Starbucks wanted holiday cheer. What it unleashed was full-blown merch mania. The $29.95 “Bearista” glass cup — basically, a teddy bear in a green beanie that you can stick a straw in — dropped on November 6 and vanished within hours. Lines wrapped around buildings. Fights broke out. By the weekend, the resale market had turned a $30 cup into a $300 cup being resold online.
Cute? Yes. Worth treating like a Black Friday blood sport? Absolutely not. If you missed the chaos (or just refuse to spend your morning guarding your place in line at a coffee shop), good news: the dupes came in hot. And unsurprisingly, some of them are cuter and cheaper than the Starbucks Bearista cup — and don’t require you to physically spar with a stranger.
Here’s where to shop without getting price-gouged by holiday hysteria.
ALDI’s $5 Gingerbread Diva
ALDI didn’t settle for a lookalike; they clapped back.
On November 9, ALDI’s social media team announced a $4.99 holiday-shaped cup: a ridiculously adorable gingerbread man with rosy cheeks, a tiny smile, and enough personality to outshine the Starbucks bear entirely. They captioned the post: “Miss out on that $30 bear? Well, we’ve got this little diva.” They even slid in a little shade: “That Seattle-based coffee chain could neva.”
Shoppers went feral in the comments.
“I’m making a special trip just for this.”
“Buying this means I’m basically making $25.”
The ALDI Finds version hit shelves on November 12, and the buzz already rivals limited-edition holiday chocolates. If you want the bear specifically, ALDI also posted a jar of their Berryhill honey with the caption “We’ve got the bear cup at home.” Use the honey. Rinse it out. Stick a straw in it.
Walmart’s Basically-the-Same-Thing Version
Multiple Walmart sellers are offering a 20-ounce “New Bear Straw Cup” online, with prices starting around $14 — less than half the Starbucks price and roughly one-hundredth of the resale price people are paying in panic.
The design is nearly identical: Clear glass bear. Ridged green beanie lid. Striped straw. The only thing missing is the Starbucks logo. Boo-hoo.
Amazon, Etsy, and Beyond
If you want choices, the marketplace has choices. Variations of the bear cup — glass, plastic, tall, short, chubby — are everywhere from $10 to $30. Some have green beanies, some have Santa hats, some look like the bear cousin no one invites to holiday dinner.
These cups won’t get you the Starbucks logo, but you can probably find a Starbies sticker online, too, without having to sacrifice your dignity to scrap with someone over drinkware.
Just read reviews carefully — some sellers are shipping quickly, others seem … aspirational.
There’s Also the DIY Route
Allow us to introduce the unofficial MVP of Bearista hacks: a TikTok creator who bought a giant bear-shaped tub of animal crackers, emptied it out, slapped in a straw, and turned the whole thing into a supersized DIY “Bearista.” Iconic.
More Starbucks stories:
- Sneak a Peek at Starbucks’ Holiday Menu, Coming Next Month — The holidays have arrived at Starbucks. Find out what’s on the menu.
- 14 International Starbucks Drinks That Americans Are Missing Out On — From Japan to Peru, here are some of the tastiest-looking drinks we wish would make their way to U.S. menus.
- 10 Ordering Mistakes Even Starbucks Regulars Don’t Know — While Starbucks gets tons of repeat business based on that, even those customers who go daily don’t know every rule of ordering etiquette.
