tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7315262155858800734.post7720018393648633832..comments2024-03-29T01:30:47.656-04:00Comments on Seen Through a Glass: All Flippers Go To HellLew Brysonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04084380741402026573noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7315262155858800734.post-3594104282652796742016-01-21T09:56:06.836-05:002016-01-21T09:56:06.836-05:00Well, there's capitalism, there's evil, an...Well, there's capitalism, there's evil, and then there's just being an asshole. Flipping isn't "evil"; so far as I know, no babies are being roasted on spits, no one's losing their home because of it. It's just shitty behavior that's not in the common good. It drives up the price of a scarce commodity by increasing the scarcity for no other reason than driving up the price. <br /><br />The market will certainly correct itself. The people who pay the prices the flippers ask are indeed complicit. And there's a third factor involved that I'm going to blog about soon. But generally, this post was about flippers being assholes, of the Martin Shkreli type. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Shkreli) I'm not trying to find any kind of "solution," because there's nothing one can do except not buy from the flippers. <br /><br />This whole thing is being driven by two groups: new whiskey enthusiasts (or simply conspicuous consumers) who want to buy THE BEST and don't care how much it costs, and whiskey aficionados who are convinced that they should be able to buy a bottle of anything they want; "whisky entitlement" some are calling it. Well, as I noted in my review of the Germain-Robin brandy yesterday, sometimes you can't, simply because there just isn't enough: there were only 120 bottles of that brandy produced. Only 120 people can buy one. These unrealistic expectations create flippers.<br /><br />People are also accusing whiskey producers of deliberately under-producing on the prized, hyped whiskeys, ignoring the <i>fact</i> that 20 years ago, those distillers would have been <i>fools</i> to have produced enough to meet today's hugely larger demands. These same people tell us that we're bad people to think we could walk into a liquor store and simply buy a bottle of Pappy or Antique Collection right off the shelves, when only six years ago, that's <i>exactly</i> what we could do. (Example: I posted this two months after the 2009 Stagg release: http://lewbryson.blogspot.com/2009/12/if-youre-looking-for-christmas-present.html ) <br /><br />There's plenty of ugly to go around. This isn't my last word on the subject, though it's hardly the biggest challenge facing whiskey.Lew Brysonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04084380741402026573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7315262155858800734.post-77192280952837351812016-01-21T09:41:38.930-05:002016-01-21T09:41:38.930-05:00it's not evil, it's just Capitalism...the ...it's not evil, it's just Capitalism...the market will correct itself, right?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7315262155858800734.post-61430565237549707332016-01-19T21:37:28.983-05:002016-01-19T21:37:28.983-05:00Ya feeling guilty? What you're doing is invest...Ya feeling guilty? What you're doing is investing, or collecting. Flippers buy it with no intent of doing anything but selling it quickly for a profit. Lew Brysonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04084380741402026573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7315262155858800734.post-25872765416668925952016-01-19T18:33:04.720-05:002016-01-19T18:33:04.720-05:00So where is the magic number to hold something? I...So where is the magic number to hold something? I buy a fair amount of things with full intention to flip 5-10-15 even 25 years down the road. I sold a first edition Pappy 23 last year for an ungodly price......and the buyer came to me with the offer. I drank the other one I had. <br /><br />Is it flipping only within the release year or is there some other time period involved? Albert Brookshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16507998910770255971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7315262155858800734.post-7344627182362307932016-01-19T12:52:41.144-05:002016-01-19T12:52:41.144-05:00Agree wholeheartedly and unfortunately a rising ti...Agree wholeheartedly and unfortunately a rising tide of fools lifts all beer prices. I do my best to shame, as well, but this need to be stepped up! What an unfortunate mess we're in with such a hyper-hyped, self-concerned, must-have consumer culture we have.<br /><br />Reminds me of before Christmas when I mentioned to someone that I have a Partridge In A Pear Tree from The Bruery, first they asked (with wide eyes and frantic twitching) how many I had, if I didn't want it, and (then proceeding to begin frothing I believe) if I knew how much I could get for it if I sold it online. Then, rolled his eyes and dismissed me when I acted very nonchalant about my possession of it.<br /><br />I was planning to drink it soon, but now I may hold on to it just a bit longer to see if I can get an even more ridiculous reaction from the next beer jerk.Bryan Kolesarhttp://thebrewlounge.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7315262155858800734.post-70950337729643231292016-01-19T08:44:58.197-05:002016-01-19T08:44:58.197-05:00You could almost certainly make the same comment a...You could almost certainly make the same comment about whiskey, yes. And as people have noted on a Facebook discussion of the post, producers could price their products at the price the secondary market is bringing, which would cut out the flippers' action. Is that a good solution? Consider: the secondary market price could be seen to represent the "true" price. But this goes back to one of the tenets of my argument here: flippers have driven UP the price through creating an artificial scarcity to the point that I don't believe it is a true price anymore. <br /><br />It's complicated.Lew Brysonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04084380741402026573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7315262155858800734.post-76837055411928622692016-01-19T00:47:32.488-05:002016-01-19T00:47:32.488-05:00I can't speak about Whisky, but in the case of...I can't speak about Whisky, but in the case of beer, producers share part of the blame. They've promoted, and profited, from the Pokemon mentality many geeks have. RateBeer, Untappd and the likes have also contributed to that. Flippers have seen an opportunity, they know they are enough fools willing to pay stupid amounts for a bottle of beer because they "gotta catch 'em all" (btw, I believe many of those fools take more pleasure in acquiring a bottle of that beer, and telling the world they have it than in actually drinking it). Change the collector and the hype cultures and Flippers will have fewer opportunities to profit. <br /><br />Pivní Filosofhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05525892820409340027noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7315262155858800734.post-79491349130140630562016-01-18T18:49:05.144-05:002016-01-18T18:49:05.144-05:00Good point, but I figure neither side is going to ...Good point, but I figure neither side is going to be affected by shaming anyway. I could be wrong, I suppose; that'd be nice!Lew Brysonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04084380741402026573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7315262155858800734.post-87233403691858081632016-01-18T18:24:17.825-05:002016-01-18T18:24:17.825-05:00Shame the demand and you'll stop the supply. D...Shame the demand and you'll stop the supply. Don't blame only the hookers; call out the johns.THOMAS CIZAUSKAShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16485107199809830204noreply@blogger.com