Best place to sell a few cases of wine?

I’m thinking of unloading a smallish amount (4 cases or so) of wine which has appreciated beyond where I feel comfortable drinking it and where I feel no particular emotional attachment to the bottles in question. Plus some wine which may not come around in my lifetime like my 1996 Gouges.

Do auction houses accept such a small quantity? I’ve never sent anything to auction so I’m not sure how that works.

Or maybe a retail store or place like Benchmark would be better?

I’m thinking of trying Commerce Corner first though I feel a little guilty doing so given that I’d only be selling wines that I consider overpriced. And if I do so, what’s standard? Something like 15% below wine-searcher low price? And unless I do NYC /NJ pick up only I really don’t want to fuss with shipping.

I haven’t decided for certain since I bought all these wines to drink but my wine consumption keeps going down and I really want to redo the bathroom…

Anyway, all advice welcome (other than the usual from Nathan Smyth). I only started thinking about this last week so nothing is set in stone.

I sold on Commerce Corner and it worked out quite nicely. Since Wine Searcher lists retail prices, somewhat below that will sell the wine and do nicely. And I wouldn’t feel guilty. What you think is overpriced, someone else will consider a bargain. I have only sold wine a couple of times, though, so I don’t have other experience to compare.

It may be a felony to ship wine as an individual without proper license and you’ll never be able to work again blahblah

Lol!

I guess it doesnt hurt to post on CC first?

I’ve never sold to Benchmark, but I have to Chambers and Flatiron and both were good experiences. Depending on where you store your wine, MWC might be an easy option as well.

I’ve consigned small lots (4-5 cases) to WineBid and to Leland Little. Leland is 20 minutes from my house, so that’s easy. I would think Zachy’s or Acker would take small lots for the online auction but I would probably contact a retailer. They may even give you a better rate if you want to trade for store credit.

Most auction houses I have dealt with have a minimum value for consignments. If the total value is >$5k, I believe K&L will accept it at a 15% commission (10% if >$10k). I’ve sold through K&L and Winebid, and both worked fine. I’d opt for K&L going forward.

Definitely give a look to Commerce Corner. I would price to where you would sell, and don’t find WS prices as relevant as much as auction price net of your paddle cost (as this is your best alternative sales route), ie a discount to auction. Ideal price is premium to a discount to auction, but less than auction (so both seller and buyer wins). Going the auction route has the extra shipping, middle man, tax, and so many other fees.

Winebid is great for this type of sale. They will pick up at your storage or home.

Thank you all! Especially Andy who was concerned that Nathan would not be present given my request.

You’re very welcome!

Never work again? Sounds perfect!

Winebid has a 2,500 minimum and are great to work with. Acker just started doing weekly online auctions and are much more able to handle smaller consignments. Worth giving them a try.

It varies, but many brokers now want parcels of at least 10-15k value unless you have a few A list bottles for sale.

I don’t know, I thought I was pretty helpful.

Congrats! You both channeled Nathan and preempted him! champagne.gif

My recollection is that K&L does not take any commission if you are willing to take a store credit rather than cash.

Don’t think they ship to Jay
https://www.klwines.com/Shipping/StateLegality

Much better deal for K&L

Can you explain why you won’t drink the wine? The fact that it is worth more than you paid makes you not want to drink it? Sounds like a good therapy topic !!

Lots of reasons.

I remember when I opened a perfectly lovely 2000 Rousseau Chambertin Clos de Beze a few years ago. When I later checked pricing on it I thought - I’d really rather have had $2,000.

I’m drinking a lot less as I get older and I still enjoy buying wine.

I’d like to redo my bathroom and every time I put money away for it an unexpected expense comes up.

I just went through every bottle I own with the criteria of whether “I really don’t care if I never drink this wine”. There was more than I thought. Of course there were also bottles both inexpensive and expensive which fell into the category of “they’ll have to pry this from my cold dead fingers”.

I was prompted to think about it last week when due to business reasons it became likely (though not certain) that the company I work for will be giving out much smaller bonuses for the foreseeable future. That’s where the bathroom remodel money was supposed to come from.

Correct, not that I’m interested in a store credit anyway. I used to order from them semi-regularly so I was sorry when they stopped.