eBay and Beer Sales

As I said previously, cash is just a means of exchange. Before cash, people would barter. People still do this today. I might offer my neighbor to mow his lawn for 2 months if he'll share his bottle of CBS. It doesn't just have to be beer for beer or beer for cash.

Everything has a "value" to someone. eBay is a convenient way to establish that value in a common way that we can all relate (cash), but there are plenty of other ways to determine that value as well.

There isn't a convenient market to buy/sell drugs in this country, but people have surely found a way to make that happen.

 

Besides a simple check box when shipping to require a 21+ year old signature, how is this any different than an underage kid jumping in the trading scene here?

 

Exactly. Take cash ourt of the equation and it is an agreement between two people both of whom have what the other wants. The trade forum. When no one is able to quote an ebay price for something, all who actually love fine beer will benefit.

I am not too worried about your barter deal with your neighbor ruining my chances of getting a fair trade for a beer I want.

And your drug reference? Come on, you don't really want to go there, do you?

 

I thought about this scenario for about 1 second when I first saw this post. Reality is I won't pay 150 bucks for a BCBS Rare why would a 12 year old swap his lawn mowing money for Heady Topper? Underage kids want Budweiser or something similar, cheap, easy to get stuff, I haven't seen Bud selling on EBAY.

 

There was no "ebay value" for Ann, as far as I know, and we're seeing how that's playing out in the trade forum.

 

I agree with you there, not even really sure where the guy I quoted got the idea where kids were bidding $400 for a Dark Lord vertical....but yeah...

 

FANTASTIC point.

If eBay is driving this value inflation, then explain Ann. To my knowledge, not a single bottle of Ann has been posted on eBay, and it went from zero to whale faster than any beer I've ever seen.

 

I'm not going to buy beer on eBay but I still think this is ridiculous.

 

Such is life. They'll live without trying it. I promise.

 

You can't buy beer on EBAY, I was curious and took a look, it's completely shut down until the guys figure out a way around this, and they will. Such is human nature.

 

No I know you can't that's why I said that. I wouldn't be buying beer on there anyway but the whole thing doesn't make sense.

 

Sometimes, I think there are a lot of 12 year olds here.

 

I understand the legality behind the issue and everything, but i agree with the original post. its hard for consumers who dont have the time and money to fly across the country in hopes of obtaining a rare beer (many people who make the trek dont) and are willing to spend 50 bucks more on a bottle. I think if most of you that are so concerned with the inflating of price on ebay are really so concerned about that issue, then holler at your local breweries to stop putting such a demand on highly rated beers and petition them to start making them year round brews, lets face it, a year round brew of dark lord, which is a prime example, can easily be done. After about a year, hype will die down a tad and things will be just as normal as breweries make them. And if that isnt enough, maybe ban buy it now auctions from ebay and only allow an auction style listing, that way people pay what they are willing to pay, not suck it up and pay the extra 50-75 dollars on a bourbon barrel aged beer just because they would rather be broke and borrow money from mom and dad than miss out on such a golden opportunity. just saying

 

Wine is only allowed on Ebay from licensed sellers who can ship it legally - otherwise Ebay does crack down on wine sales pretty hard. Basically, people who could run an online wine store can list their bottles on Ebay. You need to get pre-approved by Ebay to be able to sell wine.

I see no reason why, eventually, they won't allow beer under the same policy. It's probably just not a priority at the moment, and I'm guessing that 95% of the beer sales were from individuals, not stores. So there just may not be much demand for it.

 

oh, and I forgot to bring up the point of trading, which I know a few will bring that up to... the transporting of alcohol via fedex, ups, usps, etc is in itself illegal. So if your stance is the legality of the issue, then rethink your claim. Also, to trade for rare beers, you have to have rare beers. For those who dont cellar or have a brewery that releases beers of a higher trade value, they will be left out either way. I suppose no matter how you look at it, someone somewhere is losing out on some end of the bargain. One must admit though, the value that we have placed on a single container of beverage is quite interesting...

 

I was talking to a brewer last week who brews commercially, and Barrels is the main issue. As this style gets more popular the barrels get more expensive, and harder to get in quantity. I suppose you could take a barrel and reinfuse it with Bourbon, let it sit and recondition the barrel, but if it is technically possible to do something on this scale you'll pay for that. He said he gets two runs off any one barrel so it's not an infinite resource.

 

Fair point, and I don't think it validates either of our opinions. We will see which way things go, and then we will know which of us was correct. I know pre-Stubhub I had an easier time getting tickets. I am guessing similar influence of ebay on demand and availability of beer. Guess we will see.

 

Not true.... I can set up a trade with you today, claim contents as "Beer" and put an "Adult Signature Required" on the package too.

I use a retailer who has an a beer license, as well as UPS out-post-account. Don't assume everyone is breaking policy/laws every time they ship you a box.

 

I see your point, but Stubhub is WAY more utilized in the ticket aftermarket than eBay is in the beer aftermarket. Even soccer mom's sitting at home know that they can go on Stubhub to get tickets for that Bon Jovi concert.

 

You get his point though. It's true for 99% of the people on here. "The exception that proves the rule." I put that in quotes because I've always hated that cliche...generally because it's misused most of the time (like I just did here). I think I'm rambling now.