eBay and Beer Sales

Yes, yes it does.

Arguably, states enforce the law through how they import alcohol. Ask any of the importers in the state of NV what happens to them if they don't pay their taxes and keep up with their licenses.

Scroll back. I never once professed to be a lawyer... then again, I'm not the one you have to convince that it's okay (or not) to trade and sell beer. By all means - give ebay a call and be sure to start with "Well, I'm a lawyer..."

 

So why not just move your complaint up a level and report ebay to the Better Business Bureau? Ebay is breaking the law by knowingly and willfully facilitating illegal transactions, is it not? If that doesn't effect change to your satisfaction, then your next step would be to report the Better Business Bureau (to.... I don't know, the Feds?)!

As evilc alluded to in his reply, They're Grrrrrrrreat!

 

If I want to pay $170 for a bottle of beer that is my business. Not yours. Stay out of it!!!!

 

1. Almost all of the people I know who have sold or imported alcohol (that would include me) in Nevada, have never paid taxes or had a license to do so, nor have ever been prosecuted for such a thing.

2. "I've never professed to be an attorney, but on beeradvocate, I interpret laws despite no such background or experience. . . "

 

So, with the ebay ban. . .

Does that mean we can look forward to Pty, Exponential and whatever small batch HF stuff to be available in bottles and growlers again?

 

Do you really believe that people who resell beer only do so as a job and that they don't ever enjoy drinking good beer or did you just have so much fun setting up outrageous straw men that you couldn't help yourself?

 

1. Loaded question. It implies that eBay is at the heart of the issue. It's not.

2. eBay is a facilitator, not the creator of the market. The market was created the moment a limited amount of beer was sold that a large number of people wanted and exacerbated when the decision was made to sell that beer for far below its actual value.

3. Argument by false analogy. In many ways the trade forums are a vastly more inefficient market, filled with people scared to trade away their beers for fear of receiving less than proper value. And those inefficiencies are exploited by more experienced traders with deeper pocket books.

4. Nonsense. Most of these beers that have such thriving aftermarkets and engender such rage in beer geeks in their inability to access them (or access them in increasingly inconvenient ways) represent a small portion of a brewer's output. Nothing is stopping consumers from accessing and supporting the vast majority of most brewers output. But as long as they all feel entitled to EVERY beer a brewer makes (encouraged by low cost and methods of distribution aimed at egalitarianism) then this conflict will continue to arise.

 

If I was a brewer and making beer that sold for hundreds of dollars on ebay I would think thats pretty cool. Then what I would is just brew more of that beer. I want to see Rare in 4 packs!!!!

 

The two sides, the pro/indifferent-ebay side and the anti-ebay side, are never going to agree, and that's fine. The thing is that there is a bigger issue here. I think the bigger issue is the "community" itself, or whatever is left of it, and what it will become.

Once any small community jumps the shark into the mainstream, big changes abound. Things aren't the same, and you can never go back. Analogies?

Your favorite TV show that no one watched but starts getting massive ratings.
Your favorite local band that scores a number 1 record and goes from playing clubs to arenas.
Your favorite collectible that is the next big thing that everyone is scrambling for.

Craft beer has become all of those things whether we like it or not. It's less about morality, community, and economics and more about what happens when something small and confined goes mainstream. It's about growing pains.

When anything crosses over, you can't get it back, and it's never the same. That's a cold, hard reality.

 

Nobody's ignoring personal responsibility. You do seem to be ignoring how human beings actually interact with their universe, however.

"Economic facts" do not, in fact, describe or excuse anything, let alone turn people into unthinking robots. Nobody is implying that they do. They do, however, provide evidence that may explain why people are acting in perfectly rationale ways.

This does not "eject" the role of personal responsibility. You have assumed the moral highground that people re-selling their own personal property is some sort of ethical failing in the pursuit of some mythical, utopian ideal of a universe in which the business of craft beer is not a business. People immediately halting all secondary sales would not do anything to solve the fundamental, underlying issues of massive disparity in supply and demand and between cost and perceived value which play out in other ways besides the creation of a gray market.

Analogizing people selling personal property to them ****** or stealing does a horrible disservice to discussion on the topic. Unless you're suggesting that this action is so horrific that we should be putting these individuals in jail for these actions, please tone it down a bit.

 

As great as that sounds, its far from what will ever happen. There will always be that group of people who want to "maximize" their "profits". Whether its in the form of currency, beer, or sexual favors.
Myself, I dont participate in Ebay buying/selling (but neither accept nor reject it). But when it comes to trading, I will always trade $4$ (and sometimes less). I have met some awesome folks by being a decent person and treating them how I would want to be treated.
It's a win-win situation. You trade fairly, and that one day when that trade partner is at a limited release, they think back and remember, "so and so was really honest and genuine, I will grab a bottle for them too". I can name those off the top of my head that I would do that for.
The golden rule is, well, gold. It tarnishes over time and needs a buffing. Its about due for a buffing.

 

I believe if you read the first sentence, it should clear it up for you. . . "just to change things up a little."

Reading is almost meaningless without any comprehension.

 

You get it. It doesn't happen overnight, but it doesn't take that long either. It's real simple too - trade reasonably at $4$, and come strong with extras, and you have probably made a trading partner for life. Do this a few times, and suddenly you have a network that can get you all but the rarest of the rare.

Yes, there will always be dicks out there, and lots of them. I just don't bother trading with them. There are tons of great traders, and the "vets" are always happy to welcome in the "noobs" who don't think about things in terms of ebay values.

 

Is either really a shame? If regulars were more deserving of beer, maybe the brewers should reward them. Here's an idea: Bring your annual receipts to releases and the highest sales totals get first choice. Localism works out great for other "communities" like surfing, why wouldn't it work for beer advocacy?

 

I can't believe people are still arguing...over and over again in this thread. Wow...

 

The Bros are awesome just for allowing this thread to continue...I'm 200% serious.

 

The free market sucks. Did you guys see "There Will Be Blood"? That guy was a tool.

 

Just to change it up a little could mean: here's some sarcasm!

It could also mean: to shift the conversation to another subtly different line of complaint....

And your follow-up comments, while absurd to the point of satire, are not actually much different from numerous posters in this thread.

So while it may be true that reading is almost meaningless without comprehension, a lack of comprehension is just as likely to stem from poor writing.

If you've attempted satire you've failed for not distinguishing your text sufficiently from the existing crowd.

If you've attempted serious argument you've failed for making one.

But yes, it's quite clear that I have failed far, far more egregiously in reading let alone acknowledging let alone engaging you. I sincerely apologize and will refrain from doing so in the future.

Cheers.