Visiting Tillamook, Summer 2017 Update

For whatever it's worth, here's mine.

I'll start by just saying that you've always struck me as a straight shooter, and so I'm inclined to give you the benefit of the doubt in all this. That being said...

I read through your post above, especially the part pertaining to costs, and have cut and pasted what I thought were some of the more troubling statements:

"We are, as we always have, charging what we must."

"We will have at least the one glass for folks, and I don't want to 'sell' the tasting and tour, but the value to our guests of some of our favorite beers being poured during will be significant."

"We will be trying to add even more value where we can, and consider the included membership perks as a start, not the end."

"We do believe that we are providing value, and that it will be good for those who choose to join."

"I've said it before, but we will always try to provide the best beer and the best value to consumers that we can, instead of any other motive. It is our driving goal. Otherwise, we would be charging more for not just this membership, but for our beer.""

Man, what a complete load (especially the final paragraph/comment). From the tone of your post, it sounds like you feel you're doing your customers and club members a favor by only charging $30 a bottle (or however one wants to pro-rate the club price per bottle), when you could be charging a hell of a lot more. Just speaking for myself, please don't do me any more favors. Please go right ahead and charge $50 or $100 a bottle for your beer, or whatever you feel is justified and appropriate, and by all means feel free to double the cost of the membership fee.

Frankly, the entire tone of your post sounds like posturing and PR to me. No explanation or concrete data has been provided for what others have observed appears to be a pretty sizeable cost increase in your beer (at least as it pertains to keeper beers). Perhaps that added cost really is justified, but so far, there certainly is nothing in your post that would lead me to think so. Your comment about the "value" of the tours and tastings tells me that you're probably well aware that many potential members are not going to be happy with the membership pricing, hence the emphasis on how fabulous and valuable the tours/tastings will be. As someone who belongs to several wine clubs in Napa and Santa Cruz, that portion of your post really struck me as a bunch of baloney. Frankly, I've never seen a winery brag about the quality of their special events/tastings as a reason for joining the wine club. Those special events are simply a way for the winery to thank their club members, who provide a ready and reliable source of revenue for the winery by making regular, periodic purchases of their wine. Often times those special events are of limited value to club members anyhow, many of whom live nowhere near the winery (and so are often unable to attend the special events, even if so inclined). Does that sound familiar?

All that aside, while I'm not particularly impressed by anything I read in your post, I do want to make one thing clear. You obviously have the right to charge whatever price you want for your beer, and it really matters not one wit to me what your reasons are for setting your price. Just speaking for myself, however, I've always been impressed and appreciative of your candor and transparency, and it's the lack of both (at least based on my perception) in your recent post that I find disheartening.

Just my two cents. Regardless of my opinion, I'm sure you won't have any problem selling out your club membership, and probably within minutes of it becoming available. Best of luck.

 

All good points and you could be right. However, I didn't get any of that from the OP from dG, and I'm not sure what you're referring to when you mention the list of guaranteed membership benefits.

I can see where the hiring of an additional employee would result in some additional costs, which in turn might necessitate some price increase. However, I'm not sure why you feel it therefore follows that the proposed price increase in this case is automatically justified. Just to play devil's advocate... you appear to feel that a (roughly) 100% price increase is justified. What if the pro-rated bottle cost ended up being around $40 a bottle? How about $50 a bottle? Would you still feel the price is justified? At what point would you feel a significant price increase isn't justified? I understand that you're a fan of dG (I have been as well), but I don't feel that entitles them to an automatic pass on what appears to be a pretty significant price increase, just because the owner states that he always provides value, and always only charges what he feels he has to charge.

As I mentioned in my post above, the price increase may in fact be justified, but after reading over the dG post above, there's certainly nothing for me to base that opinion on.

Before I posted my response, I gave considerable thought as to whether it was really a good idea to say some of the things I planned to say, given Trevor's obvious popularity in this forum. I was apprehensive about saying anything at all, despite what I perceived to be some pretty glib, self serving comments on the part of the owner.

But I like to think that's what we're all about in this forum. If we have an opinion about something, we come right out and say it, and we don't (generally) sugarcoat our responses. So I posted what I posted, and hopefully I didn't ruffle too many feathers by doing so.

 

I always question the value of my wine club membership.

