Guide: 3 Tips for Pricing Your Wine on ShareWine

Tip 1: Use Wine-Searcher to Assess the Value of Your Wine

ShareWine has an integration with the global wine database Wine-Searcher, which contains price information for a large number of wines worldwide. When you create a listing on the marketplace and enter the wine’s name and vintage, you can see list prices found in the Wine-Searcher database. This price reflects what the same wine is being sold for elsewhere on the internet, giving you an indication of where you should set your price to make your listing more attractive to buyers. It's important to remember that the Wine-Searcher result shows what the wine is listed for sale online, which does not necessarily mean that it sells at that price. Therefore, you should always set your price lower than the Wine-Searcher estimate if you want to achieve a sale; otherwise, it will be more attractive for the buyer to purchase the wine online, especially when considering the added cost of buyer protection fees.

It is optional to display the Wine-Searcher valuation on your listing, but as a rule of thumb, it is a good idea as it helps buyers see if the wine is attractively priced.

Note that the rarer the wine, the less precise the Wine-Searcher results can sometimes be.

It is also always a good idea to check if the same bottle is already listed on ShareWine and how it is priced.

Bonus Tip: Consider Shipping and Packaging Costs

When pricing your wine, remember that a buyer who needs the bottle shipped will base their interest on the total price, including fees, shipping, and packaging costs, so keep this in mind when selecting your price point.

Tip 2: Choose a Pricing Strategy That Matches Your Risk Appetite

There are several different pricing models you can consider when setting the price for your bottle. Some sellers choose to start their price very low to quickly generate interest from potential buyers. Trading data from ShareWine clearly shows that listings with a low starting price attract more followers and more bidders. The strategy behind this tactic is that several engaged buyers will bid up the listing price, potentially ending in a bidding war. If this tactic succeeds, there is also the added benefit that the many bids make the listing more visible under ‘recent bids’ and possibly even under ‘most bids,’ which can help attract even more bidders. This is naturally a risky tactic that can result in a final sale price higher than the estimate, but it could also potentially result in a lower sale price. If you are considering this tactic, it is essential to assess whether the particular bottle for sale represents enough value and interest for a larger number of potential buyers.

Others choose to start very close to the price they want to achieve, or directly at the price point they wish to obtain. Both scenarios have advantages and disadvantages. However, our data shows that attractive starting prices significantly increase the chance of success. It’s all about making the listing as attractive as possible to draw more bidders.

Tip 3: Experiment and Adjust

If your sale is not successful the first time, consider if there is something you can adjust to increase the likelihood of a sale before relisting it. Sometimes, even a small price reduction is enough to prompt a buyer to place a bid.

Other times, you may be able to improve your listing with more or better pictures, as well as a detailed description of the wine. In this, you can mention the style, producer, vintage, or even the specific terroir if the wine comes from a single vineyard.

If you have not succeeded in selling a larger lot or a 6- or 12-bottle OWC (wooden case), it may not be the individual wine’s price that is too high but rather the total price, which deters bidders from purchasing. While whole cases are attractive to some, for many, having to buy a larger quantity of the same bottle can be a barrier. In this case, you could try selling the bottles at the same price but in smaller lots or individually.

3 Pitfalls to Avoid When Pricing Your Wine

Based on analysis of several years of trading data, we have identified three pricing strategies that are highly unlikely to result in a sale. These pitfalls should be avoided when selling wine on ShareWine.

Underestimating the Buyer's Market Knowledge

The typical user on ShareWine is a wine enthusiast with good insight into vintages, regions, and prices of different producers' wines. Sellers who underestimate the buyers' market knowledge and set the price unrealistically high, hoping that “someone will fall for it,” almost never achieve a sale. These listings also risk being rejected from the marketplace, as we are focused on maintaining a dynamic marketplace where all wines are sellable.

Setting the Price at the Same Level or Higher than Wine-Searcher

As mentioned earlier, the strength of ShareWine's integration with the Wine-Searcher database is that both buyer and seller can see what the same bottle is being sold for elsewhere. If the seller sets their price at the same level or higher than the Wine-Searcher estimate, the buyer's incentive to purchase the bottle disappears, as they can find it cheaper with a quick Google search.

There are, of course, exceptions for very rare bottles, but as a general rule, we recommend that the listing price be lower than Wine-Searcher to appear attractive to a potential buyer.

Basing the Price on Vivino Data

Vivino is a popular wine app, widely used in wine circles. Vivino is good for many things, but in the Fine Wine segment, where ShareWine operates, their price data does not reflect the current market value. Many have had their dreams crushed because, according to Vivino, they wine was worth a fortune, but the actual market value turned out to be entirely different. So, forget about prices seen on Vivino when pricing your wine.

Good Luck with Your Sale

We hope these tips will help boost your sales on ShareWine, resulting in more sales, faster sales, and good prices for your wine. 🍷