Long time follower of the board, first real post - and I would greatly appreciate some advice.
I am a European who has been collecting from US wineries mailing lists over the last couple of years, storing in California and then occasionally shipping to Europe for consumption. I have belatedly realised that I have somewhat overbought (seems to be a common problem on the board!) and would like to thin out my collection. I sent the list of wines to a highly reputable retail and auction house and have been quoted a commission rate of 25% for retail. I just wanted to know if this is the standard rate or if I should be getting a better deal?
Winebid has a sliding scale depending on how much you consign. Starts at 19%. 16% if you consign over $10k. Not sure the next rung on the ladder.
Agree with Dan about the CC but you might have a hard time selling from afar unless your storage company will handle your shipping of individual sales. You might be able to get a fellow board member to help you out. My guess they will work for wine!
25% of what?
If you’re selling Wine X for a specific price, then 25% might be a little high. However, if it’s 25% of “the best they can fetch” then your share may be higher.
Try to determine the prices you want for each wine in advance. If you get those prices, does it matter what the retailer gets for them?
It sounds ridiculously high for a seller’s commission but I only deal with auction houses and not retail sales. For auction houses, it usually depends on how much in total value you have and what you have (what is the likelihood it will sell through).
Wow, so Winebid gets 19% from the seller and 14% from the buyer = a third of the price of every bottle? I know they have to run a big operation with tons of physical storage and human inspection costs, but still…nice work if you can get it.
For a $50 bottle, that’s $57 paid by the buyer. Seller gets $40.50, Winebid gets $16.50. That’s a pretty reasonable margin for the wine business. Especially for seller who otherwise don’t have a lot of legal options.
The term commission usually applies to auctions. In retail, it’s mark-up. My understanding is that the standard basic mark up in wine retail is 50%. That is if they pay you or the wholesaler $100 for a bottle, they then sell it retail for $150. Of course, they then may give a case discount, so their real margin may be smaller. The two are really different because the retailer gives you the money up front based on what he or she thinks they can sell it for. Whether it actually sells at that price is their problem, not yours. With an auction, the price you get is more variable and you don’t get your money until it sells, if it sells. I’m not arguing for one or the other, just pointing out the differences.
My sense is that auctions work better with “hot” items. If you are mostly selling cult California wine, then auction is the way to go. If you are selling mostly more modest wines, then retail may be better.
K&L wine merchant can buy your wines and pay you, or you can use them to auction the wines. If you action them, you pay 15% commission, but if you get the money as store credit it is 0%. You can contact them for details. They have stores in San Francisco and in Hollywood as your wines are someplace in California.
Excellent store.
Commission is only part of the equation. Actual hammer price matters too. If another company charged a 20% commission but achieved 30% higher hammer prices, the seller would be better off with the other company (all other things equal).
Heritage’s hammers are comparable and often better than those of other auction houses. Results can be compared using Wine Market Journal.
I no longer work for Heritage, as I now stay at home full time with my son, but am a happy ex-employee who will continue to do business with the company.