I can't speak for other members, but the impression I have is that most folks are wine club members for the same reason my wife and I are. It's get us access to wine we wouldn't be able to obtain in any other manner (Robert Biale wines see some limited distribution, but the other wines are available only at the winery or on certain restaurant lists). All of them offer special events and tastings throughout the year, some of which are complimentary, while others are discounted significantly for club members. Those events are just icing on the cake, as most members can't take advantage of the tastings and events, unless they happen to live near the winery (most members don't, based on the few events I've been able to attend). I've never heard anyone factor in an event into the cost of the wine ("hey, this $40 price tag is actually more like $30, when you take into account the free BBQ they always hold for members during harvest."). Those tastings and events are a way for the winery to say thank you, and to entice you into staying in the club.

Maybe I'm over simplifying this, but the wine club model seems very similar to the dG club model to me (except most wineries don't make a "free" glass part of the equation). Also, most wineries offer their wine a la carte, so you know exactly what it is you're paying for (none of this $260 for a club membership, for wine that is provided at the winery's discretion).

As I mentioned in my OP, I'm willing to give dG the benefit of the doubt on all this (based on how fair and open handed they've been the past), but reading over the explanation post from Trevor about the new Keepers Club just gave me a bad feeling. It was long on "just trust us," and really short on any actual explanation for what appears to be a significant and unjustified price increase. His final comment, where he appeared to be patting himself on the back for not charging an even a higher price... that really rubbed me the wrong way.

Obviously, he doesn't need to tell me squat about his pricing, but I think it completely reasonable and understandable that someone might question his motives. In the past, he made a pretty cogent argument about his pricing philosophy and the value dG provides, and the proof was always in the pudding (great beer and beyond fair prices). If that's going to be a thing of the past, perhaps that's understandable, and one could even argue that it's high time. I guess I just wish he'd come out and say that (if that's what's going on), instead of trying to convince us that this new club membership price is really a hot smoking deal (because it sure doesn't look like that to me).



And I appreciate the offer of the beer. I'll gladly take you up on it, but only if you allow me to buy the next round. Cheers!

 

IMHO, past practices are always the best way to predict future behavior and results. So I'm completely with you on this, and I agree the interpretation I'm making does seem out of character.

I'll be happy to be proven wrong on this, but I've outlined why I've reached the conclusions I have, and I stand by them. At this point, the club membership pricing is impossible for me to reconcile with past dG practices, and if anything the explanation we've received from Trevor has done nothing to alleviate my suspicions.

As we both know, there is a huge demand for dG beer, with the beer selling and trading for many times it's actual value on the grey market. I have no doubt that Trevor is well aware of that, and it would be only human nature for him to be a bit envious of that fact (and for him to consider taking some steps to take advantage of that economic reality to his benefit). That's hardly a character defect and it doesn't make him a bad person. So with that in mind, I now see a club membership priced at $260, that gets me 8 bottles and glass. Maybe it's justified, but on it's face, that looks like a pretty sizeable price increase, that I'm having a very difficult time understanding, even taking into account the "new employee onsite" explanation. Frankly, the comment about the value of tours and tastings, along with his comment about how he could easily charge considerably more (and let's not kid ourselves, easily get it), has only further led me to wonder and question what precipitated all this.

Despite past behavior and practices, if it walks like duck, quacks like duck, and make duck yuck in the water... maybe it really is a duck (or clam as the case maybe).

I don't know man... Trevor invited dialogue regarding his post (at least that was my interpretation), and given some of the previous comments in this thread about the cost of the club, and Trevor's less than completely satisfactory explanation for the costs associated with membership, it seemed appropriate to voice my concerns, and to express my incredulity regarding some of his comments.

No, no hard feelings. As I mentioned, given Trevor's (well earned) popularity in this forum, I was fairly certain my post wasn't going to be popular with everyone.

 

One thing else I should mention, in the interest of complete candidness.

Of course there is a lot of interest in the new and improved Keepers club, and I've gotten a number of beermails and texts inquiring about it. Almost universally when folks hear the cost breakdown, the reaction is the same. There's literally a pause for moment, the particular individual expresses mild surprise, and notes that that seems a bit high for dG stuff (I don't get the impression this is ever a complaint, just an observation).

After that there's something of a virtual shrug, and the individual notes that it's dG, and that the added cost won't have any impact on the demand (everyone says the same thing -
"doesn't matter, I'm sure it will sell out almost instantly").

I'd be lying if I didn't admit that it gets a bit tiring to hear that over and over again (as if when it comes to dG stuff, the cost is essentially irrelevant). It's conceivable that could have colored my reaction to Trevor's post just a bit.