Like come on, people are otraged about the most minor stuff, but somehoe can’t be bothered to boycot or change the situation with convenience pricig, where same stuff you buy at a store is 10-20x the price per unit.
“Youre taking advantage of my tiredness, making me pay more of my hard-earned money for the privilege of being too tired to prepare my own food/drinks myself, essentially making me work more hours for having worked too many hours and being tired as a resilt of it. So: making me more tired for being tired already”
making me pay more
No, you’re choosing to pay more. Make your own coffee at home. Or hell, don’t drink coffee. Nobody’s making you do that, either.
A slightly better example might be convenience stores in low-income areas where many people don’t have access to transportation to the more affordable grocery stores. The fact that you immediately jumped to Starbucks (something many people consider a treat of sorts) as something you’re forced to buy out of convenience shows how privileged you are to have this “problem”.
privileged people don’t see themselves that way. they don’t see buying starbucks as a choice, they see it as a necessity for living. the choice to make coffee at home does not exist for them. they also would not want to associate with someone who makes coffee at home, because that’s what poor people do and the last thing they would ever want to be like is a poor person.
the price increase of SB to make addicts stop buying it would have to be massive, like double or triple, not a 30% increase.
The part that makes me angry is that a few minutes research will often find you a trove of small businesses serving fine coffee in the area. I really don’t see what’s special about that brand.
Usually those small local places are selling better coffee, and at a lower price. If you’re buying from SB then first, you don’t know shit about coffee, and second, you obviously don’t care about price.
Starbucks only sells over roasted burnt swill, that’s why they have so many flavors there. Try getting a regular black or with cream and sugar instead of their flavors, no better than Dunkin or mcdanks (all piss water) your better off with the huge tin of folgers or maxwell house at home, or going to a real coffee shop (not corpo chain)
because those small businesses aren’t a brand the customer associates themselves with.
people who brand shop often brand-identify, and their self-worth/image derives from purchasing the brand’s products. they won’t go to another place because that would mean they are a different person, they are a SB person, not a third party person, not dunkin donuts person, etc.
just because you don’t think that way, doesn’t mean there aren’t millions and millions of folks who do. just like the fact you might not use face book, but there are 3 billion people using facebook.
It’s adorable how people taking a left turn out of coffee shops at rush hour think I’m going to let them in.
My brain can’t parse this, what is this supposed to mean?
I thought people are leaving the store, why would they think you’re letting them in? Also what does the direction they’re going have to do with anything?
You have to think as an American and see that it’s about cars, drive-throughs and lane merges.
Nah, in minds of people I actually respect, buying at Starbucks ia not associated with being rich, its the other way around 😃 (a poor person either with poor self-control/willpower or intentionally trying to come off as rich)
Cool, where I live SB is for the office workers and DD is for the blue-collar workers. And neither group wants anything to do with each other.
It’s a symptom of overwork. People are too tired to exist outside of work, so they actually are forced to buy the coffee / chai latte / whatever. Without the drink they can’t get through the day. Then they’re too tired to make lunch so they have to buy the $10 bagel. Then they need to order dinner because no fucking way are you going to the grocery store or preparing anything after a 996 shift. Then you lose consciousness on the couch and repeat tomorrow
It’s essentially another form of income tax; the higher paying your job the more you have to pay in human fuel
It’s also one of those weird networking obligations too, where if you skip too often, people notice
Their workplace probably has free coffee if they have a job like that.
So what when grocery stores do it? You grow your own potatoes too?
I’m not seeing the comparison here. There are grocery stores where you can get potatoes at a reasonable price, based on the costs involved in growing, shipping, and stocking said potatoes. No, I don’t grow my own potatoes, I shop at those stores. The grocery stores that charge more for potatoes are generally the “high end” grocery stores (in my area, Whole Foods, Raleys, Sprouts, etc) and are not doing convenience pricing which is what is being discussed.
You’re completely right, I thought this post was about personalised pricing like different prices depending on location and data about customers. My bad.
