Please do not buy our beers on eBay

Discussion in 'Southwest' started by FreetailBrewing, May 29, 2012.

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  1. FreetailBrewing

    FreetailBrewing Initiate (0) Jun 23, 2007 Texas

    It has been brought to my attention that someone is selling, or trying to sell, our beers on eBay. I heard about it with Ananke (which we still have bottles of sitting on our shelves) and I found a listing for a 2011 La Muerta with a starting bid of $49.99.

    Please do not buy these. First of all, La Muerta isn't worth $49.99. It's worth exactly $11+tax, the price we sell it for. I highly advise that no one ever pay a cent more (and there are no competitive issues with me saying that, since we are the only ones legally able to sell it).

    Second of all, this is flat out f'ed up and I'm fully in support of TABC going after this person for the unlicensed sale of alcohol. If I find out who you are, I will make sure you are banned from ever buying our bottles again.

    We take great pride in what we do and hate to see our hard work tarnished by someone trying to make a quick buck. I have no problem with the trading community (so long as traders don't begin to crowd out our local customers) and in fact am very flattered to see our beers end up all over the country. But when someone buys our beers to try to flip them from financial gain, you've completely gone against what we are about.

    That ends my breaking diatribe. I now return you to normally scheduled forum.

    Scott Metzger
    Freetail Brewing Co.
     
    gueuzehead, air, Eurytos and 31 others like this.
  2. wagenvolks

    wagenvolks Initiate (0) Sep 23, 2005 Texas

    Go get 'em, Scott!
     
  3. blatherbeard

    blatherbeard Initiate (0) Sep 30, 2007 Texas

    This is why i love scott and his freetail crew.
     
  4. raffy313

    raffy313 Pundit (911) Dec 15, 2010 Texas

    Hmm... pretty interesting that about 30 min. after Scott posted this thread I did a Freetail search on eBay and came up with that La Muerta auction page(I'd post a link but my comment would probably get deleted). About 5 min. later... it was pulled, "no longer available", from the seller. This tells me that the seller is a BA, who read Scott's post and was scared away by his TABC investigation threat, and ban from Freetail events. This seller also happens to be from San Antonio.

    He/she also had several other listings from Jester King beers, to other out of state breweries(BCBCS, The Bruery... ect.) that also magically became unavailable. Pretty weak ass shit, who ever you are...
     
  5. atxdelivery

    atxdelivery Initiate (0) Aug 28, 2010 Texas

    Nothing like public shame to whip someone into shape. I would fear the Freetail ban more personally.
     
  6. BruceBruce

    BruceBruce Initiate (0) Dec 4, 2011 Texas

    Since all of the people in here know freetail, I will be going to brenham at the end of this month, does anyone know the closest place to buy some freetail beers? I would love the help, just got an ananke and loved it would greatly appreciate the help.
     
  7. champ103

    champ103 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,296) Sep 3, 2007 Texas
    Society Pooh-Bah

    It is a brewpub, you can only buy their bottles at Freetail in San Antonio.
    I really need to make another trip to Freetail, love it, and wish Scott and everyone there the best. Screw Ebay beer buyers:angry::grinning:
     
  8. BruceBruce

    BruceBruce Initiate (0) Dec 4, 2011 Texas

    I will just have to venture down there then
     
  9. bogwart

    bogwart Initiate (0) Jun 28, 2010 Texas

    Good for you Scott and shame on the person who listed the beer on Ebay.
     
  10. H0rnedFr0gs

    H0rnedFr0gs Initiate (0) Mar 12, 2012 Texas

    If more breweries took this issue in a similar way it would create a tidal shift.

    Simple solutions exist, many of which are already in place (if not fully realized), for brewery only releases.

    I wonder if a brewery could make a purchase of their goods online and upon delivery confiscate their property and refuse payment. I imagine it would have a quick chilling affect the second someone loses their {fill in the blank} brewery release they tried to flip on Ebay and is sent a curt cease and desist order and a ban from entering the brewery property.

