee shop as their office. Now these people will feel justified basically becoming a tenant of coffee shops and leeching 4-5 coffees a day, leaving this startup with the empty CUPS. :)

I never understood the coffee shop thing. I hate working at coffee shops, people nosing around at what you're doing, never enough desk space, that feeling of guilt once you stay there too long, etc.

For me: I work solo from home, so sometimes I go to the coffee shop for a change of atmosphere & to be around people for a while. I find the white noise of the cafe helps me focus, as does having people around me. It's nice having someone serve you instead of having to make your own coffee/food, and sometimes the food is nicer than what I'd make myself at home. But I try not to stay too long & only go at times when the cafe is half empty.

Re: For $45 Per Month, All the Coffee You Can Drink

#82

Post by george21 »

jasonkester wrote: post #14

Cool idea, but it seems to target a pretty narrow demographic: - wealthy enough to live in NYC and buy at least one cup of coffee every single work day - cheap enough to want to save a few bucks a month on coffee - can't be bothered to carry a credit card around every day - can be bothered to carry a smart phone around every day - trendy enough to frequent NYC coffee shops - untrendy enough to be seen using "coupons"…

Do you think the market is limited at first is an initial wedge for them? What's to stop them from later creating other properties related to topics like fitness, or eating out for example?

Re: For $45 Per Month, All the Coffee You Can Drink

#83

Post by pwthornton »

aestra wrote: post #12

Significant savings for some. If you had a 2 cups a day coffee habit, this works out to about $.73 a cup or $1.45 a day. Pretty good deal if you like coffee shop coffee. Assuming you'll otherwise spend $3 per cup you'll save about $1657 a year. $2190 vs $532.90.

The coffee included with the $45 plan (there are two tiers), is not $3 coffee. It's black coffee. In DC, a small drip coffee or pour over runs around $1.80 or so. It's $85 a month for the plan that includes lattes and other more expensive espresso drinks.

A small latte usually runs around $3 or so. An espresso might be $2.25-2.50. Two small lattes a day (not a lot of caffeine) would save you a ton of money a month with this plan.

If you drank even one cup of coffee a day, you'd save money with this, with either plan. A lot of people drink a cup in the morning and the afternoon, and that's where the savings really add up.

I'd personally be more interested in a hybrid plan that got me unlimited black coffee and a certain amount of espresso drinks a month. I know they have a more expensive plan with espresso drinks, but I don't want that daily. How about a $65 plan?

It's a great idea though. If you live and work in an area with coffee shops supported by this, you can basically have a monthly fee that covers all of your coffee needs. You can also no longer worry about having any coffee equipment in your apartment. Saving space is important to city dwellers.

If this came to DC, I'd strongly consider signing up for it. It's a great way to encourage people to go to non-chains, and to make paying at non-chains easier. Many of the big chains, including Starbucks, have long had ways to pay for drinks with an app. That's part of what this product does, and why small coffee shops would want to get on board.

Re: For $45 Per Month, All the Coffee You Can Drink

#84

Post by pwthornton »

jayvanguard wrote: post #57

Are margins on coffee good enough to support this long term? High end coffee is quite expensive as is square footage in small trendy coffee shops. I suppose the odd abuser who parks their butt for 3-4 hrs a day in the coffee shop can be dealt with in other ways e.g. they must order food to keep a seat. If they are forced to walk to the coffee shop each time they will likely max out at a few coffees a day.

I would imagine they are going to try to aim this at the business crowd. My coworkers and I often go and get coffee together. We almost never actually sit down. We talk on the walk to and from the coffee shop. We might take the coffee to a nearby park.

I agree that this won't make business sense with people who use coffee shops as an office.

Re: For $45 Per Month, All the Coffee You Can Drink

#85

Post by drcode »

josefresco wrote: post #72
drcode wrote: post #55

As someone who works out of coffee shops a lot, there is pretty much ZERO appeal for me to use this kind of service, since I view my coffee costs as "rent" and prefer to pay full price plus a tip to be viewed as a good customer. Bringing in an app saying "I'm a cheapskate that doesn't want to pay full price" is not the message I want to give to coffee shop staff.

But working from their coffee shop is? I would think a "good customer" to them is someone you walks in, buys coffee, and then leaves. Sure it helps that you probably meet people there (expanding their reach) but a half dozen people setting up camp in your coffee shop all day can't be ideal.

