1977 Taylor Port for sale - advice

[Elvino13]

I was given a case of 1977 Taylor Port as a christening present by one of my God parents many years ago and whilst I have opened a couple of bottles on very special occasions I am potentially interested in selling some of the remaining case as it is hard to find occasions that justify its opening and obviously the port is ready to drink.The case has been professionally cellared at Berry Bros for its entire life.

I was wondering if anyone can offer any advice/recommend any sellers who I could reach out to?

[DRT]

Is the case still at BBR?

If so, ask them about selling it through their online exchange service (BBX?) as it would then appear in the listings on the BBR website for anyone who searches for Port.

[Elvino13]

Many thanks DRT; yes the port is still with BBR and I will definitely look at BBX if it will get the item in front of other buyers. BBR have tried to acquire the port off me a number of times over the years but I never accepted their offers as they always seemed on the low side and I was not ready to sell.

[Glenn E.]

I never accepted their offers as they always seemed on the low side and I was not ready to sell.

If they were offering roughly half of retail price, that's probably about all you can expect to get for them. That's a pretty normal markup for retail.

You might get slightly more than half of retail in a private sale or at auction, but I doubt you'll get too much more. Auction prices may appear to be significantly higher, but those numbers generally include the auction premium and so the net to seller is actually lower and typically pretty close to 50% of retail.

There are always exceptions, of course, and the exceptions are what everyone's always trying to find.

[RAYC]

If you purchased this from BBR and it has been cellared there for its whole life, i think you can do very well - certainly you should be able to achieve far more than 50% of general UK retail price.

Unless you are in a real hurry to sell, the BBX broking platform really is the way to sell this and you can hold out for a good price. You can list at an ambitious (but not silly) price, and - if you don't find any purchasers after a few months at that price - the new system means you can see what people are bidding for it and so you can then choose whether you want to reduce your price and sell to one of those bidders. But with that port i think there's every chance you may get lucky - many BBR clientele are less price sensitive than the general market and will pay top dollar for a well regarded port stored with BBR its whole life.

Looking at the market prices, if it were mine i might be tempted to list the case of 12 for £1,100 and i would probably accept a £900ish bid after a couple of months if there were no takers. You may end up having to sell for less, but that's where i'd be starting.

BBR will take their 10% commission, but i still think you will do better selling through BBX than at auction or to another retailer.

[Elvino13]

Thanks Rob, appreciate your comments and it definitely sounds as though BBX is worth me exploring further.

[Glenn E.]

Looking at the market prices, if it were mine i might be tempted to list the case of 12 for £1,100 and i would probably accept a £900ish bid after a couple of months if there were no takers. You may end up having to sell for less, but that's where i'd be starting.

BBR will take their 10% commission, but i still think you will do better selling through BBX than at auction or to another retailer.

£75/bottle less 10% commission is £67.50, which at current exchange rates works out to about $105/bottle.

Winesearcher does show bottles selling for less than that, but if you exclude the outliers you get an average retail price of about $150/bottle. That puts you at 70% of retail, which given the provenance at Berry Bros is very reasonable. (I neglected to take the provenance into account in my previous post.) I'd say Ray has given you excellent advice.

Oddly, that's no better than US pricing. Normally you guys have it better than we do, but in this case I can easily find it in the US at those same prices.

[g-man]

Looking at the market prices, if it were mine i might be tempted to list the case of 12 for £1,100 and i would probably accept a £900ish bid after a couple of months if there were no takers. You may end up having to sell for less, but that's where i'd be starting.

BBR will take their 10% commission, but i still think you will do better selling through BBX than at auction or to another retailer.

£75/bottle less 10% commission is £67.50, which at current exchange rates works out to about $105/bottle.

Winesearcher does show bottles selling for less than that, but if you exclude the outliers you get an average retail price of about $150/bottle. That puts you at 70% of retail, which given the provenance at Berry Bros is very reasonable. (I neglected to take the provenance into account in my previous post.) I'd say Ray has given you excellent advice.

Oddly, that's no better than US pricing. Normally you guys have it better than we do, but in this case I can easily find it in the US at those same prices.

stored at BBR on release? I'd doubt it =)

[Glenn E.]

Looking at the market prices, if it were mine i might be tempted to list the case of 12 for £1,100 and i would probably accept a £900ish bid after a couple of months if there were no takers. You may end up having to sell for less, but that's where i'd be starting.

BBR will take their 10% commission, but i still think you will do better selling through BBX than at auction or to another retailer.

£75/bottle less 10% commission is £67.50, which at current exchange rates works out to about $105/bottle.

Winesearcher does show bottles selling for less than that, but if you exclude the outliers you get an average retail price of about $150/bottle. That puts you at 70% of retail, which given the provenance at Berry Bros is very reasonable. (I neglected to take the provenance into account in my previous post.) I'd say Ray has given you excellent advice.

Oddly, that's no better than US pricing. Normally you guys have it better than we do, but in this case I can easily find it in the US at those same prices.

stored at BBR on release? I'd doubt it =)

No. The average retail price of $150.

[Alex Bridgeman]

stored at BBR on release? I'd doubt it =)

Why not? I have bought Cockburn 1967 and Dow 1966 from BBR that was stored with them since being shipped to the UK.

[DRT]

stored at BBR on release? I'd doubt it =)

Why not? I have bought Cockburn 1967 and Dow 1966 from BBR that was stored with them since being shipped to the UK.

I think g-man was doubting the price comparison referred to by Glenn, not the notion of BBR having stocks that have been in their cellars since release.

[Alex Bridgeman]

Ah. My mistake. Thanks for correcting me.