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+--- Thread: Investing in wines....is it a scam? (/thread-18056.html)
- Ronan - 04-14-1999
Investing in wines....is it a scam?
Hi,
Just wondering if anyone knows if investing in wines is a scam ?
The company "Vintage Wines Lts"claims to buy wine for a large sum of money, keep it safe
for a minimum of a year and then you can sell it again at a nice profit.
Has anyone heard of these? It seems to be fairly legit since the ad. I
saw was in the Sunday Times newspaper, and they wouldnt really support
things if they were scams, would they?
Any info greatly welcome or good/bad experiences appreciated,
Ronan
- Thomas - 04-15-1999
Don't know if investing in wines is a scam. The real question is: what's the point?
The only way you can make investing in wine truly pay off is to buy a product that has historical significance; the rest of the time, investing in wine seems "status" motivated.
Drink wine -- invest in companies.
- Kcwhippet - 04-15-1999
<<Drink wine -- invest in companies.>>
Sound advice, as long as the companies aren't wineries - i.e., Beringer, et al.
- Jerry D Mead - 04-15-1999
Ronan...If they're telling you that you can buy wine, pay them a commission to do so, pay them a fee to store it, and that at the end of a year you can sell for a profit...it is indeed a scam.
It's not that wine (some famous collectables, at least) doesn't increase in value, but rarely is it all that dramatic, and then there's the problem of how to sell it.
First you have to be able to find a willing buyer. Then you have to find a way around state laws banning anyone from selling wine without a license.
Sure you can sell through licensed auction houses, and California law permits selling to licensed dealers, but once again you have either selling costs or a potential customer wanting to buy at wholesale.
If you really get into the collecting thing because you love wine, then you can often swap your "collected," now more valuable wine for some wine you want that you don't have.
Or you can have the pleasure of drinking wines that are now very expensive for which you paid a pittance.
But if you want to make a profit buying and selling wine...buy a wine shop...and even that is risky!
JDM
- n144mann - 04-15-1999
Can't you buy wine futures?? Sort of like ag futures?? You are basically betting on the new crop. I don't know squat about it, but thought I had read about it once. Sounded really risky....I like those nice stable mutual funds myself. :-)