Did we ruin Bourbon County?

This is a bait and switch. The discussion was not about "luxury item pricing practices" or "fair market pricing on luxury goods". It was about the fact that gouging cannot be done on luxury items because there is no expectation for luxury items to be available to all people as a basic necessity for living. This is the spirit behind price gouging laws.

The reason collusion is illegal is completely different than the reason gouging is illegal. Collusion being illegal has *absolutely nothing* to do with the actual price in question. As previously noted, companies can be sued for collusion for conspiring to set prices LOW. The act of conspiring to hinder open competition is what's illegal.

There is no legal action that can be taken against a company charging "exorbitant" prices outside of the specific legal definition of gouging. A good/service being essential or not isn't a "small technical detail"--it is the entire basis for determining what is or isn't gouging from a legal perspective. And there are some who argue that gouging shouldn't even be illegal on essential goods and services--there's a whole section about it on the Wiki page you cited earlier if you're curious.

You mention anti-monopoly laws (which are commonly referred to as antitrust laws), and collusion tends to fall under that umbrella, being covered under the Sherman Act as an anti-competitive practice, much like price fixing. Interestingly enough, the laws prohibiting price gouging are actually a bit contrary to the spirit behind antitrust laws, because they essentially amount to a form of price fixing, but admittedly one that has been deemed necessary to prevent people from being taken advantage of in times of emergency.

But this conversation has gone on long enough for this thread. If you want to continue to debate the merits and details of antitrust laws and price gouging, you are more than welcome to send me a BM.

 

Sounds like the OP needs to join BCBS Anonymous.

 

My son is teaching me to brew. He does quite well, not being a scientist. I love his beers. We prefer old English styles but we are not stodgy about it. We're getting a kegerator and will have good fresh beer from now on! At my age I've learned that brewing is more fun than golf...and it's at home!

 

Come try western PA & Pittsburgh. Bars are selling sample size bottle pours. Often times with entrance fee.

 

A lot less cursing too, except if you spill hot wort on your foot!

 

This.

 

*quote*I waited in line at the Plainfield Binny's. Got there around 5:45 and left around 10. I "only" got reg, coffee (barely), and barleywine. I had brought 2 members of my visiting family to triple the allotment I would receive. Had I received a full allotment x3 I'd be beaming with joy. Now, I'm thinking that maybe this has become something that I'm not proud of. I seriously dragged people out of bed on a holiday to triple my allotment by using them as mules. It gets better...

After that, I went to a liquor store that gets BCBS every year. It was about 11:30. He had reg and BW behind the counter but said that he wouldn't sell it until 5. I decided I wasn't going... until 4 o'clock rolled around and I grabbed someone else to go with me since I had nothing better to do. We got there and found out that we had to buy a 2013 Lolita in order to be allowed to purchase a regular and a BW- all for $44. We waited until 5 and both bought our allotment. Starting to hate myself more, but wait, it gets better...

Saturday rolls around, and I decide to stop somewhere in the Joliet area on my way out shopping with my visiting family. I asked about variants, the guy asks what I want, and after some persistence, he offers me a Rare for $170 and a Prop for $80. He tried to get me to pay $300 total for those 2 and a coffee, but I talked him down to $230 with no coffee. I PAID IT.

Looking back now, I'm not sure that I'm happy that I did it. Honestly, $230 isn't the craziest amount I've ever spent on beer-related adventures, but the explicit price gouge that I encouraged should not be tolerated. I'm embarrassed, because I realized that I was part of the problem that is bothering me so much.

Thoughts anyone? Have we ruined Bourbon County, the beer that really put BA beers on the map? Also, why is this most prevalent in the Chicago area? I have friends that live all over the country, and in some cities, reg is just sitting on the shelves for $9-11. Here, I've seen it for $16, and I've also seen a place force me to buy other GI products in order to get it. (The most recent: 2 reg and a 12-pack of GI Oktoberfest for $41.) *quote*

Omg, this made me laugh so hard when I was reading it. We don't get bourbon county in Alaska except for on draft and that was only this year so far. I have my bad habits with buying beer, but I always cut myself off after about 100 clams

 

Didn't read 6 pages of replies, but I think OP can be summed up thusly:

FIB did FIBby things, disappointed that other FIBs did the same FIBby things, FIB couldn't get all the FIB beer he wanted, now he's FIB sad.

 

One quick thought about AB/GI:

Does everyone think GI didn't do everything they could to maximize profits BEFORE they got bought by AB? Part of the reason you sell your company is because you WANT access to the giant marketing/distro machine - you want to know how to do the things they do. GI was never some brewery that, out of the goodness of their heart, simply made beer for all of us to enjoy. GI always tried to make as much money as they could, every company does. AB just taught them how to be better at it. GI is just as profit driven as AB. So is almost every other brewery.

Don't get me wrong, for the most part I can't stand giant corporations, but don't for a minute think that GI is innocent in all this, or ever was.

 

No reason to beat yourself up over beer.

Grabbed 2 bottles of regular at one place before Friday... then dropped by during my lunch o. Friday at another place and got 2 barleywines.

No lines no problems...

As for the variants who knows.. probably not but then again never say never ...

Probably just doing it wrong...

Oh and you can't gouge the willing..

 

I have to say, I do like that Makers Mark chair for sale lol...

 

Please indulge my ignorance by telling me what exactly FIB is an acronym for. My quick google search returned a result that, if consistent with your definition, is really unfavorable for the OP.

 

Ewww

 

Most towns will have 1 good craft bar that will serve BCBS on tap for $10 or less for an 8oz pour. Just go there instead of waiting in line if you must have it. Just my recommendation.

 

lol came here to post EXACTLY that...

so, you know, +1 I guess

 

Standing in line for one of these hard to get beers helps me to imagine what it would have been like to be in the high school band, or go to comi-con or collect star wars figurines as an adult.

 

For OP @Billy_Bars , and not to be rude, but I'll say that people who do things like that have pretty much ruined certain releases. That kind of insanity makes it hard for people to try certain beers and causes silly things like lineups at 2am. I don't mind waiting in a 1 hour line for a special release or putting in a little effort to get what I want, but dragging family, driving around like that, paying that, that's obsession level stuff.

BCBS seems to bring out the worst in a lot of people, the sketchy pre-sales, allotment muling, stupid early lineups, whalez horders, the list goes on. It's the latest Apple release of the beer world, or Black Friday commercialist greed at it's finest. We've all done it in some sense, and many of us have realized it's usually not worth it.

Good on you for confessing, I hope it changes your approach. I find sometimes the best releases are often the one's nobody knows about

 

Sounds like you unnecessarily wasted gas and polluted the ozone during that 45 mile trip.

 

Waited out in the cold for eight hours.


For some of us the thrill of the hunt is bigger than the actual beer itself.