How much control do we have over price?

Very little...we are f*%#ing Lemmings. I hate to say this. But if they do a BA version, guess which sh*&head opens his wallet first...ME.

 

Do you mean as in by voting with our wallet? For that, I would say no. It really varies by state and really store by store. I mean it either sells at a specific price point or it doesn't, which leads to a sale, sometimes. Some stuff will just never get put on sale at specific stores (i.e. Mikkeller stuff at the pricey store in any location). Just within my 3 go to stores, I can show you 3 different prices for the same thing. It is all a crapshoot.

I want to know if someone has ever haggled at a place for lower prices, because it was old stock, in closeout, or just at a ridiculous price point.

 

If consumers could coordinate costs could be driven quite a bit lower. But they can't (and/or won't), so prices will continue to be driven by supply/demand.

 

As a market, we have control over it, in that if the demand doubles as it has over the last 8 years or so, the prices also double.

If you are asking about the price at an individual store/bar, then I think someone above has hit it. The end account has been asked to purchase the beer at a given price, and they will mark it up whatever they mark it up. If nobody buys it, then that account will give the space to someone else.

Where you BAs could actually affect the price would be when these breweries are coming out with 20-25 dollar bombers (or 50 dollar bombers) of some obscure shit. Now if nobody bought those at the extremely inflated prices, then yeah, something would change. The market for whale meat would probably dry up.

Personally, as an anti-whale activist, both in real life and in the beer world, I would be fine with that. But this forum would lose a lot of hits, so I'm sure I'm in the minority

 

If we want to influence prices, as consumers we should only purchase select beers when they are on sale, or at the stores where they are priced significantly less. Also, stop paying Dom Perignon prices for beer. Its a choice. Brewers choose to set their price. They choose how much to produce. They should be selling at a lower price rather than gouging consumers for their overpriced beer. The problem is brewers/distributors/consumers unrealistic demand for instant gratification. If we would chill out and stop paying high prices for everything, then prices would come down and brewers/distributors would be forced to increase supply in order to earn the millions they are taking at our expense.

 

Why do you purchase craft beer if you feel it is overpriced and you're being gouged?

Breweries aren't just throwing a random price out because they think that's what they can get. They need to work off of a margin to cover all costs of goods, freight, employees and marketing expenses. They need to set the margin to accommodate fluctuating costs like increase costs of hops during shortages and fuel increases. They can't just keep switching their pricing during the year as their costs go up and down (more up than down).

They also have a high cost to participate in the events they attend, which they need to do to increase their presence in the market.

Lastly, it's not like you're buying straight from a brewer, there is a supply chain in place.The breweries, distributors and stores all need to get paid. I can tell you they are not making nearly what you think they are. I honestly think beer is priced reasonably. 6pk for $10 = $1.66 a beer. A bottle of water costs $1.50.

Not meaning to go directly at you, I have seen plenty of others say beer is overpriced and completely disagree.

 

The problem is that the steady increase in pricing has desensitized us all. $30 for a Bruery "limited" release or $24.99 for Hoppin' Frog BA Naked Evil? Why not. I dropped $50 on Rare seven times.

 

We have absolutely no control. If you see an expensive bottle on the shelf that you want, the only choice is to buy it.

 

As an individual, you have 100% control over the price. You either buy the product or you don't. Or in the alternative, you search out the best place to buy. I can buy a 12 pack of SNPA for $15 about 20 miles away or pay $19 2 miles away. I don't make a special trip, but there are other things I or my wife go the 20 miles for and so I stock up when I'm there. The breweries that product craft beer are not operating as charitable enterprises either. They have fixed expenses like debt service, rent or mortgage payments and have varying expenses for raw materials and employee compensation. And for the risk they have taken to go into business, they deserve to make a profit. And if something they produce isn't selling, they should lower the price and lose money on it going forward? Of course, they're going to discontinue it.

 

Always brings me a chuckle when hearing people complain about how "expensive" beer is.

 

Blame the goobermint. State and federal alcohol taxes. Local property , water tax , fuel taxes , and a dozen or so more taxes. The breweries and all the people that handle it in between makes pennies compared to the percent that goes to taxes. I'll bitch from time to time but I'll still buy and drink it .

 

You should learn to homebrew, as homebrew is not taxed. I am not sure that I save any money homebrewing, but it is a great hobby.

 

We have lots of control over price. The problem is that most craft beer drinkers don't exercise that control. But it's there if we ever care to use it.

I don't.

 

People are lazy, thats the problem.

 

I actually don't think most beer is overpriced, even though the good stuff is not cheap. Let's face it, good beer generally has more stuff in it and costs more to produce.
The exception, in my opinion, is the world of bombers and other single bottles. There are very few beers that I will spend more than 5 or 6 dollars per bomber on.

 

Threads about "price" on this site always provide many lolz, this one is not dissapoint.

 

Beers get marked up considerably by our distributor and stores/bars in the Boston area very often. That money isn't being put back into the brewery. If you don't have this problem in your area then that's great but this problem is pretty common across the country because of people willing to shell out whatever amount for the next limited beer. One could say if it sells out then its not over priced so there are two sides to the story.

 

Throw in mandatory third-party distribution in a lot of states, and it adds to the cost again.