Preparing to Sell Your Wine
To prepare for your sale, you’ll need to gather the following information about your wine listing:
Your Item Description
Be as descriptive as possible to market your wine: The name of the wine, year/vintage; details about the flavor and body of the wine; nose and aroma;
age, condition of bottle and label, etc., and how the bottle(s) has been stored, are all very helpful in describing the condition and appeal of
the product you are selling. If you have any history on the wine or ratings it has received, these are also useful in communicating the value of your wine to
the buyer.
The URL or Web Site Address to Photos of the Wine
It is a very good idea to provide a picture of your wine along with the
description. A clear, easily viewable image of the wine bottle and label are an
added bonus in providing proof of the condition of the wine. For a complete
tutorial on how to attach a
photo of your wine to an auction, click
here.
The Category You’ll List Under
All wines for auction should be listed under the appropriate category on WineCommune.
For a complete listing of available categories, go to the ‘Browse Auctions by Category’ pull-down menu
on the right hand column of the WineCommune home page. Or, click on the Browse
tab at the top of any WineCommune page.
Posting Your Wine for Sale
Posting a “lot” for sale on WineCommune is easy and straightforward.
A “Lot” in auction terms is another name for an “item”, in this case a “wine item”.
To post your lot for sale, go to the
Post a Lot
form, accessible from the ‘Post a Lot’ link located along the left hand column of any WineCommune’s page.
How to Fill in the ‘Post a Lot’ Form
Posting a lot consists of filling out information about your wine for auction. The
information you provide on this page will appear on your wine’s Lot Page (see
example below) as information about your auction. It is very important that you
provide as much information as possible about your wine to give the bidder
confidence in your product.
To get to the ‘Post a Lot’ Form, click on the Post a Lot
link located within the left hand column of any WineCommune page. If you haven’t been so already, you
will be prompted for your username and password that you chose during your registration for WineCommune.
Then, the ‘Post a Lot’ form will appear.
General Information (Required)
Lot Name
Enter the name of your lot in the following order:
- Vintage/Year
- Winery Name
- Specific Wine or Vineyard
Examples: “1994
Caymus Special Select”, or, “1997 Silver Oak Alexander Valley”
Category
Choose from the pull-down menu to find the category of your wine.
Examples: “Cabernet” or “Chardonnay”
Description
As recommended above, you should take time to prepare your description.
The information you provide often helps the bidder in finalizing judgment on whether or not to bid on your wine.
Be as descriptive as possible to market your wine: The name of the wine, year/vintage; details about the flavor and
body of the wine; nose and aroma; age, condition of bottle and label, etc., and how the bottle(s) has been
stored, are all very helpful in describing the condition and appeal of the product you are selling. If you have any history on the wine or ratings it has
received, these are also useful in communicating the value of your wine to the
buyer.
Example Descriptions (taken from actual WineCommune lots):
“An elegant, intensely concentrated wine with vibrant
blackberry and black cherry fruit flavors. This wine exhibits rich, deep color
and hints of mint, spice and cassis.”
“Delicious,
sporting an elegant array of plum, black cherry, currant, herb and olive notes.
Ripe, smooth and polished, flowing across the palate to a rich finish that
lingers on and on. Drink now through 2008. Stored in a temperature-controlled
environment upon release. Enjoy!”
“Get
two magnum bottles
of this hard to find, Spanish cult wine, made of 20% Cabernet and 80% Garnacha.
The
winemaker is one of the stars of the new Spanish viticulture in the region of
Priorat
. With his first vintage 1993 [became] the most expensive Spanish red and is now the
reference for the new Spanish wines.”
Bottle Size
Choose from the pull-down menu to find the bottle size of your wine. If you are not sure of the
size of your bottle, check on its label. If you have a range of sizes to list,
choose the ‘See Description’ option to describe the different bottle sizes you
are offering in one lot.
Bottles in Lot
Choose from the pull-down menu to indicate the number of
bottles you are putting up for auction or sale. The number of bottles is the
number of bottles per lot. So, if you have 12 bottles in your lot then you
would indicate ‘12’ in this field. The pull-down offers up to 100 bottles for
listing. Note: If you have more bottles to sell across more than one
lot, you would use the ‘Quantity’ field in the form below under ‘Additional
Information’. For example, if you have 12 bottles for sale but you would like
to divide them into two different lots, then you would indicate ‘6’ in the
‘Bottles in Lot’ field and mark your ‘Quantity’ field as ‘2’ because you have
two lots at 6 bottles per lot. In the latter example, there can be up to 2
winners, or 1 bidder may bid for both sets of 6 bottles. In the first example,
only one person can win the 12 bottles.
