A "customer" approaches the counter... "Can I have a price for that cup? " with his fingers pointing up (but not along) at a 50 degree angle mid-sentence. Our Merch selection has tumblers, mugs - ceramic, plastic, different shapes and sizes, big and small.

Not knowing which one he was referring to I ask "which one?" to which he eventually responds "On the top shelf", I look up, he responds "the one with a straw."

Okay, I've already clocked it. Not polite. Not prompt. Hasn't got his heart set on the product. Hasn't got his eyes focused on the product at any point instead looking all over the place at a much lower height. He is a time waster. He has clocked I cannot possibly get down the product without the assistance of a step ladder. He knows a queue will form: the joke is to get me to get one down each time.

All 3 on that shelf had straws. There is always the question of a customers eyesight - colours and shape recognition etc. - but in this case the tallest parts possible were the straws which are the thinnest part of the merch on that shelf. Definitely the most difficult part for anyone to see. If he could see that chances are he could narrow down which item he was specifically looking at? Upon asking... "which one? they all have straws" the customer wouldn't give details on size, colour or shape...So I follow up with a different approach and I ask "the left, middle or right one?"

Unfortunate for us baristas the descriptions on the till for merch are rarely recognisable so we have to actually get the product and scan the barcode. Some more time elapsed... "Left..." he responded. Lucky for me its the only one I know on the till, I gave the price, he responded with "Too expensive". Fair play, it is high markup.

I respond "they all are..." Avoiding me having to keep using step ladder to get each one down, they have similar price points. I follow up with "Is there anything else I can help with?" The guys face dropped, he responded "No" and left. I spent the next 25 minutes working through the queue which had built up.

Starbucks merch is generally a must-have for the style or deemed rareness. Especially in the UK where the best merch never arrives, people don't buy Starbucks cups just to have a cup at such specification, especially at the inflated price tag. People buy because they have seen on Instagram or Tiktok with the social proof that comes with it, or their friends have one, which means people very much know exactly which one they want (even if they don't end up buying due to the price). Especially don't go through different styles, sizes and cup types. They make good gifts for Starbucks-fans, in which case you are pretty much signing a blank cheque for the joy it may bring someone rather than looking for value for money.