> I would think a "good customer" to them is someone you walks in, buys coffee, and then leaves.

No, that would be a "great" customer in their eyes. I am merely trying to not be a jerk of a customer, while still spending some time working in their shop.

Re: For $45 Per Month, All the Coffee You Can Drink

#86

Post by jon_black »

jrockway wrote: post #19
jon_black wrote: post #16

For $0 a month you can drink water from the tap. It's healthy and doesn't require installing an app. (Psst. You should be finding ways to balance your diet, not contribute to its destruction.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee#Health_benefits

Coffee isn't poison! YAY! Oh...wait...but...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee#Health_risks

Seriously, my point was, whilst everyone ran around hyperventilating at the thought of saving money on coffee (oh my god oh my god oh my god cheaper coffee) they (possibly - I didn't perform any research) overlooked the quite probable (I'm actually not a mathematician) fact that they're already drinking too much, and such a scheme will cause them to drink even more (up 20% you say?).

I love sarcasm. I hope I didn't offend anyone. I'm in a weird mood today.

Re: For $45 Per Month, All the Coffee You Can Drink

#87

Post by prostoalex »

jasonkester wrote: post #14

Cool idea, but it seems to target a pretty narrow demographic: - wealthy enough to live in NYC and buy at least one cup of coffee every single work day - cheap enough to want to save a few bucks a month on coffee - can't be bothered to carry a credit card around every day - can be bothered to carry a smart phone around every day - trendy enough to frequent NYC coffee shops - untrendy enough to be seen using "coupons"…

The model is scalable outside of NYC, and "can't be bothered to carry a credit card around every day" critique can be applied to any service that tries to improve payments flow (Square, Starbucks' mobile app).

On "techy enough", for reference, 11% of Starbucks purchases is happening through their mobile app - http://news.starbucks.com/news/starbucks-accelerates-mobile-...

Re: For $45 Per Month, All the Coffee You Can Drink

#88

Post by jon_black »

jp555 wrote: post #39
jon_black wrote: post #16

For $0 a month you can drink water from the tap. It's healthy and doesn't require installing an app. (Psst. You should be finding ways to balance your diet, not contribute to its destruction.)

Coffee is very good for you. Water from the tap is not free, it is a cost everyone pays in some way or another (built into rent or part of property taxes). Even if you still live with your parents, a dollar they spend on the water bill is a dollar less for you.

Coffee is not VERY good for you. That's a story you tell yourself so you don't have to stop drinking it...because you can't stop...you need it...you're life would be nothing without it. GRRRR...I'm so itchy without my morning...uhhh...water.

Yes water costs. Jesus, point out the small things.

Re: For $45 Per Month, All the Coffee You Can Drink

#89

Post by yhager »

carlob wrote: post #33
adambenayoun wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I own 3 espresso machines and have access to 5 no matter where I am (Splitting my time between Tel Aviv and the bay area) and I still drink coffee outside.

I find it's really hard to make a homemade espresso that comes close to the one you get from a café around here. But then again maybe I should invest 10k on a new machine (and then 20k to renovate my kitchen to fit it in).

You can get a pretty good quality espresso with a fairly cheap setup.

To me, the most important thing is the freshness of the roast, then the quality of the grinder, and and actual espresso machine comes third.

I have a $800 setup (machine + grinder), and I roast my own beans, on an iron skillet, once a week.

It's pretty difficult to find anything outside on par with the quality I can get at home (most of the time..)

Re: For $45 Per Month, All the Coffee You Can Drink

#90

Post by dingaling »

mseebach wrote: post #47
jp555 wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Coffee is very good for you. Water from the tap is not free, it is a cost everyone pays in some way or another (built into rent or part of property taxes). Even if you still live with your parents, a dollar they spend on the water bill is a dollar less for you.

Tap water for drinking is effectively almost free, and free water fountains are indeed ubiquitous. It's the two 30-minute showers a day that kill your parents water (and heating) bills.

> Tap water for drinking is effectively almost free

The average 2013 annual water rates bill in England is £390, or $650.

> and free water fountains are indeed ubiquitous

I've just been on a day-trip to England, through two major regional airports. I paid about £12 in total for bottled water during the day, suffering inflated airport shop prices, because there was not a single water fountain ( I asked ). Average price of a 750 ml bottle was around £2.20 and I had to gulp-and-chuck frequently due to passing through security three times.

Coffee would have been cheaper...

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