How to calculate the market value of a bottle?

Hi Oliver,

I have a question regarding the average market price calculation of bottles, and especially the auction price.

Do they (at rum auctioneer) take the brokers fee and delivery into account?
Because I now have observed user behavior a bit and found, that while the bid was below shop prices for bottles that are still up for sale, fees and delivery make it in the end more expensive, than if the person simply ordered online somewhere else.

For myself I always add delivery costs to the price I enter.

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I’m not Oliver (and I think he will answer you) but I think it is just the final price in € rather £ (and I think the rate €/£ is moving each month).

Regarding the fees, what fees would you take ? Buyer or seller ? And for the delivery, in Germany, England or China (which not cost the same) ?

As a price in shop (which is theorically not a price but an offer : it will be a price if someone buy it), the valuation is complicated and it’s better to be simple. So like that, it is well (last auction price).

By the way, I add also all costs in my purchase price.

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For me, as a buyer, the buyers fee is relevant, but I admit that other (most?) people are more interested in the sellers fees, which actually reduce the revenue for the seller. So both viewpoints distort auction price calculations when those prices are displayed the same way as shop prices.

For example: I am curious what the average cost is for Rum X, and have a look. Maybe auction prices give me the impression that I overpay when buying in a shop, due to fees and delivery costs missing. On the other hand I maybe get the impression that an auction would yield much more that it does in reality, as again fees are not not factored in. This is especially true in lower cost areas where I dwell.

At this point I believe there is no easy solution, as the database is already set up. I imagine it would be possible to separate buying costs from fees but this would make it more complicated.

As I understand it’s the hammer price, that is displayed. As long as the auction house is known, everyone can research the relevant fees and calculate the price that he’s interested in himself, no?

I don’t really see the need to make it more complicated than it already is.
Besides, auction prices fluctuate heavily and therefore are just a rough estimate and a brief snapshot of “value”.

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Yeah, I just was a bit irritated by it, and believe many people forget that. A notice additional fees apply helps, perhaps.

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Sorry for just getting back to you.

I integrate the data from Rum Auctioneer with the specified hammer price. So neither the costs for the seller nor the surcharges for the buyer are included. So I think you have a good compromise between buyer and seller perspective, which are both possible. In the future, I might still show an additional switch to include the appropriate markups or fees. Or the hint you mentioned - good idea!

When I enter bottle purchases in the app I personally also take into account all costs (shipping, duties, …).

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My apologies for bumping this topic but I have been looking at the latest Rum Auctioneer auction and was wondering just how much the fees (10% of hammer price and VAT) come to. I was also wondering if they charge any additional shipping costs such as insurance.

If I pull the trigger I would only buy bottles that are located in the EU (and not in the UK) so there shouldn’t be any custom fees involved.

It would be great if someone who purchased bottles from them could enlighten me about what kind of percentage on the hammer price I should expect and if there are any hidden fees on top of the 10% and the VAT.

Many thanks in advance.

Seen this?

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Yes, but this is about shipping bottles from the UK and I don’t intend to purchase anything from there. If I understand this correctly there seems to be no VAT on bottles that are located in the EU but I’d like someone to confirm this if possible.

That is true. No VAT on import then, just on the fees.

lmgtfy:

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Thank you! :slightly_smiling_face:

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In general you can expect around +10% on the hammer price + circa 25 pound shipping + current GBP/€ rate (which equaled to around 1,2 when i bought there).
So all in all I would not recommend buying there at all and would take all “auction prices” that people like to brag with, with a cautious eye. There are some hidden costs and buying from a trustworthy “friend” can always be a better option in my opinion.

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Thank you for your input. I’ll have to carefully calculate if this is worth it before throwing in a bid. On the other hand rum is quite expensive here in France and I took a look at past auctions and a few bottles sold for correct prices even with all the fees calculated in, but I’m comparing against French retail and rum is quite expensive here.

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To give you an idea about the total cost: an item (EU lot) with hammer price 150 GBP adds up to 185 GBP.There are some additional cost, as mentioned, e.g. on credit card payment, and the optional loss+breakage assurance for shipping. Besides the cost, I have to say that they are very reliable and professional (excellent packaging and fast shipping)

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To sum it up (and even in the danger of being repetitive). Being EU and buying from EU office: hammer price + 12% (due to VAT on the fee) + shipping = total amount in GBP.

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I just bought a Foursquare Exceptional cask 2009 by auction on Rumauctioneer.
The Auction Price was 65 GBP.
Then it will add 10% fees and 12 GBP shipping to Germany.

So all together I paid 84, 74GPB wich is equal to around € 98

Still a good price for this Rum

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Thanks for the insight into your first hand experience :+1:

Is it?! Wow, bought the 2007 for 60-ish and haven’t returned since… but if 100 bucks is considered a good price these days it might stay that way :see_no_evil: …shame, I’ve enjoyed the vanilla-coconut profile recently

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Well, the 2009 was around 80€ when it was released last year. I paid € 87 with shipping last year. So it is only around 10 € more since last year.
The cheapest Shop I find online ist 119,99 + shipping

I really enjoy this Rum

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I can help with a more accurate estimate from Rumauctioneer.

I bought 3 rums at a hammer price of 305,- Pounds, the final order total was 382.03

Hope this helps clarify a bit :grinning:

That was before the UK left the EU, so you’d need to add some import duties as well.

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I won 4 bottles in the last auction for 673€66. The fees (10% fee plus vat, shipping from Germany to France and insurance) came to 101€66. All in all I’m happy about my purchases as I got the bottles for less than what they retail for in France. It would have been cheaper to have them shipped to my German address but I’d rather pay a little more for delivery to France than to haul 4 extra bottles back with me after my January visit.

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