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You might not have given it a lot of thought, but wine auctions are now big business, both offline as you probably know but also online and they are becoming more and more popular; whether for private companies, getting rid of end of ranges, wine estates ends of production, charities and of course Joe public wanting a bargain!
Auctioneers have already forecasted that over the coming year, there will be a quiet, but steadily expanding market for wine auctions. Wine auctions and online wine sales have become the perfect method for people to purchase otherwise hard-to-find or impossible wine gems at a fraction of the cost they would normally pay.
Because of the publicity given to the oldest and most expensive bottles of wine sold at auction, most consumers tend to think wine auctions are for the connoisseurs and the very rich, well let me tell you they are most definitely NOT! Some of the best-publicized wine auctions are for charity, where you can make a gift to the charity and receive a delectable bottle of wine in return.
Wine auctions are live just like you have seen in the movies, and they are great fun to attend. With the exception of some high-profile sales like the Andrew Lloyd Webber sales, most wine auctions are actually quite a quaint and cozy affair with 70% of the winning bids coming from the trade and the other 30% up for grabs at very reasonable prices that anyone can afford.
Well-heeled benefactors are willing to bid in the thousands for a single, prized bottle of wine, but wine auctions are also an excellent source of local donations for various charities. When it comes to online wine auctions; there is the ability to "hammer" prices after the conclusion of auctions and anyone is allowed to browse the databases looking for selling prices of the wines sold. This gives you great background information for when you attend a live wine auction whether it is online or offline.
Wine auctions are not only fun, but also they are exciting as well. At times, this can lead to impulse buying with a punter paying a higher price than they normally would. Research is the key to staying in the bargain range and out of the fleeced range. Avoid getting carried away. Auctions bring fine, old wines to market that ordinarily stay in wine cellars until they go bad.
Knowing what the various wines are worth and what you are prepared to bid will go a long way towards offsetting the "getting caught in the moment" of an auction. For wine houses, it is a convenient way to open up their wine cellars and dispose of wine that would otherwise spoil. Auctions are also typically set to go through lunch hours for obvious reasons. The heaviest bidding occurs in the middle of the day, and thinks about it, what a lovely way to enjoy our purchase.
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