A truly fascinating study (with quite a few economic terms that I had to look up) was posted on RateBeer regarding auctioning of rare beer on E-bay.
What riled me up was right up front. E-bay policy or non-policy. Here is the summary according to the post:
1) The value of the item is the collectible container, not its contents.
2) The container has not been opened and any incidental contents are not intended for consumption.
3) The item is not available at any retail outlet, and the container has a value that substantially exceeds the current retail price of alcohol in the container.
4) The seller will take all appropriate steps to ensure that the buyer is of lawful age in the buyer’s and seller’s jurisdiction (generally 21 years of age).
5) Buyers and sellers both ensure that the sale complies with all applicable laws and shipping regulations.
All I can say is that E-bay might strain a muscle in their effort to look the other way. What a blatant way to say that we want the commission fee and none of the legal problems. I don’t know who wins the crass capitalism award more. E-bay or the sellers.
And all of this could be minimized with a simple national law that standardizes alcohol shipments between states. That way E-bay and other online sites, including the brewer could sell without worrying that they were “against the law”. The market would have an increase in sellers and that might push the prices below what makes it worthwhile for the rare beer seller who is it in for profit and not the taste of the beer.
Have any of you bought beer from E-bay? I would like to know what the experience was like.