Just a word of warning!

by **r900p** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 10:56 pm

My friends i have fallen victim to ebay. This perhaps is through my own stupid fault. There was one bottle which i won, which was described very similar to another much later release from this distillery. In fact the only difference between the two is the % 53.5 and 53.8, both the same type of cask, age, finish, mubers produced etc. The later bottle the newer one is the one i recieved today, it is a foreign bottling made exclusivly for that country. At first i thought the chap had simply sent the wrong bottle, but once i looked at the percentage i noticed he had not. The item description should have said something along the lines about it being a foriegn bottling, and referred to it being from acertain whisky fest. But in my eager to get hold of the bottle i thought it was i did not check properly.

I urge everyone to check the bottles precise details as i wouldn't want this to happen to anyone else. The seller is 100% with excellent communication and packaging. But just perhaps by leaving out certain details allowed the bidder, me to believe it was a much older bottling.

Ah well, one to keep one to drink. Hope this message is understandable very tired.

Regards,

Rob

by **killerwhale** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 4:29 am

ack, sorry to hear but a good lesson for any buying from ebay, thanks for sharing.
:thumbsup:

by **les taylor** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 11:26 am

Rob sorry to hear about your story. I have stopped buying from there. I have had no bad experience. But you hear enough to be very cautious about it. I'd rather pay retail to the many good online sites. I feel safer that way. The postage is generally cheaper as well.

by **Deactivated Member** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 11:51 am

I bought George T Stagg on ebay once in the belief that I was getting the first edition. The seller showed the ABV for the first edition and referred to the awards that "this bottling" had won. The photo didn't show a legible label.

I was surprised to get the (then) most recent Stagg. When I complained, the seller got very aggressive and told me that it was all the same stuff. He span the process out long enough that I couldn't get a refund from PayPal - so I was left to go through the tortuous e-bay disputes process. This involved getting a signed letter from "an expert" to explain why the product was not as described. I managed to get the letter from Stuart in RMW, but I felt this was a big favour to ask of him given that he had little to gain from it. It is also not a favour that I feel I could ever ask to be repeated. Therefore I have also decided not to bid on e-bay unless I am pertty sure there is no room for ambiguity.

by **Di Blasi** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 2:52 pm

Sorry to hear about your troubles r900p! And thanks for the reminder to be cautious and aware.
I think it's always best to deal with a reputable shop or private dealer when purchasing special bottlings. Or at least if you do deal on ebay, to at least ask all of those questions in advance. Just keep the motto "too good to be true" in mind!!

by **vitara7** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 5:04 pm

i use ebay a little bit for some hard to find bottles, they tend to go for less on ebay than on krugers site... the thing i try to do though is collect the bottles in person by buying fairly local, that way i see the bottle before i part with cash.

saying that though, i do get stuff posted to me, but only from folk i have bought from in the past, and that ill continue buying from in the future. thats what i reccomened others do, try to buy from people you have delat with before or others have dealt with, especially in the case of private collectors looking at getting rid of a few bottles, as one bad buy from a private collector will not only stop someone buying from them again in the future, but word would get round about that said person, its a tight circle we move around in in the whisky world and if your a con man or a fly by night rookie, word would get round, stick to buying from who you know and not (0) feedback sellers on fleabay :thumbsup:

by **orangedogofglory** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 5:47 pm

Nick and Rob, thanks for your input. I am leery with anything on ebay unless it is a hard to find item or something mass produced (kind of polar ends of the spectrum), in which case its probably a guy like me trying to sell something no longer needed...

I bought one bottle on ebay, I'll see how it goes as I'm waiting to receive it now. Its a readily available one in stores but I am picking it up for about US$12 less than at the store, including shipping. If that goes well maybe I'll be a little more open, but now I'm cautious.

And as les pointed out, there are many good online retailers, which I have had no problems with and prefer to stick with.

by **r900p** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:48 pm

I here the only use dealers bit, but as i'm only after very specific bottles, i.e. valinches these are hard to get and often ebay is the only place. The funny thing is the bottle i just recieved MT sourced for me only a few months ago. I guess i'll be cracking open a 1986 valinche soon, hopefully when the dissertation is submitted.

Thanks for the comments.

