The Starbucks Merchandise Credit and Store Credit Cards

 Did Starbucks make all Store Credits in the year 2001?

Why do all Early Cards include The ©2001 Copyright?

What was the original first card ever produced by Starbucks and actually released for use to the general public?

Starbucks Merchandise Credit and Store Credit Cards Guide

The so called “White Gloss Finish Cards” with the newer Starbucks logo come in five major categories:

A special note to “Speculative Collectors” seeking that illusive return on their investment:
Please take note that the cards are in general undervalued, underappreciated and not sneaked out because of monotone mute not colorful look. The cards are not understood in general because they are all are grouped together as a 2001 card that is always available to the public, with the exception of the newest edition "©2006  6028 CANADA and United Kingdom". This method of dating the cards creates misconceptions and a card’s availability is grossly misunderstood.  This is critical to note because earlier production runs tend to produce fewer cards then later ones.

Here is the biggest hint of all:
• There were only 4,709 Starbucks stores worldwide (3,900 were located in the US) in 2001 verses a whapping 11,784 stores worldwide as of July 2006.
• This fact makes it rare or extremely difficult to find a 6005 card verses a 6028 card (a 6028 card is most likely to be  a current issue)
• The cards range from “Mega Rare” to a “Very Hard Find” in rarity. I think these cards as a group will also bring the biggest return in the investment, excluding the Crossword Card if not reissued.
• If you happen to see “Merchandise Card” or any early version of the “Store Credit Card” snatch it up because there are very few left. 
• A special emphasis is given to “ANY CARD” with the “Valid only in CANADA” insignia because even fewer where produced in comparison to its American counter part.
• To help understand just how important the CANADA insignia is - as of 2006 there are only 400 stores in Canada.
Also note that the above cards are (where) available to the general public. This footnote should be mentioned about two other test cards as well that resemble the “White Gloss Finish Cards”:

• One of the cards was entirely printed with a black logo.
• The other was entirely printed in green with “Test Card” written in 8 different languages.
• The only purpose for these was to check a balance for the initial system  or launch, no numbers where present in the common location, just instructions to check the card’s balance.

Why is the Merchandise Card combined with the Store Credit in this guide?

The key word for this is “intent”. The cards where designed to serve the same useful purpose – as a voucher. For the cards mentioned above their primary use was to credit merchandise that had been returned and to give a voucher (in this case in plastic form with a magnetic strip). 
• This “voucher” was a way to accept returned merchandise without issuing cash back to the customer.
• Further Starbucks advisors thought the original name would imply the card could only be used to purchase merchandise when in fact it could be used to purchase anything available in the store including coffee drinks.
• All the cards are also indented to be loaded one time only, not to be re-loadable. But could be used more than one time or until the entire balance is used.
• The cards are never given technically nor ever displayed in front counters like other gift cards.
• The biggest challenge for collectors is what happens to the card when goods are returned.  The card is swiped creating swipe marks on the back.  These decrease the value of the card.
• There was a time one could kindly ask for a card from a local barista and he/she would gladly hand you one unloaded. Times have changed, however and “Store Credit Credits” are no longer given in the manner to collectors.
• The “White Gloss Finish Cards” are not made of the same rugged plastic as other Starbucks cards.  This is because the card was intended to have very low usage. The plain white gloss finish and the soft plastic make this card very vulnerable to even the smallest abrasions that occur even in the manufacturing process.

What about the Cards with a Sticker?

As far as I know the only production run that had stickers attached across the front of the card, was the 6005.  This is true for both USA and CANADA versions. The sticker reads:

“YOUR NEW STARBUCKS CARD. WARMLY WELCOMED ALMOST EVERYWHERE.
Accepted at most Starbucks. Not yet accepted at all airport, 
grocery and bookstore locations, or outside North America.
Visit Starbucks*** to learn about participating locations.”

The stickers should not create a sub or new category because the cards are the same with or with out stickers, though very desirable to collectors with stickers.
As a side note, stickers are removable and can be removed and reattached to cards.  Please be careful and have an absolvent eye for the over creasing and side indentations on the stickers. In most cases the card should look “factory mint” below the attached area of the sticker.

Now the first question in you mind would be are all the cards from 2001?

