Beer pricing

This weekend I passed on $30 four-packs of Bells Black Note, $35 four-packs of Victory Java Cask and $20 for a can of BA Ten Fidy. I'd love to have any of those on hand, but prices have passed what I think is reasonable.

 

So it's not about not being able to sell the product (which is a whole different issue imo). It seems it's more that you just do not like customers who complain? Are these same complaining customers buying the beer anyway? Or do they run off to the next store? Even in the latter case, it doesn't appear to be an issue for your sales, well in this instance anyways, so why sweat it?

 

As with anything else, there's a bad element in craft too- more concerned with "winning" than fun.

 

Is there though if you're virtually selling out of four cases in a matter of days?

 

I used to think distros & retailers were the evil ones until I saw breweries selling beer directly at extortion prices as well. Plenty of blame to go around in the beer supply chain re price creep, but if you don’t like the price show your power as a consumer & don’t buy it. Hopefully others feel the same & it takes care of it itself.

 

Talk to the brewer. Many of them tend to overprice their onsite package offerings so as not to piss off retailers. They should want to accommodate you by leaving room for you to make a reasonable profit and not compete with you.

 

If it's that big of a conundrum for you I'd be happy to help you unload some.

 

I'm relatively new to the craft scene and you guys are bursting my bubble a bit here. Is BA ten fidy really pushing $20 a can? The only time I've bought (or seen) it was when a local store had a couple of year old stovepipes for $5 a piece. I can never fault a store for selling a product for as much as people will pay for it but the price of special release stuff is a major turn off.

 

Going back to the original question, yes a store should be able to charge whatever they want. Just be aware that when I walk in and see that you are selling a bomber of KBS for $42, I will consider you a douche and never set foot in your store again.

 

just a preemptive statement because i can almost see it coming : Beer is a luxury good and thus one cannot be gouged.
That being said supply and demand still call the shots. And as always influence your own change with your wallet everyone has a price and feel free to add any other cliche that may fit.

Back to the OP. @Hopsonhops If your end goal (10 years out or so) is to start your distro then i would suggest getting chummy with 2-3 local breweries ( and i mean chummy like help them move, paint, invited to 4th of July BBQ chummy) then pitch them your idea to service their needs first then branch out, might get you off the ground sooner.
Check out the model of the Night Shift Distribution and Sleek Machine Distro.

 

For specialty beer there is much more elasticity because of limited supply. For everyday core items customers are going to seek value and convenience, but in a city like NYC people will sometimes be willing to pay a few dollars more for the benefit of getting the cold beer from their local deli than traveling all the way to the grocery store for a couple of dollars less.

This is a huge problem for retailers these days, and we definitely empathize them. I think a brewery should think about creating a line of products that are best suited to be sold through stores and think about a separate line of beers that makes better sense to sell direct to customers. At this state of the market, there is definitely room for both.

while there is some truth to this, it is in everyone's mutual benefit to be able to sell beer at a price where you can make a healthy margin to sustain your enterprise....in other countries beer is cheaper and taxes are even higher, but all of the profit has been squeezed out of the industry which actually stifles creativity and innovation.....as much as we don't like 3-tier sometimes, there are some added benefits which has created a healthy level of tiers across the industry (admittedly this is being disrupted currently)

 

Go to the brewery?

Is this a trick question?

 

What’s your take on breweries selling beer at their brewery at same price point as retailers? I realize they don’t want to undercut their sellers, but it’s a ripoff & slap in the face to customers who bother to visit the source.

 

maybe they don't want to alienate their retailers more than they want to attract price conscious buyers to the brewery?

using TheGent's Econ 101 reasoning (and that's not a pejorative, in my life almost every decision goes back to Econ 101) a retailer doesn't have to buy every beer his distributors offer, and as a retailer I might pass on a distributor's offerings from a brewery who I know is competing with me, in my market, on price, on the very products the distributor is trying to sell me. and while I want people to come to the brewery, maybe I think in the brewery visit I can provide enough of a value add in terms of other things I can give the brewery-visiting customer--beer that isn't for sale outside the brewery, maybe-- that I am not 'slapping them in the face' by asking the same price for those beers that they can get in a store, that the stores charge.

 

My reason for buying direct from the brewery is to get the freshest stock.