Price gouging

This is a free market. There is no such thing as price gouging on non essential products. Only stupid consumers, one born every second.

 

Don't like the price? Don't buy it.

That's why I don't shop at Nieman-Marcus or Tiffany's.

 

Madame Rose, where I live = $30 for 750ml

No thanks.

 

After I'm done at Tiffany's I'll stop in at F.A.O. Schwartz. Damn I have nothing left for beer !

 

But that beer is sooooooo freakin good. If you haven't had it before, you're missing out.

 

Don't like the price don't buy it. After awhile they'll take the hit and hint.

 

I do realize that the cost of brewing and distributing craft beer is higher than the mainstream beers that are out there(BUD, Coors, etc.). I also realize that because of that, I do believe that some craft breweries take advantage of that and the prices are elevated. Also, please understand, that there is also a lot of inflated prices due to what the store is trying to make. I believe that at least 50% of the high prices is because of the outlet that is selling, not always because of the brewer. Compare prices at different retailers and you will see that. Example>>>4 pack(pints) of a great DIPA, Hoptopus from VA was almost $15 a Total Wine and I found it less than a mile up the street for$2 less. The biggest price differences are usually because e of the retailer's markout.....

 

It's good, but I don't think it's that good. YMMV

 

Love how people start with the price gouging argument. My bet is the OP gets pissed when he walks into the local 7/11. "Dammit you want me to pay 2 dollars for a couple of peanut butter cups!!" By the way for the non San diegans you can find Grapefruit Sculpin in our local 7/11's.

 

We absolutely do not have a free market. We have a "free-ish" market. The three-tier system, on top of other barriers to entry certainly distort the market, allowing stores and producers to jack up their prices higher than if we had a free-er marker.

 

You want to see price gouging?

http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/o...srv+23+straight+bourbon+whisky+kentucky+usa/0

 

I stopped in a store in MD that was trying to sell FW XVII for $40 a bottle. When I heard the price I politely declined & was made to feel like I was cheap & that was a good price for the beer. I told him it was a little over $20 in VA he got a little hostile like I was lying to him & asked me to give him names of stores so he could drive down & buy it all to sell in his store. They had Stone collab bombers on a shelf behind the counter for around $20 a pop too.

 

I can't take these Beanie Baby prices anymore!

 

There is a store not far from me that breaks up zombie dust and sells it at $4 per bottle (so a $24 sixer). There is a store within a mile that sells single bottles for 2.50 and a grocery store that has it at $14 a sixer.

Simple answer is shop around and find a store that is fair - the stock at the gouging store doesn't sit that long, so obviously some people are ok paying more. I guess if you really want it you have to pay, because at the correct price the cheaper stores sell out in an hour, rather than a few days at the gouge store.

 

That's what shopping around is for. Unfortunately for those companies / stores that charge way more than others, the old 'word of mouth' is so much easier on the web these days. If there is a store that charges too much, let us all know. Likewise, if there is a good retailer, let people know.

My best advice for people in Australia is to order your beers from Leura Cellars. They are around the same price as other top-end beer retailers, but offer a 20% discount on any single beers when you purchase over 20 (I think). They also ship interstate, and it is actually cheaper for me to get stuff from Leura Cellars sent to me from NSW to QLD rather than buy at the local - and more expensive - craft beer stores.

 

Other than gas, what doesn't continue to rise in price?

 

Go to any bar around here and you're paying $12-$16 for a 10 or 12oz BCBS. One bar in Chicago was/is selling 2014 Bourbon County Vanilla Rye for $65/22 oz bottle.

So the stores figure, "shit we might as well do the same."

 

this year its 765 ml and I found a local store selling it for around $15, instant purchase of two bottles....

 

Wish it was so simple, but some guy will drop $35 on a BCBS 4 pk, so they won't get the message. I'm still as a loss why BCBS is so expensive in GI's own backyard, are the city taxes that high? That's right in their market, they should know the pricing structure.

 

Well the issue is supply. Do stores just charge $30 for vanilla and sell out in minutes or $65 and wait for someone who really wants?

Honestly, there are many people on this site (me included) who would buy a Vanilla right now for $65 at a bottle shop. So if the store is going to get someone to pay for that, why not charge it? No one is entitled to Bourbon County or any beer.
Liquor stores don't exist to subsidize our beer hobby, they exist to make money.

