Part of the curse of being a beer geek is the incessant need for new and different beers. How could this possibly be a curse?, you might ask. You might live in a state that is either hostile to alcohol consumption (i.e. Oklahoma) or your neck of the woods just does not have the greatest selection. The latter has been the case for many who have emailed us and asked us where they could find our Sip With Us Saturday Beers, to which we offered a few suggestions. Here in Toledo, OH I feel a small amount of pain on both ends. Nothing over 12% can hit our shelves, and there are tons of breweries that bypass this area.
For the poor soul who lives smack dab in the center of Oklahoma city and can’t make a weekly trek to Kansas or New Mexico, do not despair–I have one word for you: EBAY.
Silly as the website that celebrates America’s favorite past time (spending money) may seem, it is an amazing location for discovering strange and exotic beers. The reason being, as per EBAY’s rules, alcohol can only be found on the site if it can be categorized as a collectible. EBAY rules states a brew can only be sold if:The item is not available at any retail outlet, and the container has a value that substantially exceeds the current retail price of the alcohol in the container. You will not be finding Natty Light in their listings, instead you will find a menagerie of rare and expensive beers.
Last night as I sat on the couch I was overcome with lust for this beauty: A sampler of 6 Westvleteren Belgian Beers-one of the world’s best trappist beer. Were it not for the $119.00 price tag I would have picked some up. I found a few bottles of Dark Lord, and a couple of Sam Adams’ Utopias, just to mention a few. At one point, Allsopp’s Beer, a beer brewed specially for Sir Edward Belcher’s 1852 expedition to the Arctic, was up for sale on EBAY, ultimately selling for over $500!
If EBAY isn’t your gig, I found this list of online beer purveyors that is pretty exhaustive. After checking out some of the links, I discovered some beers for sale that I had thought required cross-country journeying were I ever to consume them.
The point is, financial hardships aside (and I have had plenty!), the only excuse for drinking inferior or dilluted beer is apathy or ignorance!
I did an online list for our local group the other day as well:
http://columbiabeerenthusiasts.ning.com/forum/topics/buying-online-a-guide
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I just checked it out…that’s a good list. The whole local beer enthusiasts thing is a good idea too. I used to live in Springfield, MO…good old ozarks.
Where were you at in line for DLD?
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Near the end of the first row of port o potties. It took us only a few minutes to get through and get our beers.
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Thanks for this Nate I think I may try some of those sites from the link.
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I really hate to see anybody advocating the use of ebay to get beer. In the review of DLD, Mike called it beer communism, and ebay is the exact opposite of that. It’s beer opportunism at its ugliest. Here’s how it works, using DLD as an example:
Golden tickets go on sale. Tons of beer geeks get tickets, but tons more who wanted to go don’t get tickets. Day of event, everyone’s having a good time, talking and having fun. Everybody gets their four bottles and goes home happy. That evening the first bottles go up on ebay. For some of the people standing in that line, holding tickets that beer geeks wanted, the event is only about making a quick buck. They took beer from people who wanted it to drink and share with like-minded friends for the sole purpose of profit.
Right now, beer fans that couldn’t make it , or got shut out of the golden tickets because they weren’t up at 5:30 am Eastern, are buying those bottles at roughly double their original prices. Every person who buys the beer through ebay makes the problem worse, by raising the prices people have to pay to get a bottle, which encourages more people to put their bottles on ebay. And Dark Lord isn’t the only example, people are doing this with: Kate the Great, Darkness, Sexual Chocolate, Lost Abbey/Pizza Port, Firestone Walker, etc.
There are plenty of alternatives to using ebay to buy beer. Online retailers can provide you with most of what you’re looking for, other than the brewery only releases. You can get those releases (and anything else you’re looking for) through trading. Sites like beeradvocate and ratebeer have sections of their forums just for traders to post what they have and what they’re looking for. You find somebody who has what you want, you come to terms, and you ship each other your beer. It gets expensive because of the shipping costs (beer is really heavy), but you can get any beer you’re looking for while helping out somebody else with what they’re looking for, and cutting the vultures out of the loop. Literally any beer is up for grabs, from everyday local beer, to the biggest names and hardest to get releases.
Ultimately, if you want something bad enough, you’re going to do whatever you want to get it. I just hope that more people will consider the trading route over lining some greedy opportunist’s pocket.
Cheers,
Howard
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I agree that ebay is one of the most heinous means by which beer come into the hands of beer geeks. In fact, the crap started before DLD itself. I heard of some golden tickets on ebay that were being sold for $250.00. Ridiculous! If you think DL prices are high now, just wait 6 months. I bet you’ll see it for $50 or so. I’ve never sold any beer on ebay…I’m utterly against trying to make a buck on something that other people are dying to get. In fact, I thought that you were more than gracious in what you gave me for a bottle of Dark Lord.
But trading for beer is great way to approach the topic. I’m just glad that neither of us had to pay any shipping. I think that Nate was simply trying to get another means by which to obtain some beer across. However, your point is well taken, especially the profiteering junk. I think that you should consider writing a guest post about trading beer. How you do it, what sort of trades you can get, and where the best places to do it are. You might have a lot to add to our content in this respect.
Thanks for the input, Howard! See you Friday.