Rob

by **vitara7** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 8:51 pm

so tell us rob, what did you buy and what did you think it was that you were buying?

by **r900p** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 9:20 pm

Okay a Bruichladdich valinche 1986 limited to 1200 bottles finished in a olorso sherry butt,'first edition valinche' basically alcohol volume 53.5,

The bottle which arrived was also 1986 limited to 1200 finished in oloroso, but the volume was 53.8.

At first i though he'd sent the wrong bottle, but i was bidding when i was away from home so i couldn't check the bottles i had

When i re-read the descirption it does say second edition bottling but says nothing about the bottle being made for the latelin whisky fest in swizerland.

I guess McTears is much safer place.

Wanted the Harvey Hall just gone on ebay but went way above the price i would have paid. I thought i would have learnt my lesson, but i drowned my sorrows today and made a big purchase.

Rob

by **les taylor** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 9:43 pm

Rob they say confession is good for the soul what did you buy? Or is it one of those situations that if I tell you I will have to kill you.?

by **les taylor** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 9:46 pm

Rob I think I found the answer on what is your most recent purchase thread.

by **vitara7** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 9:50 pm

ah, the zurich festival bottling... it shouldnt really be called a "valinch" when you think about it, i nearly got caught out with the same bottling myself before....

by **r900p** » Tue Jul 24, 2007 11:24 pm

thats the one, the chap is adament its a second edition of the first edition batch becuase its very similar. Can't be bothered with the hasle of it all. perhaps i'll sell it and maybe break even in about 20 years.

Rob

by **irishwhiskeychaser** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 11:53 am

I've had 4 issues (3 of which were re4solved in my favour) out of over 100 whiskey purchases on ebay and I am a firm believer that if you do your research and really look into the listing details you should never get into much trouble.

I will always ask for more details and extra pictures if I am in any doubt and if the picture is out of focus and they cannot provide another one I walk away. You really have to be rutless on ebay as there are alot of chancers but that minority make it hard for all the honest dealers.

by **les taylor** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 11:59 am

Do you guy's think the prices are any better than retail though? Because it's my observation that there are many inflated prices on there!!

by **martin grant** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 12:13 pm

les taylor wrote:Do you guy's think the prices are any better than retail though? Because it's my observation that there are many inflated prices on there!!

I agree Les, there sure seems to be some hugely over inflated prices on ebay just now. As an example, you can pick up a Lord of the Isles from Royal Mile for £125, or go for the one currently advertised on ebay with a buy it now price of £189.99 (although with the ebay bottle, the postage is free!)

:shock:

by **Drrich1965** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 2:01 pm

les taylor wrote:Do you guy's think the prices are any better than retail though? Because it's my observation that there are many inflated prices on there!!

I think this goes into the "it depends category", and for those of us in the US, some bottles are hard to get. For example, I got the Glenfiddich Havana Reserve for 160, including postage. A fair price, as I have seen it in some of the stores for higher. It also never made it to the US. On the other hand, the Ardbeg Still young would cost me $115-120 with postage, and it sells for about a third of that in the UK.

by **r900p** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:01 pm

I've found some prices are cheaper than retailers on ebay, but its the hard to find bottle that force me to use ebay.

Does anyone know how ebay prices compare to those reached at McTears? I think i may have go at McTears as guarteed quality. A new whisky shop i've started dealing with goes to every auction and has offered to pick bottles i buy up for me. On top of the auction prices is it just vat and commission?

Rob

by **orangedogofglory** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:36 pm

les taylor wrote:Do you guy's think the prices are any better than retail though? Because it's my observation that there are many inflated prices on there!!

Like Rich said I think it depends, particularly because some bottles don't come over here. My last purchase like I mentioned saved me a little, but I've found the best deals can be had from online retail aggregation sites.

I can consistently find bottles for US$20 less on those sites than what they sell for on ebay or at my local store - plus you get it from an actual retailer. The problem is shipping - not the expense which is generally somewhat reasonable, but the geography issues - I found some great deals at one online retailer (mentioned in the Supermarket Deals thread, like Laga 16 at US$50), but they won't ship outside CA. :yuk:

by **r900p** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 3:45 pm

Orangedogofglory, it works both ways, there are bottles i'd love from the US but shipping prevents this. So do you buy off UK ebay?

