Wine collectors want more choice, price transparency and more information

An increasing amplitude and depth of the wine cards, price transparency, impeccable service in the commercial and conservational phase, more information on the market: in a wine world that is evolving, with fewer consumption but, on the other hand, higher wine quality, this is what actual and future wine collectors are looking for, says the specialized english platform Liv-Ex that, to trace a profile and trends of the near future, interviewed 232 people from 46 countries that represented fine wine collectors from all around the globe. The majority of them (46%) has a collection of wines ranging from 100 to 1.000 bottles, but a good 27% counts a grand total of 1.000 up to 5.000 pieces and, while the value of the collections of 41% of them is estimated to be ranging from 10.000 to 100.000 pounds, 32% of them has collections worth up to 500.000 pounds and 6% doesn’t exceed a million pounds estimated worth, unlike 9% of the wine collectors. 41% of the collectors purchase on specialized online platforms, 29% from the wine merchants paying cash, 26% buys from brokers or wholesalers and 23% acquires his bottles during auctions. The total of collectors buying from specialized wine merchants and, by doing so, leaving them the custody of the bottles and choosing structures with characteristics suitable for preventing wine damage, hence, its value, is increasing. While someone buys great wines to drink them, somebody else buys them to be traded, but selling them is not that easy. Matter of fact, 61% totally disagrees with the sentence “I sell when I want to, at whatever price I want to”, with just a 3% of the collectors fully agreeing with the statement, and a 36% of them quite agreeing with it. While a sales negotiation lasts, on average, 42 days for the fastest selling collectors, for the ones taking their time for it, the negotiation can last up to 5 months to decide how much to ask for and if the sale is going to happen or not, bringing the overall average to 71 days to seal a deal. 56% is convinced that, when the sale happens, he sells at the best price for him, while a 44% is not totally satisfied with the deal. In any case, 79% of collectors would like to have more control over the prices and sales times of their wines, and also pay fewer commissions to intermediaries, so much so that only 37% believe that the latter are correct, compared to 73% who, however, considers them too high. Obviously, all or almost all (88%) would like more in-depth information on wines and on the market. Because, as the old adage goes, “to sell well you need to know how to buy well” and, in order to be able to do that, information is key.