    Big cheers to Freetail (and a few others, Hill Farmstead and Kern River recently stand out on this issue as well) for your efforts.
     
    korguy123 likes this.
  11. jl28r1

    jl28r1 Initiate (0) Jan 10, 2011 Texas

    The seller is NOT part of the regular tasting crew, we were just discussing this problem at Freetail on Saturday. Go get em Scott!
     
    texasclimber and pwsoldier like this.
  12. BgThang

    BgThang Initiate (0) Dec 23, 2007 Texas

    im torned about this. on one hand I think freetail is getting screwed on the revenue and texas is getting screwed on the tax of this, however on the other hand I think the person who is willing to buy the beer gets a chance to get some great texas brew. i am torn between this.
     
  13. Hanzo

    Hanzo Initiate (0) Feb 27, 2012 Virginia

    That person can get the same chance to try the beer by trading for it.
     
  14. atxdelivery

    atxdelivery Initiate (0) Aug 28, 2010 Texas

    Its not always possible to trade for the beer you want, god knows I have been trying to land a black note for a month now. Its a two way street I think, if you cant trade for it and its on Ebay do you automatically ignore this option? Is it fucked up when a little profiteer goes to the brewery for the sole reason to sell on Ebay, of course. The age old argument on here for since I can remember.
     
    jforeman likes this.
  15. jamescain

    jamescain Initiate (0) Jul 14, 2009 Texas

    The main problem is the fact that all breweries have to go through an approval process and pay money to be able to sell alcoholic beverages, whereas, this guy did not have to go through that to make a profit. Items, such as art, are bought and sold for profit all the time, but they are not regulated like alcohol.
     
  16. Hanzo

    Hanzo Initiate (0) Feb 27, 2012 Virginia

    I was really just talking about the beer in this thread, the $11 shelf beer. I agree with you rare stuff is a different animal. I want CBS badly, but I don't and won't have ammo for it. Does that mean I go to eBay for it? I can't bring myself to pay that much but I would not completely rule out eBay if an exceptional deal came along.
     
    atxdelivery likes this.
  17. xpimptastikx

    xpimptastikx Initiate (0) Oct 8, 2008 Texas

    Here we go... :rolling_eyes:

    BA is the main reason that most beers are even listed on ebay. Who the hell would even know about some random ass beer from a SA brewpub if it wasn't talked about on BA? You can't stop buying/selling on ebay.
    Ebay makes a decent amount of income from the fees associated with all of the illegal sales of alcohol (I mean collectable bottles) and I don't think they're going to stop it anytime soon.
    La Muerta didn't just start showing up on ebay recently, it's been intermittently posted since the 2010 release, along with other bottles of their wilds... They've also come from a few different sellers in Texas so this is not an isolated incident.

    Freetail is free to do what they want, it was their beer at one point, but for some reason I don't think the TABC is going to take the time or effort to stop a rampant activity that is "protected" by ebay rules and regulations.
    Maybe the person who has been recently posting is in need of money and one of the few assets he/she has is "over valued" beer. Nobody knows for a fact, but I don't think it's our place to pass judgement that the beers were bought just to "flip". I could be wrong, but either way I don't really give a shit because this doesn't effect me.


    Not everyone trades, or wants to put the effort into trading. Sometimes it's easiest for people with money to just hit a button and wait 4 days. Especially with everyone looking to squeeze every last bit of "value" out of their tradable beers.

    /rant
     
  18. jamescain

    jamescain Initiate (0) Jul 14, 2009 Texas

    Beer is only as valuable as what someone is willing to give up to get it.

    What I found was really funny about the posting was the fact that this person didn't even have a picture of the beers they were selling, just the fb picture that Freetail uses.
     
  19. mattisloco

    mattisloco Maven (1,306) Feb 13, 2007 Texas
    Trader

    If its legal, why doesn't Freetail sale their beers online through their website to only Texas residents?

    Probably not legal :-(
     
  20. icetrauma

    icetrauma Pooh-Bah (1,657) Sep 7, 2004 Texas
    Pooh-Bah

    Maybe they could sell collectable bottles. :wink:
     
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