Beer Pricing - A Moral Responsibility?

From what I know about most people, knowing about "mispricing" on the stock market is a good way to lose your ass. Unless, you have some inside info.

 

I'm going to throw another thought out there regarding beer as an attainable hobby. In the last 20 years there has truly been a renaissance in brewing here in the US. One aspect I appreciate about this resurgence is it's generally affordable. For $20 and even sometimes $30 a bomber, an enthusiast can actually obtain what most would consider the very highest end beers in a given style. This certainly cannot be done with wine or other Liquors. I growl at the price of a $7 or $9 bottle of KBS or a $30 bottle of BCBS Vanilla Rye, but damn, in the scope of things those are truly artfully made and when comparing scales of quality to other beverages, it doesn't break the bank. I will never purchase a $1500 bottle of scotch, or a $2500 bottle of wine, ever. However, I will purchase 6 Bottles of Sucaba or Darkness, have a world class beer experience and still have only spent a fraction compared to wine.

 

If the shoe fits... don't feel too bad though, at least you're not from NJ.

Do you patrol your local walmart and make sure they're pricing everything correctly? F no! Why should you be expected to be the pricing police in your local "bodega" (not a real word)? The answer is, you shouldn't. So buy the friggin beer and move on. Or just walk slowly through the store with a pen and paper to take note of any other pricing discrepancies while people are walking out with reasonably priced kbs.

 

My number one store had Sucaba for sale at $7.99 a bottle and I told them. He wasn't sure what to charge for KBS and I was honest and told him. The prices are always great at this store and yes I know more than them. I will always be honest and try to help, because what comes around goes around. Mistakes happen and I try to catch them and I sleep better at night knowing I was honest. Same stuff I try to teach my 3 kids. We all spend to much on beer, but the mark up is so small on beer stores that are good, that you should let them know when mistakes are made.

 

I don't get the scenario posed.

Did they pay for this case of KBS or did they just receive it?

If they just received, how would they know what would be the recommended retail price to charge for it?

On the other hand, if they bought it, there is a very good chance based on my experience if the RRP is $100 that he would have paid more than $60 for it and probably around $80 tbh.

 

Well I guess I misunderstood the point of your first response then, as I totally agree with that.

 

I'd buy it. I get over charged enough as it is, so it'll all work out in the end.

 

Sigh.

Can we stop bringing up the "do you make sure everything is always priced correctly?!?" false comparison? Please? It's a dumb comparison that has absolutely zero bearing on the described scenario.

We're not talking about being the arbiter of what is or isn't a "correct" price. We're talking about going to purchase something and noticing that it is obviously (and extremely) underpriced, and if you would say something or not.

Leave the beer out of it for a second and look at the question this way: if you see something happen that you *know* is wrong and the error will benefit you while possibly harming another person, do you say something (assuming you are in a position to do so)?

It's not about what you're "expected" to do. It's about what you *choose* to do.

 

We're six pages in. If some people continue to willingly choose to ignore the moral/philosophical/ethical question put before them, I think by now they've been given ample opportunity to at least understand what the question is.

 

sigh. How does the pricing comparison have nothing to do with a question about pricing? If there is something happening that I *know* is wrong and someone would be harmed, I would take steps to make sure that wouldn't happen. Clearly this is not a case like that. How do you know what they need to charge for anything in their store? Are you going to go back and check their books for them, make sure there haven't been other pricing errors in the past?

 

The rationalizations continue on and on and on. Forget about all of these crazy analogies. KBS very much in demand , in short supply and $10 a 4 pack is obviously a mistake. Any beer geek who stumbled upon this 4 pack would 100% know it is a mistake. Just a simple thing and courteous thing to do to give the store a heads-up and not make a $15 score by buying the beer at the wrong price and heading out the door.

This thread has shined much light on its participants, good and bad. It continued to out the obvious trolls on the site too.

Karma is real, you get what you give.

 

I don't want to get in an argument over where pricing should fall in the craft beer world, but I know I've seen many independent business owners having no issue marking up prices over the norm for said products. I know consumers have a choice of whether or not to buy from them, but often the options a limited for acquiring them. This reverses the scenario of who is taking advantage and where the morality lies in question. Of course this scenario has been the point of much debate on the forums as well.

I'm really kind of torn on the issue because it partly feels as though you are taking advantage, but also points to personal accountability on the part of the store owner. The world cannot and will not police all of our mistakes and hopefully we will learn from them. Sometimes doing what seems to be the right thing is more for personal gratification than the best overall impact. Or it could just be a result of me becoming more jaded as I age.

 

I also wouldn't be surprised to come back and find it priced $9.99 a bottle or higher the next day if I were to inform the owner...following his/her Google search.

 

Get off your moral high horse.

The fact that you (and apparently others) see this as some high moral litmus test is the crazy part of the thread. Not the analogies. That you won't entertain other scenarios or similarities in other actions pretty much discounts anything else you say on the subject. Team "moral imperative" has defined the world as "the store is losing money unintentionally" and no other point of view is valid. At the same time any other person losing money unintentionally through their actions, "well that's different."

At what margin percentage (100%? 200%? 1,000%?) do you stand in front of the store and inform people that they are paying too much for the product because everywhere else is selling it cheaper? After all, these people might not know what the market rate is for the beer in question and would be paying far more than the $15 "score" your team is arguing to be morally significant here.

Why does the store's money equal "morally significant", but anyone else's money equal "buyer beware"? Because distilling the argument down to its basics your argument is that someone is losing money they don't have to let go and you are morally bound to tell them. (Though I would argue that you do not know who is actually losing the money or whether or not it is a conscious choice.)