As far as I know - NO WAY! I say this because the “6012”, “6019”and “6025” starting sequence numbers are true giveaways. The exception of this is the newest edition "©2006  6028 CANADA and United Kingdom (UK)". I will get into more detail about this but I do need to tell you that Starbucks or the Starbucks Card Group will not give out or comment on its production, production numbers, process used to identifying years or any other manufacturing procedures on its cards.  Therefore some of the information is speculative but logical. Still this is uncharted territory and may require more forensic investigative work.  But for the most part it’s pretty obvious. I can also add that once in a while we do enjoy some concrete information that leaks out and sheds some light to this and other questions. I will also state the information provided in this guide is reliable but not guaranteed. To help us with this we need to know about the initial production release timeline:

1. Starbucks ordered these cards destroyed and replaced by the renamed "STORE CREDIT“.  Also note a big giveaway is on the back “North America starting 11/14/01” indicating its full out public release.

2. For the fist time debuted on eBay April 28, 2007

The major differences can be seen on the back of the Merchandise Credit versus Store Credit:
We see special hint on the Merchandise Credit on the direction Starbucks is heading.  Initially, Merchandise Cards were issued with NO limitations on their use in North America starting 11/14/01.   This is contrary to all initial Store Cards that begin to have limitations.  For  the first time we begin to see “Valid only in USA & CANADA” on the Store Credit Cards.   The latest run of the Store Credit however takes us back to the Merchanise Credit terms which once again are valid throughout North America.(6019 CAR-256 & 6025 CAR-348) We also come in full circle in 2006 with the newest Bi-lingual Store Credit edition "©2006  6028"  Valid only in CANADA, again with limitations.

At first glance the front of all the cards look the same, with the exception of the 6004 card that bears the rare “Merchandise” insignia instead of “Store” followed by the word “Credit”, and the Bi-Lingual English and French that has the words "STORE CREDIT  CARTE DE DÉBIT" in English and French for primarily used in Québec region of Canada. The  All cards have the ® registered symbols beneath the right side of the Starbucks logo.

©2001  6004 M # 101

Also known as the 101 Key Historical Cards because it is the original first card ever produced by Starbucks and actually released for use to the general public. As much as I like to think the “Snowflake Card” is the original - it’s not. The true first ever is the “©2001 6004 M # 101 Merchandise Card” whether we like it or not. In addition, we received information from individuals close to the initial launch of the “Starbucks Card” that have indeed verified this fact.

There are cards produced prior this Merchandise Credit by Starbucks but only as a prototype or as a test cards.  This makes this card the first Historical card produced by Starbucks and debuted to the public.

By looking at this card the first thing that catches our attention is the fact there is no secret pin number and second the limitation in the card’s use. There were just three initial markets in the United States where the company launched the card program. The back of the card says,

"The Starbucks Merchandise Card will be accepted at Participating Starbucks stores: Boise, ID starting 06/04/01, Oregon and Vancouver, WA starting 07/16/01, all other participating Starbucks in North America starting 11/14/01."

Once the Starbucks card program rolled out across the US and Canada, the “Merchandise” cards were ordered to be destroyed and replaced by the card renamed 'Store Credit”. What we see in this card is Starbucks History in the making. Another noticeable difference is on the wording “Your Starbucks Merchandise Card may not be re-loaded.” verses the others in the group that read, “Your Store Credit card is not be Reloadable”.

Arguments for Who Is On First

Some also refer to this card as a “Test Card” or an “Initial Test Card” just for Starbucks to check for bugs before the release of the “Regular Card” which was to be distributed to the masses. I personally think this could be true because of the limitation in its initial release only to “Boise, ID starting 06/04/01, Oregon and Vancouver, WA starting 07/16/01”.  The question “Who is on first” production really doesn’t make a difference because the facts do not change.  The fact that the production and the card's intention was to be used in  “North America starting 11/14/01” was intended for distribution to the masses. 

©2001  6005 SKU # 173333 Valid only in the USA

The secret pin number is covered with the gray and silver wavy scratch off.  The significant change is primarily the rewriting of the text on the back of the card.  For example, this run has “after 12 months of non-use a $2.00 per month service fee will be deducted from the remaining balance”. Also note in this production run the “1-800-STARBUCKS or STARBCUKS.***” is repeated, once in the header if the card in bold and a second time in the text body. We also see the “Valid only in the USA” in the bottom right of the card.

