Next From Starbucks: Gift Card for 'the 1%'

Now you have an equally snooty way to pay for that snooty-sounding $7 cup of coffee. Starbucks has announced that it will sell a limited run of exclusive gift cards crafted from steel and preloaded with a $400 credit, reports USA Today. The cost? Not $400 but $450, as it costs $50 just to make each card. But whoever gets one of the 5,000 cards, sold on Gilt.com, will attain gold-level status, which translates to free refills and gifts.

"This is a card for the 1%," declares a cultural anthropologist. "It's all about status, and to tell you the truth, I don't know if I'd want to be seen with one of these." But being seen with one is the selling point for Gilt's VP: "When you're waiting in line at Starbucks, the next person in line won't have it," he says. Starbucks members get the first crack at the new cards, which go on sale tomorrow; should there be any left, the sale opens up to the public on Friday. (More Starbucks stories.)