I pass this sign every morning on the way to work.
quality wine
5 Bottles for €20 means you pay €4 for each bottle. Of that €4, you pay €1.97 in duty and 21% VAT on the whole thing plus duty.
So, you’re actually paying just about €1.40 for the wine. *
Would you call that quality wine?
Now, this establishment is in student territory. I imagine that they shift plenty of bottles of this wine.
I think I’d call it quality product targetting, not quality wine.
*I’m ignoring bottling, labelling, shipping, margins, delivery, rent, everything. It’s even scarier if you take those into account
Don’t forget the cost of bottling, capping, labelling, boxing, shipping, importing and transporting the wine Brian, not to mention the fact the retailer has to make a living out of it.
The actual money from your €4 going to the wine-maker could be as little as 5-10 cent. Nothing wrong with that if it’s any good of course, it’s just proportionally an absurdly small amount going on the actual product you’re drinking!
Hi Mike,
I know – I just ignored all that. It’s a little scary when you think about it – how the wine maker is supposed to make a living is beyond me.
I’m a firm believer in getting what you pay for – and in this case when you think how little you’re really paying, can you expect to get much at all?
I should probably have pointed out that the duty is a fixed price too, so when you pay more than the few quid above more and more of what you pay goes into the actual wine, which should give a corresponding increase in quality.
Completly agree and then some , have been having this fight with customers forever. Fine if they can stomach it but don’t compare it to what the independents are trying to sell you.
Hi Gary,
it’s got to be a tough sell from the other side of the counter. It’s a shame too, people are really missing out for the sake of a couple of quid.