In China, fur flies at Starbucks as limited edition US$30 cups are like catnip for collectors and coffee fans
- Coffee chain surprised by whirlwind reception for feline-themed promotion
- Internet scalpers sell Cat Claw Cups at up to nine times their retail value
Chinese coffee lovers and collectors jostled for limited edition cat’s paw-shaped cups at Starbucks stores this week, with scalpers offering them for sale online at up to nine times their face value.
After word about the pink double-layered glass Cat Claw Cup went out early on Tuesday and a hugely popular social media campaign began to take off, customers queued for hours before stores opened to get their hands on a claw cup, according to Chinese media reports.
Demand for the cups pushed prices from 199 yuan (US$30) at the stores to as much as 1,800 yuan online through scalpers. Customers jostled to get to counters to buy them, Beijing Youth Daily reported.
Starbucks would not reveal how many of the cups were available.
A woman called Zhen Zhen told the South China Morning Post that she liked the colour of the cups and how the cat’s claws inside appeared when they were filled up.
“I think girls can’t resist it,” she said. Her husband bought one for her on Tuesday at a Starbucks store in Zhongshan, Guangdong province. He was the first customer in the shop when the doors opened at 7am.
