Michigan liquor list

[HighInTheMtns]

The question of whether a particular bottle is available in Michigan came up in chat tonight. Michigan folks, have you seen http://liquorli.st? It's cool.

[TheNovaMan]

You can also go here: http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/mlcc/pricebook/webprbk.txt

Highlight and copy, paste and save as a text file, (or just right-click and save the link as a text file) open the text file in a spreadsheet program, and sort it any way you like!

[OscarV]

Here's the one I use.

http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/lcc_code/sr_lcc.asp

[Tony]

You can also go here and click under spirit ordering- http://www.michigan.gov/lara/0,4601,7-154-35299_10570_14173---,00.html

Although I still do not see the Four Roses Single Barrel 2013 that I have seen in store.

Best regards, Tony

[OscarV]

Although I still do not see the Four Roses Single Barrel 2013 that I have seen in store.

I too saw that or didn't see that in this case.

I wonder what's up?

Did you see it at only one store?

[squire]

The chatroom grapevine delivers again.

[nd2005]

I too saw that or didn't see that in this case.

I wonder what's up?

Did you see it at only one store?

I sort of assumed that b/c the liquor list includes previous Four Roses single barrel annual releases, the 2013 had no issues being distributed. I saw it (briefly) in 2 stores in the Ann Arbor area

[mbroo5880i]

It is interesting to see the cost to the stores and the pricing changes. For example, Russell's Reserve dropped $4 per 750 ml. The margins look fairly tight from wholesale to retail. Obviously, volume is what leads to profitability.

[TheNovaMan]

Yup. Because of the way the state sets the minimum price, retailers are guaranteed to make at least a certain percentage of the "base price," which is the wholesale price plus 65% tax. Then there's more tax added on top of that for the end purchaser. We pay almost exactly twice the wholesale cost of booze in MI.

[Tony]

Bought it at one Livonia store, another Livonia store said they had it and had sold out, only got three bottles.

Best regards, Tony

[nsain]

You can also go here: http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/mlcc/pricebook/webprbk.txt

Highlight and copy, paste and save as a text file, (or just right-click and save the link as a text file) open the text file in a spreadsheet program, and sort it any way you like!

As the developer of the site, let me give some quick background. The goal of this site was to make this operation easier and something you can do from your phone while you're in a store, or at a duty free shop. The LCC publishes a PDF pricebook that you could download and save to your phone or computer, but then you'd have to hunt down that link on their website. It's not easy, especially from an iPhone.

So Liquor List was born from a friend of mine who likes his Scotch and is always on the lookout for bottles he can't get in Michigan. This was my attempt at making it easy for him to find what should be available in the state. If you have any specific feedback, I'm always looking for ways to improve the site. Let me know if you want to get in touch.

[TheNovaMan]

Oh, I wasn't complaining or criticizing, I just like to turn everything into a spreadsheet. I'm kinda nerdy that way.

[Josh]

As the developer of the site, let me give some quick background. The goal of this site was to make this operation easier and something you can do from your phone while you're in a store, or at a duty free shop. The LCC publishes a PDF pricebook that you could download and save to your phone or computer, but then you'd have to hunt down that link on their website. It's not easy, especially from an iPhone.

So Liquor List was born from a friend of mine who likes his Scotch and is always on the lookout for bottles he can't get in Michigan. This was my attempt at making it easy for him to find what should be available in the state. If you have any specific feedback, I'm always looking for ways to improve the site. Let me know if you want to get in touch.

Very cool site! I noticed it doesn't include the items on the latest supplemental list. Is there any way to include the recent supplemental lists in the search? It may be academic anyway, since new items typically take a long time to go from the supplemental list to store shelves.

[nsain]

Very cool site! I noticed it doesn't include the items on the latest supplemental list. Is there any way to include the recent supplemental lists in the search? It may be academic anyway, since new items typically take a long time to go from the supplemental list to store shelves.

Doesn't hurt to take a look and see what I can do. Do you have a link handy I could check out?

Edit: Nevermind, found the link I needed. I'll take a look at the supplementals and see if there's a way to pull these in programmatically. Thanks for the feedback!

Edited July 17, 2013 by nsain

[Josh]

Doesn't hurt to take a look and see what I can do. Do you have a link handy I could check out?