No worries. Yeah, stores with that kind of pricing are the ones that I typically avoid.
Or support your local coffee shop.
I’m not outraged at Starbucks over convenience pricing because I haven’t noticed it because I don’t go to Starbucks.
I’m outraged because Starbucks is anti-union, anti-consumer, and donates money to an authoritarian regime.
Maybe OPs was a bad example but I’ll join you and OP in saying fuck starbucks
Same. Haven’t been in years. Fuck Starbucks.
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Time is money.
It’s not like expensive convenience has a monopoly. If you don’t want to pay more, do it yourself.
Exactly. I’m mostly amazed at how widespread it is, because damn that’s a lot of people paying inflated prices I never would.
Even if every person prepared their own food and drinks 99% of the time we’d still have restaurants and coffee shops.
Mostly with convenience pricing I’m thinking about things like how a convenience store can be next to a supermarket and charge you a 20% markup on the exact same item, and people pay because they can’t be bothered going into the grocery.
A convenience store next to a supermarket isn’t very convenient unless the supermarket is huge. Most convenience stores tend to be closer to you and stay open more hours than supermarkets. I’m ok paying more for that. Convenience stores here are run by neighborhood people, supermarkets are run by rich businessmen. Starbucks is not that kind of shop though.
Convenience stores where I am are generally franchises, and some are literally in the mall 30 seconds walk away from the grocery. Same opening hours, same location, etc.
Not sure what’s the point to them then. If you’re at the mall you’re already inconvenienced
My point exactly! They exist only to serve people who can’t be arsed to go into the grocery to get something.
People are beyond lazy, they’re willing to break laws and impede other people and their safety in order to avoid walking 35 meters
This doesn’t work for stuff like tickets where there is a convenience fee for them to not print you a physical ticket. So you’re paying for their convenience.
Well, how do I calculate if the time-money I save on preparing food > price money ai give up for said food?
Just see how much you get paid an hour and divide that by minutes.
Then see how much the same food costs at a grocery store plus how long it took you to prep cook and wash dishes vs how much it cost to buy it at a restaurant and how long you had to wait for it
For me it was about making things simpler. We bought a dual level countertop oven that I use for like 90% of our meals. I season and put proteins in the bottom tray and then prep some veggies and toss them in the top tray, then 20 mins later we have a meal. If you use foil you basically only wash your plates and forks.
if you buy multiple meals worth of groceries at a time its just as quick to get home and make a meal as it would be to drive by a place and pick up food. If you make a big meal like a huge pot of spaghetti then even faster each subsequent day.
I boycott things all the time. I also have friends who seem to not care at all. One of my friends considers herself really politically minded, but still eats at McDonald’s, gets her daily Starbucks, orders on Amazon, shops and target and uses ChatGPT as her therapist. I’ve tried to point out the irony, but she gets incredibly defensive. I think some people don’t care about anything but convenience. In this day and age, with social media, it made everyone the star of their own personal movie in their head. If things don’t directly impact them, even if they like to talk the talk, they’re not willing to walk the walk.
People want change but they don’t want to change.
It’s much easier to complain about things than do anything about them. It’s also a good way to make friends, misery loves company.
People make the choice to buy overpriced coffee at places like Starbucks. The excuse “I’m too tired to make my own coffee” is just ridiculous.
OPs example of too tired is ridiculous. The only time I get a black coffee from Starbucks is if I’m in a bind for time, downtown without my thermos, or I’m traveling away from my ChemX.
It’s all about convenience not replacement of my much better coffee from home.
Where I live, there are loads of places you can get coffee from that are cheaper and don’t belong to anti-worker, anti-consumer US megacorporations. Your mileage may vary here, of course.
I don’t think it’s matters. If you think a local coffee shop isn’t paying the minimum wage you’re dreaming. Starbucks is the McDonald’s of coffee. All fast food jobs are designed for teenagers/part-time college students. Local coffee shop sure as hell can’t afford a benefits package. Starbucks at least offers to reimburse for your four year college degree.
