Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

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.