Vinotrip

Posted by: Gary on September 8th, 2009

Creative Commons licensed image from Flickr user killthebird

The path of the wine collector is littered with cases of remorse and magnums of regret. These missteps pile up in a subterranean warehouse in San Francisco and sit in the friendly confines of perfect storage conditions. Neglect comes from many factors: case purchases that weren’t as good as advertised, mailing list buys “just to keep my spot on the list”, piles of Aussie Shiraz waiting quietly for the boom in prices that will never come. The solution is unclear; the owner is torn. He is paying storage fees on wine, but getting unwanted wine shipped to him is hardly worth the shipping fees that FedEx will gladly charge.

Enter Vinfolio Marketplace. You, dear reader, can now buy this regret at a steep discount. Personally, I like to pair remorse with a Ribeye steak or some cola-braised Lamb Shank.

What is Vinfolio Marketplace? First, some background.

Traditional wine purchasing goes like so

winery -> distributor -> retailer -> you

This works fine, but the price you’re paying has been marked up along the way. Plus, it is hard to find old bottles, rare bottles, and straggler bottles.

The secondary market

wine owner -> stuffy auction house -> random bidding war -> you

This works fine too, if you’re the type that can drop $5,000 on a case at Sotheby’s. I’m not there yet. Plus, you’re at the mercy of what is offered. Looking for that one vintage of Latour to plug up your vertical? You have to scan the catalogs looking for it until one comes up, then you’re competing with everyone else on auction day.

Vinfolio Marketplace

wine owner -> (Vinfolio Inspection) -> you

The path of least resistance is here! At Vinfolio Marketplace, people list their wines for sale. You browse the site and buy those wines. Vinfolio serves as the intermediary of a person to person transaction (the actual legal definitions are, I’m sure, phenomenally complicated). You can search for some rare bottles, some stuff you had five years ago and really liked but can no longer find, or go bargain hunting and try to shore up your cellar with values. Some people haven’t found much success, though, with bids being mostly ignored by would-be sellers.

There are several critical tips that make this easier. Using them will help you score finished sales and better prices on your wines.

Search for wines marked for sale. This may be obvious to you, but it isn’t obvious that “Marketplace” encompasses all wines in the Vinfolio user universe. These wines may not exist, may not truly be for sale, may not be anything. If they’ve been marked for sale, at least you know you’re working with someone who wants to play ball.

Filter/sort on wines with where the seller has specified an asking price. Sellers don’t need to list an asking price, but if they do, it’s a further clue to you about their willingness to sell should you make an offer. Plus, making an offer on a wine without an asking price just feels like a lowball move.

Filter for wines already in Vinfolio storage (Location -> In Vinfolio Storage). Inertia is in your favor. Here’s the workflow for a purchase of a wine from a seller’s personal storage.

Accept bid -> go through personal storage and find the bottle(s) -> rummage around and find a box to ship the wine in -> Pack the wine -> Go to FedEx and ship the wine -> EDIT: See comment thread about shipping costs when selling through the marketplace -> Wait around for Vinfolio to receive and inspect the wine -> Finally get paid.

Lame. Let’s see what happens if the wine is in the owner’s storage account.

Accept bid -> Vinfolio inspection -> Receive payment

Hey! That’s super easy! If you were a seller, which is easier for you? Easier for the seller means cheaper for the buyer. I’m glossing over the nitty-gritty mostly because VInfolio has done a good job of putting up tutorials, blog posts, and FAQs surrounding the Marketplace.

For a few weeks now, I have been taking advantage of the Marketplace and scored some good wines at killer prices. I get to drink some old stuff that isn’t available in wine stores, and the owners get to unload unwanted wines out of their storage account. Winners all around!

I waited to write this blog post lest more buyers enter the pool and drive the market up. But, my buying spree is tapering off, and my readership isn’t yet (ever?) broad enough to create a Tulip craze. Go get dirty in the Marketplace and search for some wines that you may have thought were previously out of your reach. Good luck!

September 8th, 2009 | Tags: capitalism ftw, i'll take a dozen, marketplace, vinfolio | Category: Deals, Wine shops | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL