eBay and Beer Sales

My bet is on the former. My (limited) understanding of the alcohol-from-grain laws are that it's legal to ship in-state. Granted, plenty of business flout the law and most ship through shell companies to avoid suspicion. Laws change though, and I met a guy recently from one such store that swore up and down that he set it all up legally through FedEx. If that's true (and he was from Kentucky, too), that's a very good sign for the development of a legitimate secondary market.

edit: spelling error fixed

 

No, you didn't miss it, but that is what I was referring to with my "screeching divas" comment. Asking for specific wine be pulled because you suspect it's a fake is not even remotely close to asking an auction site to stop selling all beer because you don't like it.

The web of laws that treat beer in such a disjointed and haphazard way needs to be cleared up. New York is a good example. No beer in a liquor store? How does that even make sense? I suspect you'd find equal obtuse laws in most states though; certainly in mine.

 

It's pretty common in the north east where liquor stores are government owned. Stores that have both have two separate registers to ring up alcohol/wine and beer. Sucks, every time I stop at one of the NH Liquor outlets on i-93 I get sad that there is no beer there.

 

Shipping of alcohol is all on a state-by-state basis and each state sets the laws on what can be shipped in or out of it.

It is the shippers (wineries or shops) responsibility to sign an agreement with either UPS or FedEx to allow them to ship alcohol since there are strict laws for doing so (i.e. ID checks to get package). For USPS they of course dont ship any alcohol and it is a federal law, i believe, that they cannot do so, yet, but that may change soon. I think before 2005, it was pretty much illegal to ship beer, but there was some Supreme Court ruling that changed it and left it up to the states.

 

Illegal activity will always occur. Limiting legal commerce due to the actions of criminals is abhorrent to a free society.

It obviously can be done without destroying the entire secondary market. It won't limit "beer distribution" as a whole, just as "wine distribution" hasn't been limited. Certain breweries may take limiting actions, but the vast majority won't.

 

Yeah, I gathered as such. Undoubtedly, there have been requests to remove wines from auctions, which are undoubtedly met with silence or a resounding no, as the auctions are selling the product legally. Several wineries have taken to serial numbering bottles to trace auction lots back to the original purchaser, who is then removed from the mailing list (often the only way to purchase "cult" wines). The difference here is that eBay stopped allowing the posting of beer for auction because these auctions were happening outside the clearly established policies of eBay (http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/alcohol.html), thus exposing eBay to liability. The intent of the as-yet-unidentified-but-widely-speculated whistleblower(s) is unknown (but again widely speculated) and, frankly, irrelevant, if such a whistleblower even exists.

If you want a legal, relevant secondary market to develop, you have to play by the rules. This is not 'Nam.

 

Every thumb is a finger but not every finger is a thumb. Every brewery is a business but not every business is a brewery. They may be related, you can compare them if you want but your comparison if going to have limitations. Just because this Costco analogy fits the argument you are trying to make, it does not mean it is accurate.

I assume a huge corporation like Costco is more concerned about profit margins and sales in general. Once they get theirs they do not care so much. Breweries tend to operate differently. Yes, they have to be aware of sales and profit margins but they have much more invested in how the product is sold and where it goes. Breweries are not Costco.

 

Wines secondary market, much like art, has been established a long time ago. Beers has not. This is where the difference lies and at this point it is a big difference.

 

Edit: intended to be a reply to danielbt

Weird, I just gave examples of vintners restricting access to their wines because of the effects of wine
auctions, and your response is "wine distribution hasn't been limited." Some people just want to argue, I guess...

And with respect to your whole "abhorrent to a free society" comment, I think you're extrapolating my comments a little too far... I am simply observing the fact that the secondary market in wine is overrun with counterfeits, and that this is clearly unhealthy for that market. I also stated the fact that counterfeits will inevitably become more prevalent as more money enters the market. Frankly, it's amazing to me that anyone would claim that the wine secondary market is a "perfect" example of how any other market should function.

 

So your argument is solely that everyone abide by the law. Got it.

 

It's a big difference by way of explanation, but the distinction is wholly arbitrary. Such as abv laws.

 

That's the main reason it's being shutdown...

 

There. FTFY.

 

Access to entitlement?

 

Well, since Ebay has put the no beer policy in place, I've received 3 emails from people I've bought from in the past telling me that if I'm interested, they can send me emails of what they have...

 

interesting...so that ends up being similar to the anti-auctioning policy (although informal) in the trading forums.
you work out a deal with a private seller for a price/product that is mutually agreed upon. sounds like a good compromise and could help slow down the rapid cost inflation of beers based solely on auctioning

 

I still see plenty of beers for sale
http://www.ebay.com/dsc/Bottles-Gla...10&_trksid=m194&ssPageName=STRK:MEFSRCHX:SRCH
Thank GOD !!!

 

Ebay continues to selectively shut down auctions for unopened "craft" beer bottles.

Ebay's claim is this: Craft beer (or beer from a microbrewery) is generally sought after for its contents and not for the bottle so we have made the decision not to allow it on the site.

By removing only certain "Craft beer" auctions,presumably those that are complained about, ebay has set a dangerous precedent whereby, basically, it's allowing the inmates to run the asylum.

The listings being removed are (in most cases) in full compliance with ebay's stated policies and regulations; I am speaking solely to ebay,

.... Budweiser Millenium beer and glasses box - included is a 14.5 oz bottle of Budweiser. These auctions are allowed to continue; in fact, these auctions are allowed WITHOUT any of the Breweriana disclaimers normally required by ebay (including the over 21 age requirement!). Regardless of the brand name or alcohol content, the fact remains that it is an auction for a bottle of alcohol.

​

Ebay is removing listings irrespective of its policies; allowing individual mandates to supersede company policy. ​

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Ebay should have, as a publicly-owned U.S. corporation, instituted policy before enforcing it on a widespread basis. ​

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Ebay has erred. To allow individuals (not employed by ebay) to dictate undelineated policy is a severe corporate FAIL, and it establishes a very precarious and legally fragile precedent.​

 

I'm surprised with how long this thread is (though if repeated points were eliminated it would probably be a tenth the size) that no breweries have taken the time to chime in. I got about 9 page deep before I just started scanning and only a guy that works for HF said anything. I'd wager that the brewery owner/representatives that have seen this don't want to involve themselves in this thread. It's like a mud fight and we are all dirtier for having taken part.