Beer Store Etiquette (making an offer)

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by BedetheVenerable, Sep 8, 2012.

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  1. BedetheVenerable

    BedetheVenerable Initiate (0) Sep 5, 2008 Missouri

    Here in town there is a well-known (though much less-travelled, now that big, very 'craft beer friendly' grocery stores have come to town) gas station with a wide variety of good craft beers. This gas station is owned, along with one two smaller liquor stores, by a very nice Indian or Pakistani family. They're always very friendly and stock good beers, though I get the feeling that they're not quite the beer geeks that they're trying to cater to, just from brief conversations I've had with the workers there. They've got about a case and a half of 2+ year old Jolly Pumpkin brews sitting on the shelf that have been in-store for well over a year, priced at 9.99. If I can remember correctly, once the low-gravity JP offerings (Bam, Calabaza Blanca, etc) get that old, they get crazy dry and a bit aggressive from the Brett. They're clearly not moving. I use those 750 regular-crown-cap bottles for homebrewing, and if the beer is drinkable, I really like JP. At this point, is it fair to walk in, point out to the owners that the beer's 2 years old, and make an offer of say, 6-7 bucks a bottle to take 3-5 of them off their hands? On the one hand, it feels like cheating them (they probably paid more than this for them wholesale), but on the other hand, they haven't moved and likely aren't ever going to move (the fresh bottles of IO Saison, for example, were gone w/in a couple of months). Will what I'm doing seem insulting, or seem like I'm trying to pull a fast one (esp. since they don't seem like beer geek types that would know about things like Brettanomyces choping down any available sugars over time)? Thoughts?
     
    #1 BedetheVenerable, Sep 8, 2012
  2. VncentLIFE

    VncentLIFE Initiate (0) Feb 16, 2011 North Carolina

    You can always offer, especially if youre a regular and have a good relationship with the owner(s).
     
    #2 VncentLIFE, Sep 8, 2012
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  3. drperry11

    drperry11 Initiate (0) Jan 8, 2012 South Carolina

    ^^This. The worst they can say is no.
     
    #3 drperry11, Sep 8, 2012
  4. vande

    vande Initiate (0) Jan 26, 2007 Illinois

    agreed. Worst case scenario, they say No and you buy something else...
     
    #4 vande, Sep 8, 2012
  5. COBeerBuff

    COBeerBuff Pundit (892) Jan 4, 2009 Kansas

    If you're buying them for the caps and to help them move stock, I agree with Vincent above that it's fair if you're a regular and have that good relationship with the owners.

    On the other hand, you state that your motives are slightly less than altruistic because you really like Jolly Pumpkin beers and you know what age does to them, so offering below market for obviously good-to-great beers is kind of shady, especially considering the possible lack of knowledge on the part of the store owners, IMO.
     
    #5 COBeerBuff, Sep 8, 2012
  6. Billolick

    Billolick Grand Pooh-Bah (5,559) Dec 20, 2003 New York
    Society Pooh-Bah

    everything is negotiable....give it a try...looks like an offer could be the start of a winning situation for both sides of the deal
     
    #6 Billolick, Sep 8, 2012
  7. antilite

    antilite Initiate (0) Jan 1, 2012 Florida

    I think we would mostly agree your intentions are both honest and reasonable. Why not try using the same approach and basic wording with the proprietor? Don't forget a little head scratching and shrugging with palms up. For effect, of course. If he declines with courtesy, make a small unrelated purchase.
     
    #7 antilite, Sep 8, 2012
  8. CBlack85

    CBlack85 Pooh-Bah (2,762) Jul 12, 2009 South Carolina
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I'd give it a shot, as long as you are a regular
     
    #8 CBlack85, Sep 8, 2012
  9. pixieskid

    pixieskid Initiate (0) Jun 4, 2009 Germany

    More importantly, make sure to post the results...I'd be curious to see what they say.
     
    #9 pixieskid, Sep 8, 2012
  10. Orca

    Orca Grand Pooh-Bah (4,710) Sep 18, 2010 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Agree w/ everyone else. Can't do any harm, and I doubt they'd be offended. Just don't be surprised if they say no.
    Not that this matters, but when in India (traveling with our native Indian hosts) we negotiated the price on just about everything, from tuk-tuk rides to mosque tours. If these folks are from India or Pakistan I doubt the concept is completely foreign to them.
     
    #10 Orca, Sep 8, 2012
  11. BedetheVenerable

    BedetheVenerable Initiate (0) Sep 5, 2008 Missouri

    Yeah, I was worried about this. Honestly, I'd be buying them more for the bottles than for the beer; I love JP beers, but I did get a JP Bam once that was around 2.5 years old and thought it was parchingly dry and bitter and not good at all. Granted, this was before I liked 'wild' beers in any sense. Are the low grav. JP's still good at this age? If they do taste really good, I might feel a bit worse about accepting the owner's generosity, even IF they weren't moving. Back in my hometown, I worked for a small beer store owner (Indian) for several years, and I know a lot of the difficulties and prejudices that they had to put up with as 'foreigners' in our community; I bet the same thing's true here as well.

    To all the above posters, thanks for your input, this has really given me some good food for thought!
     
    #11 BedetheVenerable, Sep 8, 2012
  12. Jparkanzky

    Jparkanzky Initiate (0) Apr 5, 2011 Ohio

    The distributor would/should credit them and take them back, so I don't see them selling them to you at less than cost.
     
    #12 Jparkanzky, Sep 8, 2012
  13. punkhim

    punkhim Initiate (0) Dec 22, 2011 Washington

    Maybe you could pitch it like this "I noticed you have some very old JP beers. I like to use those bottles for home brewing, but I usually pay $6 for them. If you ever find that they're not moving, and want to clear the shelf space, I'd be happy to pay $6 a piece for them if you'll sell me both cases."
     
    #13 punkhim, Sep 10, 2012
  14. itshanney

    itshanney Initiate (0) Aug 30, 2012 Washington

    What if you offer to help them improve their selection and improve their inventory turnover? Regardless, offering cost for the product is perfectly fine considering your somewhat close relationship.

    Give a man a fish vs teach a man to fish...

    Side note, I wouldn't try to lowball them. Offer them what you think is their cost and call it good. Some states, like Washington, don't allow you to sell below cost (i.e. no "loss leaders"). But expired products probably don't apply. YMMV.
     
    #14 itshanney, Sep 10, 2012
  15. Bluecane

    Bluecane Initiate (0) Dec 30, 2011 New York

    tee-hee
     
    #15 Bluecane, Sep 10, 2012
  16. cbeer88

    cbeer88 Initiate (0) Sep 5, 2007 Massachusetts

    I think this varies greatly by geography/distributor. Sometimes stores very much do get stuck with old stock and can't do anything about it.
     
    #16 cbeer88, Sep 10, 2012
  17. terrapinfan88

    terrapinfan88 Initiate (0) Nov 15, 2009 Virginia

    In most cases at least in this area distributors don't take out of date stock just because you couldn't sell it. If it arrives out of date (which happens more than you think) they should an pretty much always buy it back. They also don't like to take back less than a case of most things. I assume because they have accounts they don't mind trying to send it to after its been sent back, I hope not but it wouldn't surprise me.
     
    #17 terrapinfan88, Sep 10, 2012
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