Edit: Nevermind, found the link I needed. I'll take a look at the supplementals and see if there's a way to pull these in programmatically. Thanks for the feedback!

[Shell]

The question of whether a particular bottle is available in Michigan came up in chat tonight. Michigan folks, have you seen http://liquorli.st? It's cool.

As Oscar said, I find this to be the best product look up list: http://www.dleg.state.mi.us/lcc_code/sr_lcc.asp

It's the most current listing, updated and maintained by the State of MI. You can search by product name or category.

(In addition to the state minimum retail selling price, it also gives you the price paid by the retail liquor store and the price paid by bar/hotel/caterer/restaurant.)

(Although this price list site - http://liquorli.st - has some unique look up categories, I wonder how frequently the site operator updates its information from the state.)

Shell

Edited March 13, 2014 by Shell

[n811]

I use that online lookup all the time (the state liquor control commission, that is) to see which stores rape you and which ones will get my money.

Edited March 13, 2014 by n811

[Shell]

My experience in Southeast MI is that most stores will sell at the state minimum price - many will even advertise it as "warehouse prices". The competition has been ferocious from Costco and Sam Club's. If store doesn't advertise state minimum price, I will ask. Often, they will pull out a copy of the state liquor list to show me that they are being honest.

I don't know what it's like at stores outside of the larger MI metropolitan areas.

Shell

[Tony]

My experience in Southeast MI is that most stores will sell at the state minimum price - many will even advertise it as "warehouse prices". The competition has been ferocious from Costco and Sam Club's. If store doesn't advertise state minimum price, I will ask. Often, they will pull out a copy of the state liquor list to show me that they are being honest.

I don't know what it's like at stores outside of the larger MI metropolitan areas.

Shell

Good Day Shell-

I trust you are well. I am also in SE Michigan and was talking with a guy I work with about this last week. He has some friends that own some liquor stores and said that many time they will say state minimum prices and that is true for your 5ths and family size but they do not do that for the smaller sizes like pints/half pints. Not sure about this myself as I do not ever buy anything smaller then a fifth.

best regards, Tony

[Crowes]

And some stores that I won't name will say they are selling at Sate Min prices even though they aren't, assuming you wont ask them to pull out the book. I really hate that and had it happen to me at a well known store in Canton a few weeks ago when they were charging $10 more for a bottle I wanted than another store that I went to originally. When I asked him what the price was he assured me it was State Min, I knew he was lying and told him I was taking my business elsewhere. Then he started asking which store I found the particular bottle at for cheaper, and I refused to tell him. $10 over isn't any big deal, but don't lie about it.

[n811]

I have a question on this state monopoly business we have here. A store buys a case of liquor from the distributor, who first purchased it from the state. At the time of purchase, the min shelf price per bottle was $50, so that's what the store puts it on the shelf for. 2 months later, the state raises the price to $55. The store still has 4 bottles left from its original order. Is the store allowed to raise the price of its remaining 4 bottles to the current min shelf price? Well, maybe 'allowed' isn't a good word, because they can sell it for however high the customers keep buying them for!

I've seen several stores do this, just wondering how shady it is.

[Josh]

I think they're required to raise the price to whatever the state minimum price is.

[Ravensfire]

And some stores that I won't name will say they are selling at Sate Min prices even though they aren't, assuming you wont ask them to pull out the book. I really hate that and had it happen to me at a well known store in Canton a few weeks ago when they were charging $10 more for a bottle I wanted than another store that I went to originally. When I asked him what the price was he assured me it was State Min, I knew he was lying and told him I was taking my business elsewhere. Then he started asking which store I found the particular bottle at for cheaper, and I refused to tell him. $10 over isn't any big deal, but don't lie about it.

I suspect the state wouldn't be too happy to hear about that. If they do it enough (and enough to tick you off), you might consider sending in a complaint. I've got no issue with someone making a buck (or more). I won't even complain about obscene markups on bourbon that we've all seen. It's a free market - set your price how you want and I'll shop accordingly. But when someone lies and misleads, I've got major issues with that.

[squire]

Yes, intentionally misleading customers must be violative of something.

[Special Reserve]

In MI it is legal to sell liquor above the state price. It is illegal to sell below the state price.

I've paid above the state price to get something I wanted. $20 for a VWFRR in a store that did not advertise that it sells at the minimum price.

It really grinds my ass when a store advertises state minimum price then charges more.