eBay and Beer Sales

i'd wager that far more people going to limited releases buy bottles solely as trade bait rather than to sell on e-bay. there's only one solution - no bottles to go. nearly every release of the lost abbey box set has hung around for a week or so because the only bottle you can take with you is an empty one which has no value in the trade forums.

 

I think this sums it up pretty well. Once you get to the point where you are buying extra beers you would not otherwise have bought (in a very limited release) or bringing mules simply for trading purposes, that is where I think what you are doing is poor advocacy. It's a grey area, but if it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't right.

 

Oh...I do NOT support eBay sales. At all. I do not support selling a beer for more that what you paid for it.

 

Glad this has happened.

It will be intersting to see how many new accounts pop up ISO/FT whales right out of the gates.

 

There is currently a great deal of market inefficiency due to antiquated laws and breweries that refuse to distribute. eBay represents a force that is trying to correct the market inefficiencies. eBay and stores that ship to states illegally do a much better job of correcting the market inefficiencies than trading, which is also illegal. It's a shame each time one of these illegal shipping methods gets shut down, but I am confident that with time, we will see reform of these antiquated laws such that shipping beers to different states is legal and common so the market can function properly.

Then you should never buy beer because every store is selling it for more than they paid.

 

Why? I'm sorry but my trading partners who I have established relationships with are more important than a random local who got their too late.

 

It's a shame that highly motivated people took the necessary steps to achieve the results they desired? They are in the wrong for getting off their asses, making it to the release day at their respective breweries early enough to get a good spot in line, finding each other on the internet, working out a mutually beneficial trade, carefully packaging and finally shipping a portion or even all of their rightful allotment to one another?

What's the moral of the story?: "If you're not from here, you don't deserve our beer and you can go suck it?" Or "I don't want other enthusiasts to try this great beer from my town if it means I can't sleep in on release day?" Or even "This brewery is in the right to neglect the enormously larger demand than they are currently able to supply?"

I don't sell beer on eBay, but I think it's ridiculous how up-in-arms people get about it. I love Russian River, but the whole if-you-aren't-from-here-you-aren't-worthy thing is ridiculous. Don't be afraid of success. Keep your standards high, expand production, expand distribution. Intentionally staying small is for the diamond industry and hipster elitists.

My 2 cents. Let the hate rain down.

 

This mentality is exactly why I trust pure economics and supply and demand to come to a fair price. The breweries try to make things more fair by limiting distribution, but they are just facilitating people like this to hoard and become mini distributors.

 

I'm not directing this question to you directly Retail1LO. However, many BA's seem to think that asking for mutiple bottles that can cost two to three times the amount (or more), as well as many times the amount in the volume of beer, for one bottle considered a "whale" or "rare" in a trade is fine. Just a thought...

 

the mood changed about this subject over the past 4-5 months, long before this past weekend. used to be i'd be one of the few people that found ebay tolerable; now people praise it and make fun of brewers who get angry about growlers being auctioned.

i thought ebay was fine in small doses, but now i can't even find pliny on shelves because people want to sell it; local beers are becoming dongs because profiteering is the word of the day. this is why we can't have nice things anymore.

 

Sticker price has nothing to do with the actual value of a bottle of beer.

 

If only brewers would price according to demand! You might not like the beer, but you have to admit that's one thing 50-50 does right.

 

What I don't get is why the breweries that are complaining about eBay don't skip the entire 'release' day and just put beers up for sale when they are ready, unannounced?

You can't create 'hype' and then get upset that people want to try your beer (and are willing to pay 'market' price).

And yes, eBay sucks. It's just beer and folks make it out to be liquid gold. It really sucks not getting to try the latest release from a nano brewery 2500 miles away, but I believe, we will all wake up tomorrow feeling the same.

 

you don't need to try every beer.

 

Isnt that the basis for most of Levi's posts...price points/demand.

 

p.s. everyone needs to turn on their brain when they're guilty of the "limited releases are the problem" silliness. you don't need to try every beer. there's nothing even in the slightest wrong about not making enough beer for everyone to get it.

it's hard for me to even engage with that line of thought... it's one thing to bash founders for making X thousand bottles and spreading the distribution so thin that each store only gets 1 bottle. it's another to call impossibility ("make tons of your experimental beer, breaking-even-small-business-man!") "what breweries should be doing."

break out of your crybaby "i deserve all the beer" mindset and be realistic.

 

You're right and it's sad. It's the ever-expanding secondary market, which includes the "trading market," as much as many BA's want to deny it, as well as eBay, etc. that inflates the price. The trading market might be the biggest problem. Pointing the finger at yourself is always the hardest thing to do.

I've really become convinced that the trading culture is the most negative aspect of the craft beer scene. Not trading itself, in general, I'm referring to the culture which drives some to stockpile as many cases of KBS as possible for "trade bait." It's frankly ridiculous...and completely pathetic.

 

It will be good for the beer community.
But, this is 'MURICA and you should be able to buy and sell beer on the internet if you want; bad for freedom, good for beer geeks.

 

yes, i do admit that. actually, i said it a while back and masterski referenced it recently, so i thought i'd bring up my platform of beer economics again:

1) try to make a larger batch if possible.
2) price according to demand.
3) keep drafts cheap, and at non-growler accounts.

that will maximize happiness. people will still bitch, but that's because beer geeks can bitch about anything. it's still preferable to having beer sold out before the doors open.

i mean, beatification lasting for weeks? it was properly priced. eclipse costing more than the bourbons it is piggybacking on? apparently fmv as well. veritas 009 selling out in line at $35? charge $10 more.

 

But I want the option to.