A specialized environment where individuals can invest a lot as a down payment on a house, marked by numbered paddles and dense, glossy brochures. That may be the image that springs to mind when thinking of a wine auction, but the rising popularity of online wine auctions has drastically altered the scene and made what was once a fancy event more accessible. Although the idea of consigning wine is broad, once you grasp it, it is simple to implement.
WHAT IS CONSIGNING WINE?
Wines on consignment are sold by the case, often 12 bottles, but occasionally 6. There’s no rush to finish them all; most wines will mature for a year. The case is often divided among friends. They are frequently bought for special occasions when a case or more is devoured quickly. The issue for wine enthusiasts and collectors is that they simply cannot get enough!
If you live in a major urban center, you can anticipate delivery to your house or place of business a few days after you place your purchase. Each agency runs its delivery system slightly differently. Some businesses deliver across the province every working day, ensuring that customers receive their orders in three days or less. The majority accept credit cards, while some also accept checks, and payment is made at the time of delivery. Larger agencies have multiple restaurant accounts in addition to more than a thousand regular individual consumers.
HOW DID IT BECOME POPULAR?
When some people started receiving letters or emails from online wine auction platforms stating that they were accepting consignments for forthcoming auctions and that the market was in a very excellent position to sell, the concept of consigning wine began to take shape. The majority of wine lovers have some excellent wines in their cellar, but nothing more expensive, which they didn’t anticipate being interested in. But still, the majority of wine lovers replied to the email with a list of wines for evaluation. The host of the online wine auctions politely replied to them after a few days and demurred; sure enough, it was the correct decision. They might be interested in a few bottles, but only if the wine proprietors possessed an entire case.
Later, as the coronavirus epidemic began to spread, numerous wineries realized they might profit from the revenue from the sale of some of these bottles. The majority of wine owners who reached out reported having wonderful interactions with the online wine auction staff. They supplied a list of their wines, and within a few days, an evaluation was generated with a high, low, and reserve price for each wine, allowing the owner to choose which bottles to part with and which to keep.
HOW DOES IT WORK?
For inventory inspection and cataloging, the majority of online wine auctions charge a 3 percent handling fee, based on the high estimate, and shipment is the consignor’s duty. Some auction house offerings come with 0% seller commissions, which has changed the business and made it a lot better market for sellers.
Wine owners booked pickup from my doorstep after deciding how many bottles to consign, and empty wine shipment boxes came for them to fill. There is no up-front payment necessary because fees and shipping costs are subtracted from the sale’s revenues. The following week, the wine owner’s wines were up for auction as part of normal weekly auctions. The wines were gathered by auction houses into lots, with some bottles being auctioned separately. The wine owners will always be kept up to date at every stage by the auction houses, who will certify that the wines arrived and passed inspections before sending a post-sale report the day after the auction ends. About 30 days after the auction ends, checks are mailed.
All auction houses utilize a consignment model, but some of them are by far the market leader, with a size three times that of their closest rivals. For many years, Crurated has held monthly online wine auctions; nevertheless, in an effort to please every wine enthusiast, it upped the frequency to weekly last autumn.
The procedures or fees at other auction houses could be a little different, but the consigning process is generally the same.
TIPS FOR FIRST-TIMERS
Burgundy dominates the market for the majority of auction houses, accounting for 40 to 50 percent of total sales dollars, led by Domaine de la Romanée Conti, which represents more than 10 percent of the market by itself. Bordeaux comes in second or third, accounting for 25 to 30 percent of the overall mix of wines.
Most auction houses recommend consignors submit all information about their bottles upfront in order to expedite the consignment process. Particularly for older bottles, the location of purchase and the manner in which it was kept is equally significant to the vintage and producer. Wine sales and consignments at Crurated have remained consistent during the pandemic.
WHY SHOULD YOU CHOOSE CRURATED FOR ONLINE WINE AUCTIONS?
Online wine auctions that are wonderful, thrilling, and extremely safe and reliable are hosted by the company Crurated. Crurated is everything you need if you’re looking for the greatest and most expensive wines to purchase!