Wine Content Amount
This field lets you choose the status of the wine level in
the bottle(s) due to age, storage and evaporation or condensation as is common
with older wines. For example, the wine is still ‘Into Neck’ of bottle, or it
is at the ‘Mid Shoulder’ of the bottle. Choose the best condition that fits
your bottle(s).
Label Condition
Choose from the pull-down menu to indicate the condition of
the bottle and its label. Remember that a picture tells a thousand words in
providing proof to the bidder of the bottle’s condition. The pull-down menu
offers a range of descriptors for identifying the physical condition of the
bottle.
Price
The ‘Price’ field is a text entry field that allows
you to set the price of your item.
Your Price is the amount you will be paid (exclusive of shipping costs) for each quantity of items purchased.
Note: Your price should be for all the bottles in the "Bottles in Lot" field.
Quantity
‘Quantity’
lets you indicate the number of lots you are offering, not the number of
bottles. So, if you have 12 bottles you want to sell to 1 bidder, you
would indicate in the ‘Bottles in Lot’ field that you are offering ‘12’ bottles
in a lot. Therefore, the ‘Quantity’ for this lot is 1, for one lot of twelve.
However, if you have 12 bottles, but want to sell 6 bottles to up to 2 people,
you would indicate in the ‘Bottles in Lot’ field a ‘6’ and mark your ‘Quantity’
at ‘2’, for six bottles in two separate lots. In the latter example, there can
be up to 2 winners, or 1 bidder may bid for both sets of 6 bottles. In the
former example, only one person can win the 12 bottles.
Length of Auction
The length of your auction
can be anywhere from 0-21 days. A ‘0’ day auction means that you will auction
off the item on the day you post it. Use the pull-down menu to choose the number
of days you would like your auction to run. Then, on the same line in the form,
use the next two pull-downs to choose the time and ‘AM’ or ‘PM’. This will set
your closing day and time of auction. The date and time will automatically be
calculate for you once you post the lot.
Sales Policies
Here is where you can indicate the ’Payments Accepted’ and ‘Shipping Policies’
for your auction. Use the check boxes and radio buttons to indicate all those methods that apply.
Photo Upload (Optional)
You are given the option to post a photo(s) of your wine or wine lot
for auction. A picture tells a thousand words in providing proof to the bidder of the bottle’s
condition. It is a generally accepted theory that people like to see what they are going to buy before hand.
For a photo tutorial
on how to attach a photo(s) to your lot page,
click here.
Promote Your Auction! (Optional)
For a small fee, you can pay to bring more eyetballs to your auction listing on WineCommune.
There are four options to help make your lot stand out within WineCommune’s lot listings:
Bold Your Auction lets
you put the title of your auction in bold.This feature ensures that it stands out more in the listing.
The cost for this service is $1 for the duration of your auction.
Feature your auction on the Category Page
.
This will place your auction at the top of the category page for
the varietal. For example, if you are auctioning a Cabernet, your listing will appear at or near the top of the
category listing for Cabernet. The price of this option is $5.00 for the
duration of your auction.
Feature your auction on the Homepage
.
This option puts your auction listing in bold letters
on the front page of WineCommune under our ‘Featured Auctions’ listings and
along the ‘Featured Auctions’ column on the main auctions page. The cost of
this service is $10.00 and ensures the highest exposure for the entire duration
of your auction.
Feature your auction in the Search Listings
.
This puts your auction at the top of the page for all searches that
include your auction in the results. This feature is $5.00 for the duration of your auction, or if you choose any of the
other three options above, add Featured Search for only $2.50.
Additional Options (Optional)
Location
The location lets you display where you are located to the buyer, or, from where the wine will be shipped.
Currency
Use the pull-down menu to choose the currency in which you
will be transacting your auction. This feature accounts for an international
community of sellers and covers the most popular currencies. If you do not
choose a currency, the feature will default to US dollars. If you do not see
your currency listed in the pull-down menu please email contact@winecommune.com.
Create Lot (Required)
Once you have filled out all of the required information
for your lot and you are ready to post it on WineCommune, click the ‘Create
Lot’ button at the bottom of the ‘Post a Lot’ form. This will post your lot
where you specified within the WineCommune listings.
Once
you have created a lot, a confirmation page will appear. We recommend that you
either print this page or write down the information such as your lot number.
This will be helpful if you want to update your listing, and to keep track of
your item’s progress.
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