KBS in NYC?

Much, much rationalization going on here. The way I was raised I would have pointed out the mistake, just common decency to me.

 

Acquiring KBS period, a home run! Getting it at 40% of what the price should be, GRAND SLAM homerun!!

 

why does everyone feel the need to act so high and mighty on this site....if you dont like what someone said or did, just ignore it or leave the thread....no need to act like your everyones mother.

 

Wouldn't really say I'm making a big deal. I just asked a question.

I'd take your points with a smaller pinch of salt if it weren't for this. Clearly it's in your interest to justify:

 

I'm sure as hell not trying to justify buying a 4/pk of beer but instead defending myself and others for being ridiculed for "taking advantage" of a store. Get off your high horse.

 

To me, advocating general decency in all aspects of beer (and just in life in general) is not being on a high horse

People say ignore it, and let people do their thing. I disagree.

So if I see situations where people screwed someone in a trade, or picked up an inordinate amount of a limited released (leaving little/none for the other beer geeks in the area), or used mules, or cut the lines, or (as in this case) took advantage of a pricing error, then I'll say something.

When I joined 4 years ago, my stance would be the overwhelming majority stance on stuff like this. But I guess things have changed.

 

Just to play devil's advocate, he could have bought up the whole lot, then either sat on it for a year and sold it on BeerCellar for 4x the price or trade it, pretending he paid full retail. Also, who knows why they marked it that way - could be that the distributor screwed up on their end of pricing (like with the Goose Island 4 Ladies bottles a couple years ago, when they were $8/each in Manhattan and $23-30 everywhere else).

 

"Hey those prices seem way to low - are you sure that's right?"

"Yeah those are the prices the distributors specified so that's what we're charging"

"Cool"

 

If the guy working the counter at the bodega even knows that. More likely to happen would be, "Hey, those prices seem low, are you sure that's right?" "Does it say $10? It costs what it says." "Oh, ok, thanks."

 

Now that they know, next year they will charge $10 a bottle and make back what they lost this year. And most of us will buy it at that price. (Guilty)

 

Well in your scenario at least the person gave them the option to correct it. That's all I'm saying

 

Not trying to spur this disagreement any further, but, in my opinion, to suggest that someone is not being a decent human being by failing to point out to a business that they made a pricing error is ridiculous.

Should we expect beer shop owners to say to us, as beer consumers, if and when we decide to purchase a single bottle of KBS for $10, that what we are about to pay is ridiculously high and we should reconsider the purchase? Of course not, because the reason we are buying the $10 bottle is either (a) we didn't do our due diligence in determining the "fair" price of the bottle or (b) we want the bottle so much that it doesn't matter what we have to pay to get it.

The same goes for a business. This isn't analogous, as you suggest, to an individual taking advantage of another individual in a trade or someone cutting a line at a release. If an entity that derives profit from selling to the public failed to do its due diligence in determining the reasonable market value for a product, then it takes a risk of the public purchasing the product for under the reasonable market value price. And consumers shouldn't think twice about obtaining a sought-after item for less than they would pay elsewhere. Should I be expected to tell the cashier at TJ Maxx that they should really re-evaluate their prices, since Bloomingdale's up the street is selling the same sweater for 3 times the price?

 

Just FYI all, I started this thread in Beer Talk, which seems like a more appropriate place for this debate.

Now, can we go back to the mundane matter of whale hunting?

 

I didn't suggest it was analogous. I listed this type of situation along with some others (and there are more) where I would comment on it. I'm fully aware that cutting in line is not the same as a store pricing something incorrectly. Though since you bring it up, trading is somewhat closer. I mean we're not talking about Walmart here. Since when would a small Brooklyn corner store know what "due diligence" entails? Would their pricing department handle that, or do they actually have a stand alone due diligence team? They're the small local store - I would feel no better or worse about f**king them over than I would an individual on the internet who hadn't done their due diligence when trading for beers.

As for saying someone wasn't a decent human being - you're putting words in my mouth.

 

I understand your point that they're not a huge chain, but the sale of products is still their business. It's what they do everyday and how they make their money. The fact that they might not make as much as Walmart is not the point. I work in a small office; should my clients feel obligated to tell me that the huge office down the street is charging double my hourly rate, so I should really jack up my prices because people will still pay at an inflated rate? Or should they pay what I'm charging and be happy that they weren't charged as much?

You're right, I shouldn't have said that you implied that someone wasn't a decent human; I misspoke (mis-typed?). Sorry about that.

 

Agreed there's a gray area in the middle, but there's a difference to me between Walmart and the local store, and personally I'm going to act on that difference.

As for your large vs small office analogy - we're not talking about telling the store they could charge more, because they've priced it very competitively (say $6 local store vs $9 big store for KBS as referenced by @MisterBisco in the thread he started), and doing so because they're small and you like them. We're talking about telling them they made a mistake. There's a difference. So back to your office scenario. No I wouldn't expect your client to say "hey you could charge us double and we'd still pay, because that what big company X does". But if they are a regular client who is used to being billed $200/hr and you accidentally billed them $20/hr, then I would expect them to say something, yes.

 

My example wasn't the best because there would be an agreement ahead of time between client and company as to the price per hour, but I understand your point. Agree to disagree.

 

You paid the labeled price. It's not like the cashier gave you incorrect change after a transaction. That mistake is something you should correct.

I don't give any pricing advice. I've never told a butcher his rib eye was underpriced per lb., a contractor his bid was too low, a verranzo bridge tollbooth operator that the bridge crossing is undervalued.... etc. I either pay or I don't and I feel no moral obligation to do anything different.

 

wow - the other thread really took off. should have put my response there... my bad

 

I have noticed that some bodegas will put a group of UPC codes under a general category set at a single price. So it could be possible that one spot had all their "Founders" set at the same price.