Mctears Whisky Auction

[eggs]

Hi all,

I was just wondering what the rest of the members thoughts were on Mctears Whisky Auctions? Do you recommend them as a place to buy? If not why not?
I bought a couple of bottles from them a year ago but since then I have noticed the prices going quite high especially when commision & VAT are added.

Cheers

[basset]

As always it depends on what's listed for sale and who is bidding, but I have noticed a few bargains over the years at the McTear's auctions.

One notable one was a selection of Johnnie Walkers blends, I think it included JW Red, JW Black, JW Gold, JW Green and JW Blue. It eventually it went for £150.

[Whiskytaster]

Can be a place for great bargains - sometimes. However, it is not actually that simple, unless you are able to collect in person.

The auction house commission, internet fee if bidding via the web, collection fee, packing fee, shipping etc, which can can all add up to quite a bit.

Strongly recommend though if you are able to calculate how much you are prepared to spend on specific bottles - especially those which you can't find anywhere else.

Just go into it with your eyes open and calculations completed in advance !!

[Caledonia]

what is added roughly? % wise? for commission and vat?

[corbuso]

Unless you can attend physically to the Auction, as mentioned by other members, all the extra fees can increase very significantly the final price, especially in regards to shipping costs outside UK

[irishwhiskeychaser]

what is added roughly? % wise? for commission and vat?

Usually Auctions houses charge 15% buyers commission with vat added on top of the 15%.

[Jimmy321]

As above.

I have just checked an invoice from Mctears and its hammer price + 17.5% premium + vat (on the premium only).

Also if you intend on spending a few 100 £'s on a bottle and can not get to the auction house to view the it i would phone and ask for the exact condition of the bottle as i bought a bottle with a not so good condition label, this was not mentioned on the description.

I have a bottle on its way from whiskyauction.com, i judged it's condition from the photos on the site, if it's of any interest i can let you know my opinion on the transaction when it arrives next week. There was €19 shipping but no premium.

Jimmy.

[whiteshirt]

I Have bought a bottle from Whiskyauction.com, the bottle was as seen in the picture and delivered quickly and well wrapped. It was excellent service I am thinking of selling on this site, but never have yet, any advice?

[corbuso]

I Have bought a bottle from Whiskyauction.com, the bottle was as seen in the picture and delivered quickly and well wrapped. It was excellent service I am thinking of selling on this site, but never have yet, any advice?

The site is very good, but consider about selling more than 1 bottle, since the S&H costs might be quite high and don't forget that their transactions fees are not negligeable (up to 20%), but the service is very good. I was never disappointed by them.

[r900p]

I've never won anything at McTears, as sods law has been the prices have gone above what i wanted to pay.

WA on the other hand i have bought quite a few bottles from, in terms of selling i have only sent a couple of bottles across to test the water, which was lovely.

Very good service, an email to let me know bottles have arrived (don't forget to email them before sending to make sure they'll accept the bottles), then a breakdown of how they will look in the auction, then once the auction has started you can access a page that show the auction amounts taking into account commission deduction so what you see is what you get, its all very very well thought out. UK bidders need to provide IBAN numbers etc, amounts are all converted into £'s.

In my experience so far is the prices fetced over at WA seem to be higher than ebay/mctears, but then it possibly needs to be due to high commission.

All in all recommend to all.

Rob

[Jimmy321]

Bottle from wiskyauction arrived today well packaged and in the exact condition as show on the photo's on the site, really pleased with the service.