Last December, Starbucks revealed 5,000 $450 steel gift cards on Gilt.com, which sold out in about six minutes, this year was no different.
For the second year in a row, the coffee chain partnered with high-end daily deal site Gilt.com to sell the ultra-limited edition $450 rose gold-colored metal gift card for the holidays and according to Eater. The cards are pre-loaded with $400.
With only 1,000 cards available, reports stated it sold out in less time than it takes to order latte. Alexis Maybank, Gilt Groupe co-founder and chief business development and strategy officer, said after the sell went live at noon,
"Gilt.com's hits per minute beat those on Cyber Monday by nearly 2.5 times," she said.
"It took just seconds this year to sell out, which was phenomenal," Maybank said. "We call them shopping athletes for a reason. Our customers are savvy and fast, and they were refreshing the page constantly. ... The second it opened up, they bought it,"
According to Maybank, within 30 minutes, more than 11,000 people were being "wait-listed" for a card. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz called Friday's transactions "stunning and almost unbelievable."
"If something is hard to get, it takes on irrational value," Steven Addis, a brand consultant, said. "By making it even harder to get, the irrationality goes up."
NBC News reported that only 500 cards were set aside for general Gilt.com members, but 100 cards where accidentally sold when a link prematurely went live on Gilt, the day before according to Linda Mills, Starbucks' director of retail brand public relations.
Besides being pre-loaded with cash the card also carries a gold-level status, which formally means free refills on iced or brewed coffee or tea, along with other perks.
Each card is hand-made with an artisan rose metal base with rose-colored coating and Starbucks lettering posted on the front. Once ordered it is delivered in a blue gift box with a special letter inside explaining the card's value.
