Buying Wine on The Internet in Every State

[Jerry D Mead]

Jason...Sorry babe...I don't give up easy.

The liquor taxes are paid by the wholesaler...NOT the retailer...so those are already paid. That's part of the government's love affair with the middle tier...it serves as its tax collector. And if it's sales taxes to which you refer, stores (at least in California and Nevada) have waiver forms if a product is being bought from a retailer for resale purposes. The small merchant would then collect the sales tax when he resells the product. So the tax issue is a non-issue.

And a liquor license is needed to SELL wine, beer and spirits, so would still be needed. And the small merchant wouldn'r bypass the wholesaler all together...only when he could buy cheaper than wholesale.

Once again, no argument with Costco or Safeway getting a discount on a carload drop...just don't think it's morally right that if I'm a merchant I have to buy it from a wholesaler who will charge me more than I would pay at retail. Presumably the wholesaler made a profit with which he was happy when he sold that 5000 case drop, and if I buy it from Costco for resale...the wholesaler has no billing or delivery or sales costs...and presumably will sell through at Costco and get a reorder sooner.

The Dom thing happened in Northern California this past season (I can refer you to the merchant)at the same time Dom was on sale about $20 below wholesale at a major supermarket chain (Albertson's).

And the best freestanding restaurant in Northern Nevada gets tightly allocated on Silver Oak because he doesn't use a lot of the wholesaler's booze in his well, nor buy a lot of Gallo product (though he does by quite a bit of Gallo Sonoma)...and then hurts when he sees the stuff floor-stacked at the local discounter so the wholesaler can use up his allocation to keep the supplier happy.

And so the debate goes on.

Curmy The Free Trader