©2001  6005 SKU # 173342 Valid only in CANADA

The most noticeable in the Canadian production run is CANADA in bold print located the upper right corner of the card. The card is also lacking the repeated “1-800-STARBUCKS or STARBUCKS.***” that made no sense in its USA counterpart. The same “Valid only in CANADA” we expect to see in the bottom right of the card. 

©2001  6012 SKU # 173333 Valid only in the USA & ©2001  6012 SKU # 173342 Valid only in CANADA

Guess what! The cards are identical to the “©2001  6005 SKU # 173333 Valid only in the USA”and ©2001  6005 SKU # 173342 Valid only in CANADA . What makes no sense in this card is the “©2001” Copyright”. We very well know that cannot be true. I suspect the factory might have had leftover blanks of the 6005 run and decided to use the same plastic in the 6012 run. Examples of card starting with the 6012 starting sequence are:

Classic Core Card 6012 ©2002
Bugs Card 6012 ©2003
Canada heritage 6012 ©2003
Japan Toucan 6012 ©2003

I date this card most probably between 2002 and 2003, with the exception of the plastic and its SKU # 17333 that it shares with the 6005.

©2001 6019 CAR-256

There is a silver coating covering the pin number (all other runs have the pin covered with waiving lines except the 6025 & 6028 the wavy lines are in consistent pattern). The significant change is primarily the rewriting of the text on the back of the card.  For example, this run has removed “After 12 months of non-use a $2.00 per month service fee will be deducted from the remaining balance until depleted “ Again we see the “©2001” Copyright”. We very well know that cannot be true, especially with the CAR-256. No excuse for the “©2001” Copyright” for this card, this could be an error or oversight other wise it make absolutely no sense. Please also note there are no other cards starting with the 6019 sequence of numbers.

Examples of card starting with the earlier 6018 sequence are:
Italian Romance 6018 ©2005
Blue Hear Music 6018 ©2005
2005 Shareholder 6018 ©2005
Ray Charles 6018 ©2005
Spring Tulips ©2004 • CAR-242

I date this card sometime in 2004 not even close to the ©2001 Copyright.

©2001  6025 CAR-348 SKU # 190785

The wavy lines are in a uniform consistent wavy pattern covering the pin number. The significant change is primarily the addition to the internal company SKU#19078 number other the text is identical to the 6019 run. No excuse for the “©2001” Copyright” for this card is now a tradition other than that make absolutely no sense. Except that it also could be coming form a different manufacturer that states the initial Copyright without true dates associated with the card’s production runs. This also would be contrary of all the other cards produced by Starbucks.

Examples of card starting with the 6025 starting sequence are:
Corporate City Skate 6025 ©2005
Greece Christmas Tree 6025 ©2005

I date this card sometime in 2005 not even close to the ©2001 Copyright.

©2006  6028 CAR-394 SKU # 227818 (Bi-Lingual English and French)

The most noticeable in the "Bi-lingual Store Credit" production run is the dual language of both English and French, that gives this card an international flavor. The wavy lines are in a uniform consistent wavy pattern covering the pin number just like the 6025. CANADA in bold print located the upper right corner of the card beneath the English and French text, and the “Valid only in CANADA” is located above the magnetic strip. The text on the card closely resembles the Bi-lingual 2006 Core (Coffee as Art) card. Overall this is very a unique card in caparison to any card in this group and a sure favorite with collectors.

To summarize the most likely production dates associated with the “first four numbers in the card’s number sequence” for this group of card, I have put together the following chart:

I hope this will shed some light on some of the major differences I have found regarding the six production runs of Merchandise Card and Store Credit Starbucks Cards. This guide was developed using various references to the cards that have been made available to the general public and is based on information I have researched and collected. If you know of any other production runs not mentioned here, please feel free to email me.

Respectfully,

Chris Goulis

Topriority

Copyright © 2006 Topriority All Rights Reserved.
Starbucks, the Starbucks logo and Starbucks Card are either trademarks or registered trademarks of the Starbucks U.S Brands LLC.. No rights to these marks are claimed or implied "Topriority" is not in any way affiliated with Starbucks Corporation.

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