Rob

by **Drrich1965** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 4:09 pm

r900p wrote:Orangedogofglory, it works both ways, there are bottles i'd love from the US but shipping prevents this. So do you buy off UK ebay?

Rob

I have bought a bunch of 50ml off UK/international Ebay. Depending upon the seller, shipping costs may be only a couple of dollars more for minis. I have only bought one bottle off Ebay international, as I menteiond above- and it was from Portugal.

Rich

by **orangedogofglory** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 4:20 pm

r900p wrote:Orangedogofglory, it works both ways, there are bottles i'd love from the US but shipping prevents this. So do you buy off UK ebay?

Rob

I keep an open eye over there as well as ebay.de, but shipping to the US is often 20GBP, which tacks on an extra US$40 for me. On special bottlings I would pay that, but I think that it is gouging via shipping. I haven't shipped anything to the UK so I'm basing my view off of hueristics, but I can't see why shipping shouldn't be 10GBP.

If there is anything you want over here, new bottlings that come up and whatnot, let me know and I can always send it out (if I can find it, AZ isn't exactly scotch capital of the US). I can package "bulk cologne" very carefully. :wink:

by **vitara7** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 6:18 pm

[quote="orangedogofglory"]

I keep an open eye over there as well as ebay.de, but shipping to the US is often 20GBP, which tacks on an extra US$40 for me. On special bottlings I would pay that, but I think that it is gouging via shipping. I haven't shipped anything to the UK so I'm basing my view off of hueristics, but I can't see why shipping shouldn't be 10GBP.
quote]

i know to send a bottle of whisky from the UK to USA or canada cost about £16.50 - £17.50 via airmail small packets, thats for a 70cl bottle without a tin etc, if the weight of a package goes above 2kg then the postage prices goes up a fair bit.

by **orangedogofglory** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 6:21 pm

vitara7 wrote:
orangedogofglory wrote:
I keep an open eye over there as well as ebay.de, but shipping to the US is often 20GBP, which tacks on an extra US$40 for me. On special bottlings I would pay that, but I think that it is gouging via shipping. I haven't shipped anything to the UK so I'm basing my view off of hueristics, but I can't see why shipping shouldn't be 10GBP.
quote]

i know to send a bottle of whisky from the UK to USA or canada cost about £16.50 - £17.50 via airmail small packets, thats for a 70cl bottle without a tin etc, if the weight of a package goes above 2kg then the postage prices goes up a fair bit.

ah, very interesting V7. I guess then athat 20GBP is not unreasonable.

by **vitara7** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 7:36 pm

postage costs from the uk do tend to be high, the post office shafts us...

and then witht he strength of the pound right now it makes the cost look even worse.

by **Aidan** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 10:42 am

Yes. Always ask questions.

This listing says that the bottle is over 100 yrs old, which I doubt.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/John-Jameson-Son- ... dZViewItem

by **irishwhiskeychaser** » Fri Jul 27, 2007 6:23 pm

Aidan wrote:Yes. Always ask questions.

This listing says that the bottle is over 100 yrs old, which I doubt.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/John-Jameson-Son- ... dZViewItem

Saw that one too..... might be lucky if it was 50 years old

by **LeoDLion** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 7:29 pm

I started buying from ebay about a month ago. I already received two bottles and am waiting for another three. As far as the price, my observations is that some items are over price and some are underprice. I compare the price to that I will pay at our local liquor store Specs which is the biggest here in Texas. I include the shipping charges when comparing prices.

For example, a bottle of Lag at Specs will cost about $80 and in ebay can be had for $74 for a saving of $6. Small savings but it adds up. Johnny Walker blue label at Specs is $200 but can be had at $170 on ebay. OTOH Ardbeg Uigeadail is still being bid for $73 ($73+$18 shipping=$91) but I can buy it for $79 at Specs.

I stay away from buying from seller overseas because I am wary of US customs. And with the US dollar so low in value plus the danger impose by Homeland Security, its not worth it to buy overseas right now.

by **Jan** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 8:27 pm

LeoDLion wrote:For example, a bottle of Lag at Specs will cost about $80 and in ebay can be had for $74 for a saving of $6. Small savings but it adds up.

Yeah it adds up. But one could also consider that having a local store that stocks a decent selection is well worth supporting and that having such a store, in the long run is more valuable than saving a few dollars here and there.

Just my two cents.