Hauling vs Hoarding

Imagine that. Someone drove for two+ hours and stood in line for another couple hours, and just when he is about to get his 1 case of Dinner to split with his 3 friends back home MBC drops the limit to 4 bottles. Let's all form a drum circle and celebrate. Sorry, if the next guy in line is pissed because he wasted a day I'm not going to look down on him.

 

Alternatively, they don't drop the limit and the *other* guy who drove for 2+ hours and stood in line for another couple hours to get his 1 case of Dinner to split with his 3 friends back home gets nothing, all so the first guy could get his full case.

I feel like this is a situation where people should have some perspective about not being the only ones who want and go to extreme lengths to get a given beer. Yeah, be pissed that your allocation got cut by 67%, but maybe ease the pain by thinking about how 67% more people got to get bottles at all, yeah?

 

So let me get this straight, we should feel sympathy for the guy in line who was "expecting" to get his 3 cases, and all of a sudden has to settle for 4 bottles, but the schmucks behind him who would have otherwise not received anything are shit out of luck? Shame on the brewery for wanting to be more inclusive!

In all seriousness, I am not picking on the one guy who wants to buy a case. I get that. In fact, I feel empathy for that guy, but don't get pissy as a result, and take it out on the brewery. The problem, as I mentioned in my original post, are the hoarders who take home 9 or so cases. It's ridiculous. This isn't a wholesale clearinghouse, this is a very limited release of a beer that is incredibly hot right now. Had everyone in the line kept their haul to a single case, everyone in line probably would have gotten a case. Anything above and beyond a case, is in all likelihood trade bait, and is a superficial commodity that isn't needed in order to enjoy with your friends.

 

That's not what I said at all. I said I'm not going to look down on someone in this situation for being pissed off. He arrived with a set of expectations. The rules changed on him in the middle of the game. I'm not suggesting that the brewery did anything wrong, other than possibly setting the limit too high to begin with (hindsight and all). I'm just saying that an individual has the right to be pissed.

 

I wouldn't call it hoarding until you try to cheat the store's bottle limits.

 

The individual had the right to be upset, true. The limits changed mid-stream, and if that person came expecting to buy anything more that four bottles, then their expectations were not met.

BUT, there is fault on the brewery in this particular example.... this is an all too often scene that promotes hoarding. Someone from said brewery could have very easily counted the people in line and said (ficticious numbers) "HELL, we have 1200 people in line and only 300 cases. Cripes, we can't do a three case limit. Better change it to on six pack per."

Quick note... Breweries should always reserve the right to change bottle limits in their social media and advertising of beer releases. In fact, it's best if they only state that there will be a limit, and decide on that limit as close to bottle sales as possible. That would curb hoarding to a degree.

 

Again, I'm not saying that I have a problem with it or trying to tell you what to do. I was just pointing out that it wasn't the best analogy and commenting on how I don't get agree with people that reselling is the only selfish act when hoarding. Trust me, I would buy a ton if I could (used to be able to with no freaking hassle!) and not feel bad about it even if I drank every bottle myself, I'm just not a fan of people thinking they're somehow being generous when they obtain large quantities of limited beers because they're trading or opening their beers with friends.

 

HA! If only that were true...

 

I exaggerate slightly, but seeing some of the hauls in BCBS threads I don't think I'm that far off. Just the fact that people can purchase entire cases of the stuff is mind-blowing to me...my stores only get one case each, if they're lucky. I saw a case of the barleywine for the first time ever but wasn't early in line enough to get any. And I've never even heard of the variants in the area.

 

Personally I don't consider it to be hoarding, as much as simply bad manners. If you know there is something very rare that comes out, firstly a craft brew retailer ought to make a limit per customer, and the customer themselves should realise that they should leave some on the shelves for other craft beer fans.

It's kind of like (but obviously much worse than!) when someone buys a trolley-full of your favourite biscuits at the supermarket merely because they're on sale.

 

Yeah, in some parts of the country it seems to be true. There seems to be a lot of hits in New York, for instance. But I can say with certainty that in San Francisco or San Jose, this person has never come across the opportunity to walk out with a case of Bourbon County anything, nor has he seen a non-BCS/BCBW variant.

 

didn't some dude buy 5 cases of BCBS?

i avoid the "pics of your recent haul" thread nowadays to avoid becoming annoyed by all the hoardbrag posts

 

Wow. So much money.

 

No arguments there- I only bring it up because I've seen the "don't blame me, blame the free market" attitude a few times, and it's these particular conditions (i.e. with certain market distortions) that are responsible for their being able to engage in that behavior in the first place. If it were a truly free market, I doubt these folks would be landing as much as they are.

 

Everyone who got BCBS in San Diego this year is a hoarder.

 

$100K+OT.