SodaStream 60-Liter Carbonator-Spare Cylinder

Soda Stream charges $60 for TWO spare 60-L carbonator and $50 for a 130-L carbonator. If you''re exchanging, you can take your empty carbonator to Bed, Bath & Beyond, Costco, Macy''s among other retail outlets. Or you can exchange directly with Soda Stream: $30 for TWO 60-L carbonators or one 130-L carbonator.

Ok, so most of the reviews I read earlier in the year when I obtained this product and was looking into the costs of having to refill it scared the crap out of me. People left and right screaming "it''s a trappppp!!!!!".

So let me clear the air. This is a little like buying propane for your outdoor grill. The first time you purchase the propane, you''re also paying for the container, but once you have one, the cost goes drastically down.

The same is true of these sodastream cylinders. sure, that''s a lot of dough for co2, but the cost is so that you have a spare cylinder.

How it works is that you just take the empty cylinder to a dealer and they give you a new one with co2 and you leave your old one with them, which then gets refilled.

I drink nothing but seltzer water. If I don''t have seltzer water, coffee, wine, beer, or shoprite brand ginger ale, I don''t drink. If I was locked in a house with a water tap and nothing else I would die of dehydration.

so the initial cost of the machine and everything was 100. It came with a cylinder. The cylinder provided me, an admitted seltzaholic, with a month''s worth of seltzer.

before when I didn''t have this I would purchase about 12 bottles of seltzer a week. usually at about 60 cents per bottle. so let''s say about 6 bucks a week. so 24 in a month. one refill of this cost me 16 bucks. 8 dollar difference. no big deal, right? factor in not having to lug around a 12 pack of huge bottles, worrying about not finishing a bottle before the fizz ran out, having to buy it every week, the insane convenience of having it whenever I want it. it all rounds out.

bottom line: if you use a lot of seltzer, buy one more of these, and you''ll pay 16 dollars per cylinder per refill. don''t listen to the rest of these people. this thing is so insanely convenient.

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While the general idea of this product is solid, consumers should understand that they are grossly overpaying for SodaStream carbon dioxide refills. In fact, the prices charged are sixteen times (16x) wholesale costs or many, many times more expensive than the prices a restaurant would pay. In Europe, frugal consumers are aware of such markups and actually purchase their own restaurant-sized CO2 refills. In the US, we aren''t so frugal.

Other than the outrageous costs for the CO2 refills, there are other issues with the SodaStream Fountain Jet. One is the construction quality is quite low with very thin molded plastic and little weight. Additionally, the taste of generic soda flavors do not match that of the brand name products.

Below is the calculated cost per two liter for the output of SodaStream soda. This includes the cost of the consumables AND the equipment costs. I have used very generous assumptions, including a low discount rate (i.e. cost of money).

Transportation costs were not factored because 1) purchases of typical groceries should more or less overlap with soft drink purchases 2) grocery delivery has long been available in many areas 3) most people live closer to a grocery store than to a home furnishings store (I walk 100 ft. for groceries and drive one mile for BB&B) 4) the reverse logistics for the CO2 refills is an extra expense for the retailer that has to be factored into its profit margin and will ultimately be borne by the consumer.

One of the reasons Bed Bath & Beyond, Macy''s and Crate and Barrel choose to carry SodaStream is that they want the consumer to make MORE FREQUENT trips to their establishments for consumables. Instead of going to such establishments once every 3 to 6 months, customers will now visit once every 1 to 2 months. That makes an enormous difference for generating impulse purchases at such retailers. One could argue then that transportation costs could increase for the individual consumer.

Total Costs = $1.73 per Two Liter -More Expensive Than Retail

*Concentrate

Flavor cost bottle of concentrate $4.99

Liters of product per container 12

Flavor/l $0.42

*Carbonator

Volume of CO2 130

Cost of CO2 per refill (130 liters) 29.99

CO2 cost per liter $0.23

*Sodastream Equipment Costs Amortization Per Liter

Equipment cost $89.00

Equipment life (years) 5

Discount rate (cost of money) 8%

Liters per month 10.00

Monthly amortized cost $1.80

Cost of equipment per liter $0.18

*Water Cost with Brita Filtration

Municipal water costs per liter in US $0.0004

Brita filter three pack (454 liters of water output) $16.95

Brita cost per liter $0.0373

Water and filter costs per liter $0.0377

(assumes you already own Brita Pitcher so no equipment costs, just incremental filtration)

***TOTAL COSTS PER TWO LITER = (Flavor + CO2 + Equipment + Filtered Water) * 2

SodaStream Total Cost Per Two Liter = $1.73

Without filtered water:

SodaStream Total Cost Per Two Liter = $1.65

*****What does CO2 Really Cost????

THE MATH BELOW IS WHAT SODASTREAM DOESN''T WANT THE CONSUMER TO KNOW

*Restaurant Carbonation (note distributor prices, so there is still a distributor profit)

weight of CO2 contents of large restaurant CO2 tank: 50 lbs

weight in grams: 22,680 grams of CO2

cost to refill Summer 2011: $35

CO2 grams/liter of carbonated water: 7 grams

*Efficiency of Restaurant CO2 Carbonation

losses: 10%

available CO2 in tank (residual is required for pressure): 85%

net accessible CO2 of total: 77%

usable grams of CO2: 17,350 grams

*Output

carbonated liters of water: 2,479

cost per liter in USD$: $0.014

*SodaStream Output

SodaStream Refill: 130 liters (quoted end product)

Cost per refill: $30.00

cost per SodaStream carbonated water: $0.231

*SodaStream Markup Economics

ratio of SodaStream to Restaurant prices: 16.3x

SodaStream inflation price over restaurant pricing: 1534%

math: [y/x-x] to give increase over base case restaurant pricing

This is an incredible 1500% markup

Pros

Saves plastic

Allows flexible mixture of flavors

Cons

Cost of output is not compelling

Grossly inflated CO2 refill costs

Another store trip required for refills separate from grocery store visit

***Disclaimer: I am an investor who has used the product multiple times. At the time of this review, I did NOT have an investment in SodaStream either short or long. In the past, I have both owned the stock and shorted it (bet against it). I may be on either side of the trade by the time you read this -I am not very sentimental.

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I have a soda stream panguin and love it. I went to a nearby Bed Bath & Beyond to buy an extra cartridge for the day when mine eventually goes empty. they are $29 there, I used their little 20% off coupon mailers and all told with tax and all I paid $26.23 for the cartridge. . . these $60, $70, $80 prices for the refills are insane!

If you have a BBB near you, go there, if not call soda stream and ask about an authorized vendor. The new CO2 cartridge should only be about $30 and thats for the initial purchase, trading them in for refills drop the price down to about 15 bucks. If you live in an area where you can''t buy these locally at the normal price, and have no choice but to buy onine from these impossibly jacked up priced sellers, then Id reconsider buying a soda stream since the whole point is to save $ and when you pay 60 bucks for 60 liters of carbonation.... then it no longer makes fiscal sense.

good luck and good shopping, but Id stay away from this sellers pricing.

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This is a total rip off. $89 is unreal for this product. Even Staples is selling the refill/exchange for $15 or $30 for a new canister without turning in your old one.

We love our Sodastream and use it daily. Have bought them for my family members and they all love it as well.