Would love to see two subforums under monopole cru (like the auction subforum under berserkerday forum) One for Newbies and another for early purchase berserker businesses on preview day.
And yes I think offers need to be way less wordy and loud with caps and wild graphics/photos. If I could easily find the offer I would take a look otherwise I passed them by.
If people do not want too be a berserker business then they can wait until the actual day for the offers to be seen. I will miss previewing their offers but seems a change needs to be made.
I did end up spending a high % my $ on early purchase berserker business offers and appreciate their support of the forum.
I couldn’t find a thread on ‘suggesting Newbies for next year’…am I just missing it? I feel like I remember such a thread from the fall leading up to BD 15.
There’s no such thread - I already have 13 for next year on the list, so I truly don’t have to work to find them! If you have someone you suggest, feel free to have them reach out to me directly, as that’s one step in the process.
Any way to have vendors who promised bonuses or extra goodies to have their feet held to the fire? For instance, one vendor for an MC only offer stated that one lucky MC purchaser would have their 4 bottle vertical upgraded to magnums. Without any follow up with naming who won, preferably in the OP, it sounds like an empty promise. Another vendor stated that if you purchased and made a comment in the thread you would be entered to win a tote bag with this wine in it. I haven’t seen any indication who might of won that. Or maybe I’m jumping the gun and this information is still forthcoming.
Not sure you can make it clearer, it was pretty in your face.
Have you considered maybe doing the early purchase offers until, say 1 or 2pm, and then newbies from 2pm on? Or something similar? Though I imagine there woould be an uproar from people who get home at night expecting early offers then.
This seems like it shouldn’t be an issue because the core idea of BD is promoting/getting your wine out to a new audience. If a winery is confident its wines can sell full price through other channels so should for BD, then it seems like they don’t really need BD at all.
One thought - likely had before - but what about asking wineries to provide offers available only to new customers, a la JJ Buckley. TBH, I buy from some producers on BD just because I know the deals are better than other times of year - happy to get the discount (which probably means I buy more of their wine) - but I’m guessing that some wineries at least would love to have a promo offer for first-time buyers that’s not just a general discount. Obviously not mandatory - just a suggesting for wineries that could offer a “newbie sampler pack” at a deeper discount than the broader range of bottlings many offer.
smart idea, might be worth sharing, although it might also hurt offers…a bit tricky to account on the small producer’s part, too…maybe easier to do giveaway/raffle prizes just for new customers, that can be more controlled
This is an odd personal note to share but I will. Last preview day, I got a panicked call from my wife about an unexpected life challenge – breast cancer. She was up to this time, a big part of this growing hobby with me. First off, want you all to know she’s doing great. Secondly I remember us sitting in the hospital waiting room Friday in 2023 distracting ourselves with some the BD buys just because you know–it was something to do instead of contemplating one’s mortality. Quite a first berserker day experience.
She’s no longer into the hobby – trying to be healthy I guess . But as we met the anniversary of this personal experience I reminded her that BD buys were one of those things we did together to lighten the mood last year. She supported my participation enthusiastically despite her borderline teetotaling these days.
Our second BD was a lot more fun, and we’ll always have this weird memorial. Thanks to all of those who make this day possible!
Huge +1!
This was only my 2nd time following BD. Last year, I gave up after ~1hr as I thought it was very overwhelming and difficult to understand what was going on for a newbie.
This year, I finally figured out roughly how things work and managed to find what I wanted and bought a few cases.
It’s a fantastic initiative and huge kudos to Todd, but if I can be honest, this is far from an ideal experience for an outsider. For folks that have been on WB forever, it probably feels very natural and straightforward. But try sending the link to a friend who has never seen WB / BD before. There is almost zero chance that they will be able to enjoy the experience.
The very first change I would suggest is for producers to follow specific and standard formatting rules, as mentioned beautifully by J Patrick.
Big thanks to all that made this day possible! Looking forward to engaging even further in BD16!
I applaud and thank everyone for their efforts on Berserker Day. If you wanted one suggestion, I would recommend that producers are more upfront about the discount offered. I bought from one newbie and the discount is essentially the free shipping since they showed the discount to total cost (wine plus shipping). They mentioned that was the total cost so my fault I didn’t catch it and they were very liberal with their shipping number. I could have bought the wine locally for essentially the same price since it wouldn’t have needed to be shipped. Not the end of the world but I probably would have bought from someone else during Berserker day and would have bought the other wine at a different time or when the store offered a coupon. It struck me that didn’t seem the spirit of the event. I know now for next time and will do more analysis before purchasing.
Ouch. Thanks and be assured there was no intentional slight of hand at play. @ToddFrench ,the team , and I were on the newbie zoom call where this was discussed.
Shipping costs are the culprit. The idea of “bundling” shipping into a fixed cost package seemed like a way to “make it simple”.
I wonder if it’s not time for a standardized headline and standardized descriptors? I hear from quite a few they find it hard to navigate, hard to understand the deals etc. Even I read headline and had no idea who the producer was on quite a few occasions.
. But as we met the anniversary of this personal experience I reminded her that BD buys were one of those things we did together to lighten the mood last year. She supported my participation enthusiastically despite her borderline teetotaling these days.