Dont like the price, dont buy the beer.

 

Did you read his post or are you just responding to the title with an insult? He actually was just asking for an easy way to tell if the prices he sees are fair, and his question is in response to a brewery wanting to know if stores are gouging.

 

Spot on. It's incredible how much the the price of beer can change so drastically from the fermenter, to the hands of the distributer, to store shelves. It's not the breweries jacking up the prices, it's specifically happens on the backend (i.e. distributors and stores).

 

That is incorrect. As others already pointed out, the legally mandated three-tier system allows for both distributors and bottle shops to jack up prices exponentially over what it costs for the brewery to produce. This happens for a very simple reason, a three-tier system means that 3 separate entities are fighting to get their share of the pie. Regardless though, yes you need to be aware as a consumer.

 

"Do you mean to tell me that Craft Beer is not an essential human right? Balderdash!" (wink, wink)

Likewise, along with the hobbyist-defined gouging I have also seen a great many more examples of 'the market correcting itself' in recent years, whereby brands and packages which had previously been considered difficult to obtain have become more easy to obtain and priced more in-line with other (seasonal, limited) items from the same brewery as more competition in the form of other products from other breweries have entered the marketplace.

I'm not naming specific examples (and it varies from metro area to the next, of course), but think of the sheer variety of bourbon barrel-aged stouts now available on the market.

 

I clicked the link and I didn't see any price gouging.

 

Much as I hate the term price-gouging being applied to beer, did anyone even attempt to answer the OP?

OP I don't know of any central price database, but I'm sure some googling should allow you to find out MSRP or 'normal' pricing on a particular beer.

 

Maybe this is how Inbev plans to affect our market. Think of this like gasoline - one station goes up then the rest follow. GI, as a strategic purchase, sets the new bar and others follow.

For me this is 2 strikes against GI; 1) too expensive for what it is 2) Inbev

 

True enough in theory. But believe it or not distribution is more art than raw business. To diminish the hard work of the very good distributors to merely being a tool of the antiquated 3-tier system is a mistake. Shipping anything is expensive and very complicated. I'd love to see a "wide" open system and the added expense and mayhem that would follow- most yahoos would beg for the old days. The big beer companies love the 3-tier system and franchise laws, but the enterprising and beer loving smaller companies- while having to adhere to "the rules"- do not "jack up" prices unfairly and are your friends, not your enemy! Getting stuff places is very hard work, trust me.

 

I think this is what gets my goat the most. The guy who actually makes the beer gets peanuts. Now the guys that just hand it to some one else makes a lot of money. It seems that the art of the deal is more rewarded than actually producing the product. I would guess a good majority on here would have no problem with the brewer making more. We do get on our high horse a bit when retailers and distributors jack prices up.

 

Retail is $250.

 

Firestone Walker is currently selling the XVII for $50 at the brewery. The price on the XIV is $110.

 

It's called inflation.

 

Yes i know the retail is around $250.00, but again i didn't see any gouging on that site.

 

Sadly I have to agree with the others... can't really call it "gouging" on non-essential products. They are charging that much because there are people paying it.

 

Inflation has risen prices 4.5% over the last 3 yrs. The price for beer in my area has gone up about 25%. So inflation is not the reason for the large increase in beer prices. The boom in craft beer drinkers and their willingness to pay higher prices is the reason. It will not stop until the consumer pushes back. If you want the good stuff we will either have to pony up or as a group step away. I have chosen to let others have the high priced stuff and I will use my dollars for slightly less "quality" at a bargain price.

 

You really think that distributors don't spend money on shipping the beer from the brewery to their warehouse, storing that beer (some under refrigeration) until delivery, running a fleet of trucks and employing people to sell and deliver the beer? Distributor also usually are responsible for paying the state excise tax on beer (particularly on out-of-state beer). And in most cases, by contract, the cost of pulling out of code beer from the shelves and destroying it is borne by the distributor.

And doing it all cheaper than the brewers could do it themselves in most cases - if the fact that most breweries, even in states that allow self-distribution, eventually sign with wholesalers to distribute at least some of their in-state beer, is any indication.

 

The only people who "jack up " craft beer prices are craft beer drinkers who are willing to pay them.