Mike
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Thanks for the input…if you head over to http://stlhops.com/?s=dark+lord+
you’ll see I said pretty much the same thing about being dismayed at seeing bottles of dark lord on eaby. My next post was actually going to be on beer trading.
BUT
I really don’t see ebay as that huge of an evil, however. How is ebay so much more terrible than an online retailer (which if you read the post, you’ll see I linked to). Both are third party vendors making a profit. In line at dark lord day, this one guy told me he was trading a bottle of dark for three or four bottles of beer from the east coast worth around 50 bucks. this is no different from ebay. Cash is merely an exchange, and so is trading ONE fifteen dollar bottle for FOUR bottles totaling 50.
So respectfully, I’ll have to disagree.
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Here’s a better link to St. Louis Hops.
http://stlhops.com/contest-two-bottles-of-2009-dark-lord/
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Nate,
The retailer is making less profit than the ebay seller. Online retailers probably like and enjoy beer whereas some of the ebay sellers don’t even like beer…strictly profit. I do think there is a difference in that respect. Even if you want to call it a difference in attitude.
The person who exchange beer for beer (or even beers) is doing it to get some stuff that they can’t get, too. Again, I think that a difference in attitude can make all the difference. Both beer lovers were probably satisfied with their beer exchange but the those who simply make money care nothing for the beer or others who love it. Call it petty but I think that the reasoning that people use to exchange beer is different than the person looking to make a buck. I suppose the beer trader makes an experience instead. As an example, I was happy to share the beer that I brought on Dark Lord, but I certainly drank more money of other people’s beer than I shared. Neither party kept tally or care because it was about the experience. That was the real value the beer.
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Right,
I get that…as, my comment on st.louishops suggests. To me DLD was a bit different than buying, say, wevleteran, which was actually cheaper on ebay than buying the beer from an online vendor. The dealer on EBAY claims to have a contract with the brewery. Simply put, he is not a shark out to make a ton of money, he is not just a vendor, in this case, and in many cases he IS the retailer, and Ebay is merely his medium, same as the four walls of a liquor store.
I am all for beer communism, but I understand every man must make a living, and like you and Howard, I disagree completely with usery. I also feel that many folks bought so many bottles to trade up (usery).
Where I respectfully disagree with Howard is in his saying that EBAY should NEVER be used to buy or sell beer, neither of which I never have done but just might someday. Sure, there are some jerks lurking about Ebay, but there are also jerks lurking about the trading forum on BeerAdvocate.
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True Nate! Although I can’t see this guy having a contract with that Trappist brewer. Anything I’ve ever read says that they are completely against selling their beer commercially. I’ve only ever heard that they sell at the door. However, point well taken Nate. Some people on ebay are nothing more than a digital retail store. I think Howard and I both meant the usury thing.
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There are certainly jerks in both places. There are plenty of people on trading forums that hold bottles of rare stuff for ransom, with Kate the Great probably being the most notorious. There are people in the forums that brag about having rare beer just to show off, when there’s literally nothing you can offer them that will be good enough for them to trade. There have been instances of people trading rare beer, just to turn around and sell it on ebay. There have also been plenty of traders who screwed people over and never shipped their end of the deal. I never said that ebay should never be used, I said that I hope people will trade instead. Either way you’re taking a risk, and I’d rather take my risks with people instead of vendors.
In regard to online retailers, they sell the beer for the same price online and in-store. The only reason it costs more to buy it online is because of the shipping, not because they’re out to make a quick buck off of desperate geeks. Ultimately, the safest and cheapest option is to buy beer when you’re traveling. You get access to stuff you can’t get at home, you don’t have to pay shipping (unless you’re flying and have to pay for extra baggage), and you can shop around for the best pricing. In the long run, if you’re the obsessive type that has to have the rarest and most-hyped releases, it’s going to cost you. Whether it’s cold hard cash, or rare beer in trade, is completely up to you.
Cheers,
Howard
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I also forgot to mention one thing about trading. Trading is usually done on a dollar for dollar, rarity for rarity basis. For example, we have tons of FFF here in Indy, it’s available everywhere, but we don’t get Firestone Walker from California. If I setup a trade with somebody in CA, trading FFF Alpha King for FW Union Jack IPA, it would be dollar for dollar, because they’re both widely available. If the person in CA wanted a bottle of Dark Lord, they would be expected to offer up an equally rare beer, of roughly the same dollar value.
When you trade up, all of the rules go out the window, and it really depends on the person you’re trading with. Some will trade you rare beer for beer they can buy at their local liquor store, just because they like to be helpful. Others will dig in their heels and won’t budge unless it’s a completely equal trade. The worst won’t help you out unless they’re totally taking advantage of you.
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Howard, would you be interested in writing a guest post for the blog?
I’ll admit, I don’t trade much. Reason is, I have a limited budget and not much beer on hand, and the beer that I do have cellared I am saving for when my pregnant wife can enjoy it with me.
But I came up with this idea yesterday as I was writing this post. I want to do a thank heaven for beer beer swap, but sort of like a blind lottery. Everyone interested gets a name randomly chosen, and they send a beer of their choice to the individual chosen for them. I think it would be fun and reveal individual preferences.
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Sure, I can put something together. Give me a few days and an email address to send it to.
Thanks,
Howard
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Good! We’re happy about that. Always looking to add a new perspective.
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