Negotiating with Shopkeepers

[ramblinman]

I'll preface this with knowing that experiences will vary wildly and theres no way for me to know except to try, and I plan on it, but... I'm curious if any of you have had success negotiating with shopkeepers for some of their extreme priced limited releases.

Case in point, stopped by a shop yesterday as the wife wanted to pick up a bottle of wine for the coming ice storm and cause a glimpse of Lot B behind the counter and down in a corner. Asked the clerk if it was on reserve, he said no, asked what they were asking for it, he answered $300. I said thanks and walked away.

I realize its tough, but I've become a mostly lower middle shelf connoisseur, so thats just not in the cards. Realistically I enjoy it enough to get $100 worth of enjoyment from it sharing it with friends, but thats probably a stretch. Since this is 1/3 of the asking price the owner will probably laugh at me, but he's a bit of a sketchy ass so I'm not too worried about that .

Side note to show my lack of retail understanding: No idea why they'd have something like this and not show it off. I understand the high prices/supply/demand, but if you're putting it behind the counter and within view, why not put it prominently along with their WP Boss Hog/PHC/etc? Maybe worried about people jumping the counter for that van winkle juice? Especially something like Lot B with its non pappy label that a lot of people jumping on the bourbon bandwagon wouldn't even recognize.

[Oboe Cadobro]

I might say something casual like "Wow, I had no idea. Since the MSRP is $XX, I'd be willing to go as high as $XXX...let me know if you want to sell it..."

[Kalessin]

In the locked cabinet on display means that it's harder to steal but easy to find.

Behind the counter in this case is probably them waiting for someone to come in begging for Pappy, they'll do anything for it...

"Oh, well, we were just hiding this bottle because it's been set aside for one of our regulars... but we haven't seen him in a month... it's Van Winkle... it's good...you'd better pull out your credit card quick before he gets here..."

[nd2005]

When people are charging something like that (~6 times retail), I wouldn't even bother with trying to negotiate, as there is virtually zero chance I'd get them to come down to a price I'm willing to pay (for a bottle of Lot B I think I'd max out at around $75).

[Flyfish]

Some of us are fortunate to live where liquor merchants can never overcharge us because the state decides what the right price should be. And the state has also decided that we really don't want Lot B at any price whatsoever. I find that comforting.

[callmeox]

Sazerac or the distributor could have made that decision for us as well.

[JPBoston]

Some of us are fortunate to live where liquor merchants can never overcharge us because the state decides what the right price should be. And the state has also decided that we really don't want Lot B at any price whatsoever. I find that comforting.

Ha! Well said.

Just remember... Lot B is people!!!

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[smknjoe]

You are not going to get him down from that $300 mark by much. It's a $50 dollar bottle. Go get some W12 and forget about it. They taste the same to me...and yes I have done a side by side.

[P&MLiquorsEric]

Anything is negotiable but there is a fine line of a reasonable offer and being a dick.

Asking a guy to come down on a bottle of van winkle at that price seems reasonable but don't be shocked when he says no.

[Harry in WashDC]

You are not going to get him down from that $300 mark by much. It's a $50 dollar bottle. Go get some W12 and forget about it. They taste the same to me...and yes I have done a side by side.

Yup, what Joe said. Also, 300 = $50 X 6 or $25 X 12 or some combo thereof. That's a lot of stuff I like plus a strange bottle to try for the price of something I think I liked three years ago.

[p_elliott]

I hope you put the bottle of wine back too!

[petrel800]

Not going to get into the shop keepers decision on the pricing of the bottle, but I will say, it never hurts to ask and it never hurts to be respectful (whether you like it or not, it's his bottle and he can do what he likes) and say something like, "while I think that might be too high, maybe you'll get a buyer. However, if you want to discuss the pricing to get it off your shelf at some point, here is my number."

Sometimes you'll get a phone call.

My wife and I recently during our home buying search, it was too late in the game, we were already under contract on another home, but we found one early on in our search and gave an offer and an explanation as to why they were asking to much. It was a respectful offer which they declined initially, but they finally came around to the reality of the market and called us a day or 2 before our closing on another property.

Also wound up with 2 older bottles of a $45 bottle of white wine my wife loves for $20 a piece back in Nov. Told the shop keeper I was interested in those bottles, but since they were from the 2006 vintage and improperly stored (no temp/humidity control) I was taking a big risk. Gave him my number and said if he was willing to negotiate I'd talk. He called about a month and a half later. We wound up agreeing that for $20 a bottle, I would assume all the risk if the bottles were bad and not return them to the store. Figured it was a good gamble. If one was good, I saved $5, if both were good, I got a great deal.

[squire]

Even if one is a bit disappointing there is always the sauce pan.