64% of local coffee shops close in the first five years. I’m sure it’s not because they are paying their baristas soooo well.
https://perfectdailygrind.com/2026/09/opening-coffee-shop-2026/
There is no such coffee job in America that pays a living wage, offers medical/dental/vision, and retirement. The reason for that is it isn’t a career.
The only way to not feed into that machine is to make you’re coffee at home. I’m sure you’ve never ordered anything from Amazon, or used AWS either.
Good luck with that
This may come as a surprise to you but there are countries where even minimum wage workers have health insurance etc.
It isn’t a surprise. You are talking to an American about an American company. Your concerns for said American company happen to be standard practice in the country that it was created in.
This may come as a surprise to you, but context matters.
People were outraged, when this was news years ago.
The frog has been boiled and has been dead for sone time.
I can’t keep track of all the things I’m outraged about anymore. It’s too much.
“Why aren’t people outraged about…” They are, is always the answer when this question is posed here.
I genuinely don’t understand what you mean. Are you saying that people should be outraged that coffee shops like Starbacks charge a lot more than if you brew your own coffee?
Why should anyone give a fuck? It’s not like anyone is forced to buy coffee. The alternative is to simply do it yourself so just do it.
If you appreciate the convenience of getting a coffee on the go prepared by someone then yeah, it is going to be more expensive. After all someone has to be paid to do that for you, and maintain the facilities, equipment, etc.
Lots of people underestimate how addictive convenience can be and how easy it is to befall victim to it. Once you become accuatomed to a higher standard of living (be it not having to brew your own cofee or having a nicer apartment) its almost IMPOSSIBLE to go back. Salesmem know this, marketologists know this, it empirically works and they use it to milk you
I feel like just a small portion of the price increase is explained by having to pay staff and maintenance + ingredients, rest is pure profit, because they know you’re buying anyway and they are counting on it
I’m not outraged because I never plan on paying for it. I love buying things in bulk in advance, preparing my own food, much cheaper.
If people are too tired and don’t have enough time to prepare stuff at home, then that’s what they should be outraged about.
I just clock my 35 hours a week with 8+ weeks of paid vacation and have plenty of time left to prepare food at home and make snarky comments to Americans online about how they should book a one-way ticket already.
Because a large part of that price is actually due to the convenience. Sure, there is still a large markup but it also has to pay for the rent at that convenient location, the people preparing it for you, the equipment and maintenance, the energy bill for keeping the lights on and heating, insurance, etc. etc.
None of those things apply when you make it at home. Costs for a supermarket are also much lower per item, cheaper location, less personnel needed to sell you a bag of beans and a whole cart of other stuff vs. preparing a coffee.
There is a dose of “you can make coffee at home” that makes convenience pricing at Starbucks not as big a deal than if a grocery store started that shit.
OP is conflating “convenience pricing” (where prices are adjusted through the day to match customer volume) vs the price of convenience.
And then using Starbucks as an example. Which is a terrible example. No one needsto go to Starbucks. We all need groceries.
My favourite convenience pricing is at arenas and movie theaters. Conveniently you aren’t supposed to bring in outside food
Who the heck needs to go to theater to watch a movie? Its far better experiwnce at home
Nobody NEEDS to obviously, but I personally enjoy it once in a while. Sometimes I want to support movies, sometimes the theatre experience is better for loud or beautiful movies. Really the only downside for me (beyond expensive snacks) is a lack of subtitles.
If you want to stay home that’s cool, but people enjoy different things.
Why would I be outraged at things I can easily avoid if I want to? If I wanted to complain about prices it’d be at spring events and concerts. I can typically buy a 6 pack for the cost of 1 beer.
Believe me, if every of your life was spoken about before it arrives you would complain, because you’d want simplicity and convemience, which would become a form of rest
I might understand what you’re saying, but that isn’t what you posted about. That’s a completely different, and seemingly made up, problem.
