VIP membership & other deplorable practices...

I just learned of a new limited release at my local bottle shop this week. I'm on my way out the door... I sure hope I get there in time to score some! Anyone want an extra 12-pack?

 

Most decent liquor stores put out email/facebook/twitter announcements about stuff that comes in. They don't do this purely out of love for their customers. They do this to get people to come in and shop. Regardless, it doesn't really help when it comes to rare releases. When the store gets 12 bottles of Parabola at 11am and then notifies a couple hundred (or couple thousand) people and I can't get there until 6pm, well there's pretty much zero chance of me getting it

 

Simple bottle limits reduce the impact of truck chasers and spread out the distribution. If you're worried about your "best" customers getting stuck at work, do what the shop I go to does and don't sell it to anyone until 6.

There's a middle ground between going apeshit over limited releases and not caring about them at all. I'm not chasing trucks, waiting in lines, or joining any clubs to get beer. However, I walked into a store the day they got their shipment of Mexican Cake, so I bought a bottle. The idea that I would have to be in a club to be able to do that is ridiculous to me.

 

Might be funnier if the pic actually worked...

 

While there may be middle ground about how a consumer FEELS about limited releases, there really is no middle ground when it comes to consumer BEHAVIOR regarding those beers.

Based on the description of your behavior, I would tend to classify you in the "not caring", although it probably makes sense to remove the "at all". But functionally, you are indifferent if you get that Mexican Cake release or not. It was there, so you bought it, but you didn't put *any* effort beyond what you would put into buying a sixer of SNPA, for example. For all intents and purposes, you don't care.

That being said, I can understand that someone that feels the way you do about limited releases (will buy if it presents itself, but won't expend extra effort) might not care to visit a store that makes you choose to classify yourself on one side or the other, because at that point, your lack of extra effort will never result in the opportunity to randomly purchase a limited release/special beer. To which I say, this isn't the store for you, and that's fine.

But I don't understand the outrage over this particular business practice. This shop owner isn't just demanding a premium for the privilege to purchase a given beer or beers. He's asking for a fee in exchange for several benefits, one of which is the opportunity to purchase these beers, but most of which are worth specific monetary value. If you weren't so opposed to the idea of the $35 fee on principle, it's actually an offer that would benefit someone like you, who has interest in special beers, but not the desire to jump through hoops to get them. Your $35 is pretty easily recouped with just regular beer purchases (again $20/month will get the entire "membership" fee back), and then you don't have to do anything extra to get your hands on the special beers.

But hey, to each his own.

 

A place by me has an email list and they fire off an email periodically with what just came in. If you're johnny on the spot and respond you want something, they'll hold onto it for you as long as it hasn't been spoken for by others responding to the same email. That costs nothing, but the email's also going out to most beer nuts east of the Mississippi. I wonder how much dude would make if he charged everyone on that list $35 just for the opportunity to have stuff held.

 

I, for one, understood that you were attacking the "VIP" practice, and not the business.

It just seems like a rather strange thing to attack, given that the "VIP" offer seems incredibly fair and actually like a really good idea. I would love it if my local bottle shop did that.

This isn't about the bottle shop you do go to thinking that their customers are "important" versus the VIP bottle shop thinking they aren't. This is about different approaches to making sure your customers are getting what they want. Methinks you doth protest too much.

 

The lady (laddie in this case?) doth protest too much, methinks

Normally I wouldn't care, but someone with the name lambicpentameter should get the quote correct.

 

had a bar by me offer a pass for live entertainment, a one time fee and you paid no cover. I believe it was $100. They closed within 2 months and don't think refunds were issued. Another great bar by me has a free mug club. Drink 99 in a year and you get a real nice mug. Club is free.

 

Cool story bro. I'm sure the bar closed solely because of their entertainment pass and the bar you go to only stays open because of the mug club.

 

I could be wrong and I'm not invested enough to dig back through the thread for a quote, but I swore I read that in this store the limited beers that don't get sold in a certain time frame are released to the public. Seems exceedingly fair to me. I wonder if the OP is also opposed to line hopper passes at amusement parks or early entry passes for beer fests.

 

But the mug club doesn't get you anything. So you get a glass if you buy 99 overpriced beers? What a great deal!

 

Maybe , I was thinking in terms of Harry Potter vs KBS. They could print as many Harry Potter as they had to. Founders can't brew anywhere close to the amount of KBS that they could sell.

 

Stop injecting logic into this argument. You're making the uninformed and entitled look bad.

 

What makes you think their beers are overpriced? It's a nice thing to get for drinking 99 beers you were probably going to drink anyway.

 

That's it! How did you know?

 

My local shop holds beers for faces he sees a lot at times other than release day. He also has a lot of headaches from competing with big stores and competition going 10 cents cheaper than him on popular beers. He can charge it, or not. You can shop there, or not.

Do you think you spend more than $35 a year on gas chasing down limited releases?

 

Founders could do it, but then KBS would just become a more expensive version of FBS. No mystique, lower demand. And brewing it would interfere with their brewing schedule for other beer. Hell, putting FBS in 6-packs instead of 4 interfered with their plans to make All-Day a full year offering. But compare KBS to first edition/first printing of Harry Potter and you might see my point.

In all likelihood, they'd likely say "No problem! But there;s a 15% surcharge that we wave for members."

What was the limit on HF lottery? 350 members?

 

I have to laugh at this post, I know what shop that this thread is about, cuz i go there sometimes when they get something good on draft. I also "like" this shop on facebook and i think about the vip thing. I'm torn between the idea, i understand that it is a good way to give your regulars the oppturinty to get rare stuff, but for me i live almost 40 minutes away and can't always get when he has the stuff, so why should i spend the $35 for the chance.