we are told the cost of a Starbucks everyday

[Mamaw]

If one state’s Starbucks tip jars produced $86,000,000 in loose change multiply that by 50 states. Think about how meany other tip jars have you seen. The thing is most people just put their change from their order in the jar.

[dexter]

I just read about that lawsuit. That was in California. I was amazed! I save my change at home so I guess on a grand scale it makes sense but WOW! 86mil!

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I had not heard that figure. Was that the amount of tips collected in California before the recent lawsuit? There is another lawsuit in New York against Starbucks:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/nyregion/04starbucks.html?ref=business

You are not suggesting we carelessly give away too much money in tips, are you? Hey, I bet there are Starbucks employees among the readers of this board.

[moneybags]

I hope they're paying taxes on all those tips!

[Fizgig]

I don't see anything terrible about throwing a quarter into the tip jar.

I did a lot of googling, but couldn't figure out the source of the $87 million figure. The lawsuit was filed in 2004 and some articles said that she worked there in 2000-2001, so maybe that figure is cumulative over eight years.

I worked at Starbucks for a few years in college, and the tips were usually an extra dollar or two per hour worked. It was a nice perk, but I guarantee you that no one paid taxes on it, including me.

Tipping really doesn't bother me - I figure it's an easy way to get a few karma points. When a low wage worker gets a little extra pocket money, all the better.

[Mamaw]

I got the figure from Cheapskate Living

Anybody working for Starbucks I meant no offence. The point Mary Hunt made in her article was people say that they have no money to save could begin tip a reasonable amount and save some to being saving. Change adds up.
When I go to Starbucks and I have gift cards for there I put something in the jar. I tip extra at a cafeteria where the girls make $2 and some change an hour.

[Fizgig]

I agree that there's no need to overtip. As a former barista, no one expects a dollar in the tip jar - a quarter is just great.

Sometimes, though, I see people stiff the server in restaurants because they want to save money and it drives me batty. If someone wants to cut back and be frugal, the better thing to do is to not eat at restaurants or get $4 coffees. I'm mostly talking about restaurants here, but a tip is just the cost of doing business, and it's not right to shortchange the server in an effort to save money. They should have cooked their own dinner.

[maat55]

In my world, Starbuck's would not exist, just because I make my own coffee for pennies on the dollar. I have had a cup of their coffee, I don't get it.

[Fizgig]

There's some truly great coffee in the world, but Starbucks is NOT it. I never buy their espresso drinks because the machines are crap and make only slightly strong coffee, and the quality of their beans has plummeted in the last ten years.

It used to be a quality product (I was there in the northwest during the pre-expansion days), but no longer. Now I just grab a cuppa coffee in a pinch, but the stuff I make at home is much better. (Roast my own beans - it comes out to about $5/lb for premium quality stuff.)

[Mamaw]

Please notice I tip at Starbucks.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Do you have a link for the Mary Hunt article you've mentioned?

I don't have much to say about Starbucks coffee quality, but I have been disappointed with their tea each of the four or so times I've had it. Seemed, old and near lacking in taste. I'm talking about just plain tea, not the stuff jazzed up with milk and spices. What I do appreciate about Starbucks is the comfortable place to sit and chat while one has coffee/tea, without feeling rushed to give give up a table to a customer who would be ordering a whole meal. Have you ever felt the pressure from the waitstaff in full restaurant to hurry up and leave when you've only having coffee?

Fizgig, are you saying then that the tips you got at Starbucks exceeded the level of tips the IRS assumes you received and taxed you on?...Also who divvied the tips at your shop? Weren't records of the tips kept?

[Mamaw]

thread for article

I deleted the e-mail but if you will put into Google Starbucks and tipping you should get 10 pages of these post,

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I don't know who Mary Hunt is, but I felt like you dropped the name as though you thought we probably would know. So I took your advice and googled her Starbucks tips comments. Indeed she is among the 53,547,339 people (Google that!) who recommend making your own coffee instead of buying at Starbucks. I think if one can think of nothing else to say in a weekly column, one can always say "Quit spending your money at Starbucks." It is getting to be cliche. Poor Starbucks, always being picked on.

[disneysteve]

It is getting to be cliche. Poor Starbucks, always being picked on.

I agree. Sure, some folks spend $4/day at Starbucks, but others blow their money at McDonald's or Dunkin Donuts or Wawa or 7-11 or some other place. The "latte factor" that David Bach coined is why Starbucks takes all the heat.

[LuxLiving]

Joan, Mary Hunt wrote the book "Debt-Proof Living" and has a great website:

Debt-Proof Living Home

If anyone goes and visits today check out the weekly poll! Hilarious if it wasn't so sad!