Best Online Discounter?

I’m looked to buy 3-4 mixed cases of moderately priced wine for daily drinkers. Ideally I’d like a retailer which will offer 1) case discounts 2) free shipping and 3) a decent international selection (priorities are in order). I’d use wine-searcher, but I want to consolidate this purchase. Thanks.

B-21 in FL and Apex Beverage in NC are good and may work for you.

Case discounts and free shipping at one shop? I’ve never seen it, most price leading retailers (Winex, PC, JJ Buckley) offer prices that have a built in discount. If you find someone offering a case discount chances are their prices are at least 10% higher than the discount retailers. Some retailers do offer shipping at a flat rate of like $9.99 per case (BP Wine, Hi Time, etc.) or free shipping on specific wines (Wine Library). If you find a retailer offering a case discount and free shipping I am guessing their prices will put them into the same (or more) all in order total as the ones who do not offer it. Considering that I would look more at selection than trying to find someone offering case discounts and free shipping. Just my two cents.

As Dustin says, good luck finding both. And for low to moderately priced bottles, if you have to pay shipping, it may not be worth it. Buy from a local retailer with a case discount, pay the damn sales tax, and you’ll probably break even compared to a place that has to ship.

+1 Support a local retailer [cheers.gif]

What Chuck said.

B21 has free shipping if you order on the 21st every month
Gary’s and wine library have specific wines they offer with free shipping.
Zachys runs free shipping deals periodically by region

Shipping will always be the price killer. It would cost me between $35 and $40 a case to ship to you, if I can find somebody who would/could ship to MN. Free shipping won’t be on a QPR in the $20 to $30 range, but I might consider it on the Petrus. You’ll need a store one or two states away to reduce shipping costs.

Safeway here in CA offers 10% off on the purchase of 6 bottles if you are Safeway club member. They also have delivery service for club members. My niece hasn’t been to a grocery store in 10 years.

Costco, Pier 1 Imports, Trader Joe’s and a number of other stores stock QPR wines, as long as you know which ones they are.

Just go to Haskell’s and call it a day. You’ve got a great wine shop in your backyard.

Some of the Haskells have good selection but whenever I price check them against online sources they’re usually not competitive (Sorry Lonny).

The Twin Cities is not the wine shopping mecca of the world - lots of terrific high end shops - but very FEW discounters - the ones that do discount stick to grocery store labels - to the high end stores, a 50% markup is considered a sale price -

So either you go to Surdyks bi-yearly sale which usually has decent prices - or you are stuck with having to stroll through a half dozen stores to find what you want -

The West Coast has the best array of discount wine stores that actually have a nice inventory of under $15 wines - I would look at Wine Exchange first - killer selection of affordable Italian, Southern French and Spanish wines - with no better pricing found anywhere - Hi Times is also very good with a terrific selection -

Spend some time on the Winex website Matt - I have always been in complete awe of what they do, and the deals they have - When Winex’s regular prices are $5 - $7 less than the local retailers before shipping - it’s still worth it to go with Winex or Hi Times and have your wine shipped -

And when you do look at Winex’s site - check out the 2009 Petite Chateaux from Bordeaux - some of the best bargains in the world right now - $10-$15 still gets you a lot of wine if you shop right and Winex loves Cheap bordeaux and spend a lot ot time searching out the bargains -

+1

I love Grapes Wine Co

B-21 ships free on orders taken on the 21st of the month. too late this month.

Thanks for the kind mentions. We try, but Wine Exchange is the place to beat. They run a terrific operation.

If you are just looking for daily drinkers and don’t need to buy it all at once, why not try one of the flash/daily deals sites? Just sign-up for their daily email.

wineaccess.com and/or lastbottlewines.com

Wine Shopper is worth a look, but they only offer a few highlighted wines at a time and shipping is i.e. on orders over $99.

+1 for Apex. Very good guys and competitive prices. Also Winex - they were my playground gateway pusher 20 years ago, and they’re still excellent.

Another recommendation for lastbottlewines.com. With several options each week (and often each day) just keep an eye out and pull the trigger. A case order should almost always qualify for free shipping. Their customer service is great and very responsive should you run into a bad batch.