Retail Mark-up

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by Mavajo, Jul 30, 2012.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Mavajo

    Mavajo Initiate (0) Feb 10, 2007 Georgia

    How much does beer generally get marked-up at retail? For example, how much does a 6'er of Two Hearted from the distributor cost? Or a bomber of Stone IRS? Or how about some of the more expensive beers, like the Lost Abbey/Port 375's, or North Coast anniversary beer?

    I've always been curious what kind of margins stores are working with...
     
  2. crusian

    crusian Pooh-Bah (1,989) May 14, 2010 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    from my experience, it is anywhere from 20-35%
     
  3. evilc

    evilc Initiate (0) Jan 27, 2012 California

    33% is pretty standard.
     
  4. otispdriftwood

    otispdriftwood Initiate (0) Dec 9, 2011 Colorado

    Whatever number you come up with will not be 100% accurate. Why? If you look at retail prices of alot of beers, they can vary $1 or $2 - and this is in places where you know that the stores are getting their stock from the same distributor. Perhaps the distributor is charging different prices but something tells me this is not the case. So the moral of the story is you need to shop around sometimes because sometimes retailers charge the price that the market will bear just like just about everything else that you buy.
     
  5. ant880

    ant880 Savant (1,179) Nov 7, 2010 New York
    Trader

    From two current owners of distributors in NY that I have spoken to, depending on the vendor, they go anywhere between 33% - 38% for their regular stock. Not sure about special releases, one-offs, etc..
     
  6. BigGene

    BigGene Initiate (0) Oct 30, 2010 Florida

    Well it all depends. I purchased Cucumber Saison and 110k OT from the CCB taproom for $13 and $15, at my local total wine Cuc was $8.99 and 110 (is) $14.99. No rhyme or reason to it.
     
  7. ncphinsfan13

    ncphinsfan13 Initiate (0) Jan 21, 2012 North Carolina

    I do a 25% markup on all bottles
     
  8. Vav

    Vav Savant (1,025) Jul 27, 2008 Illinois

    25-30% is standard.
     
  9. HopsJunkiedotcom

    HopsJunkiedotcom Initiate (0) Dec 24, 2010 Florida

    $8.99? Holy crap, I thought the $10.49 at my TW was a good deal, especially when i paid $12.80 a piece for my first few bottles.
     
  10. kzoobrew

    kzoobrew Initiate (0) May 8, 2006 Michigan

    You have to be careful with taproom prices, rarely are they the same as wholesale price or the price the distributor pays. It is not often advantageous for a brewery to undercut their distributors.
     
  11. Lukaduke

    Lukaduke Initiate (0) May 22, 2012 Maine

    Retail stores usually mark up 25-35% as said... most distributors suggested retail price is right around 30%... hence a $10 bottle wholesale will be marked at $12.99. Where as most beer bars and restaurants work on a 50-100% mark up !
     
  12. mwrecording

    mwrecording Crusader (481) Nov 14, 2009 Maryland

    My shop is generally 35% on 6/4pks and 50% on bombers which is standard in our state. I price some bombers/750 maybe a dollar lower than the 50% mark up to be fair.

    Some shops do 25 or 33 percent on sixers.
     
  13. mwrecording

    mwrecording Crusader (481) Nov 14, 2009 Maryland

    And I guess not in Maryland but you'll be lucky to see a store going less than 40% on a bomber/750. Shocked to hear some stores are doing 25. Wish I lived there.
     
  14. RBassSFHOPit2ME

    RBassSFHOPit2ME Initiate (0) Mar 1, 2009 California
    Deactivated

    ^^THIS^^
     
    tozerm likes this.
  15. tozerm

    tozerm Initiate (0) Jul 1, 2005 Washington

    Well it totally depends on whether you are talking "markup" or "margin"... and yes... it does make a difference. Major retailers us the terminology of "margin"... what they want to know is what percent of every dollar they have in the register is profit. Here is the difference showing the math:

    Say a particular 6pk of beer costs the store $10... a 30% margin means that 6pk would retail for $14.28... a 30% markup means the beer would sell for $13.00..

    Every distributor that I've ever seen uses "margin" when they are putting recommended retail prices in their catalogs... markup is rarely ever used.

    With all that being said, expect that the stores "profit" on what you bought is between 25% and 35% of the price you paid.
     
  16. jamvt

    jamvt Savant (1,126) Aug 5, 2005 Massachusetts
    Trader

    this is the correct answer. also depends on state and class of trade. in ma there are case deals. you get a better deal for buying 10 cases than 1 case, so larger retailers will typically have lower prices. but in vt all pricing is case 1, but breweries will put their products on "post-off" typically every other month. meaning that one month price to retailer is $27/case and other months it is $25. Grocery stores typically work on lower margins than independent stores and the reason you see lower prices. When a craft 12pk is on feature at a grocery store, they are generally making between 18%-22%.



     
  17. trbergman

    trbergman Initiate (0) Nov 17, 2006 England

    It depends. Volume discounting is the norm for major brands, and common for craft breweries, too (although there are some states where the practice is illegal).
     
  18. otispdriftwood

    otispdriftwood Initiate (0) Dec 9, 2011 Colorado

    I remember volume discounts for macros like 1 case free for 5 or 10 but it occurs to me that only the bigger crafts like BBC and SN would offer volume discounts. It also occurs to me that smaller stores would not be able to purchase enough to get a discount. I find that the price variations I refer to are both in small and larger stores.
     
  19. Vav

    Vav Savant (1,025) Jul 27, 2008 Illinois

    Well sure, that's business. Bigger Store -> Bigger Volume -> Bigger Discounts -> Bigger Consumer Savings.
     
  20. evilc

    evilc Initiate (0) Jan 27, 2012 California

    I sure loved $10.49 Costco Parabola!
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.