The Vault, a small coffee shop 45 minutes from Fargo, North Dakota, generated some international buzz this week around their honor system policy. While the shop lists the prices for its coffee and bakery items, it lets customers decide what they want to pay. In-store signage says “no change is necessary” and instructs people to either round up or down.
Interestingly, owner David Brekke finds that his customers pay around 15 percent more than the listed price. But for him, it’s more about the community than the money. “I think that people who haven’t grown up in a small, tight-knit community like this are very surprised by honesty,” he tells the Associated Press.
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