Auction prices

[Uncle Bobby]

I've noticed recently that more and more there are quite significant differences in the prices achieved for identical bottles by the various on-line auction houses.
Even allowing for differing commision structures, there can be quite a gap in hammer prices.
If and when I come to sell my collection I would have to choose carefully where to sell.
Does anybody else value their collection regularly, and how do you do it?

[DillyT]

That is what happens with auctions, I have seen bottles sell for £200 RRP and go for £80 a month later but then just the same bottles I have seen go for £300 + in the next auction...
As for keeping an eye on the prices of what I have, if I spot them I will note the price down but as I am not planning to be selling any of them for 15/20 years (If I have not drunk it all?) then I will be having a really good look but at the moment no.

I do have my collection on Whiskybase which has a Whiskybase Value but how that is worked out I do not know as I am fully aware that my collection has not gained that much value in the few years I have been saving them instead of drinking them.

But if you want to work it out for yourself, make a spread sheet of all the bottles you have and the prices you paid for them. Then keep an eye out for your bottles in the the auctions and some of the other reselling points and say every 6 months make a note of what they are selling for.
I got some limited editions when they where released 5 years ago and I have not seen any of them come up for sale anywhere so they would just be a guess if I cared that much.

[lincoln imp]

[quote="DylanInYork"]o.

I do have my collection on Whiskybase which has a Whiskybase Value but how that is worked out I do not know as I am fully aware that my collection has not gained that much value in the few years I have been saving them instead of drinking them.


The valuue of WB cbottles isan average of shop prices or the last known price, so if there are 2 shops listed at £1000 & £2000 the average is £1500.

Pay no attention to WB values as they bear no resemblance to auction prices , if you use TWE. Wiisky Vault and shops in Singapore to make an average price it is always going to be much higher than reality.
_________________
Pour me a glass please.

[davidbe]

These are my auction observations:

For older bottles, it's hard to predict why prices go up and down. You only need two people who want something one month and only one the next for the price to fluctuate.

Then you have new releases, which to me follow a relatively predictable patten - the first ones on there will also go the highest, followed by a flood of others the following month, where the price plateaus. This is all dependent on the number of bottles available, of course. A very limited release might maintain prices whilst a wider release will follow this patten.

Then you have your anomalies - the popularity of an auction site (one being more known than another); awards given (Jim Murray naming something his whisky of the year); dates on bottles (someone might be after a bottle from a date their child was born); discontinued stock / rebranding etc.

And finally there's there number of bottles in said auction. Let's say you have a single bottle in auction 1 that reaches £500, then in auction two there are 2 bottles that go for £400, then 3 bottles that go for £300. If in the next auction the number of bottles decreases, the price is likely to increase which I'm guessing is due to buyers thinking they may miss out if they're all gone the next time.


None of this is concrete of course and merely my own guesses, as aside from the facts (award winners, discontinuations etc), you can't really know why something has reached a price.

Oh, there's probably some money laundering going on somewhere too...

[torcross]

A few people on here saying money laundering may be a reason for a huge price for some bottles, maybe I'm being naive and am missing something but as far as I'm aware the main auction sites Scotch Whisky Auction, Whisky Auctioneer and Just Whisky do not accept cash and only accept payment online therefore any transaction is traceable if the said authorities do wish to investigate.

Like I said I maybe missing something

[davidbe]

[bustamills]

I think everyone is missing the point with the original question , that is ,why do bottles for the sake of argument Glenfiidich make consistently better prices on the SWA than the Whisky auctioneer for vice versa, , I’ve noticed this as well

[Alastair]

I would guess that Scotch Whisky Auction has a bigger audience so therefore more bidders so it can sometimes achieve higher final sales prices.

[Uncle Bobby]

I find the opposite is true with SWA. I have stopped using them in the meantime. I feel vindicated as I have achieved higher prices with a competitor. It could of course be my particular bottles but I do feel my bottles were getting lost in an ocean of lots.

[Drame Blanche]

I find prices on SWA have considerably dropped after the craze of late 2018. To the point that I'm waiting a few months before selling some stuff I have.

It's juicy because they don't take commission on final sale price, but yeah, you really are drowning in the sea. That said, it's also a well-scavenged place with I'd assume tons of auction bots and the cream of the crop when it comes to flippers. You just need to identify the type of bottles they snipe.

I find SWA is no place to buy "big name" or "on fashion" bottles as they get pushed to outrageous limits, whilst it's ok for stuff actually good to drink that flippers don't care about. Like, I've got some nice 20+ years indie Glen Garioch, Arran, Aberlour as well as 50 yrs TBWC blend and CB No Name in a £80-120 range.