Weren’t there offers that sold out in 5 mins?
The offers aren’t the same year over year, so it would be interesting to see stats from ITB that offered the same/very similar as prior year, and how their order count went.
I like the idea of paring the offers down as we just had so many. The one potential negative is that we risk alienating some wineries and we’ve always been a very inclusive board. That’s what makes this such a great place. Okay, that was my one and only Kumbaya moment. But as the board grows, so does this day and it’s a great problem having almost too much interest. I guess we just need to figure out a way to structure it a little bit better/more efficiently and making this more competitive is probably a good thing.
Just an observation: It could also be an issue of timing as BD came on the heels of Saxum, Carlisle, etc., and just before Rhys and others. It’s hard to keep enough of your powder dry when there are so many big ticket offers coming out earlier every year. Does anyone else remember when there were spring mailers that came out in the spring and fall mailers that came out in the fall?
As for less traffic this year for some wineries, it’s all about competition. The better deals simply sold out sooner.
What about posting the less attractive offers at less attractive times . . . . like how they make the lower ranked skiers ski the downhill after the course is all chewed up by the top dogs.
Why are these jerks putting offers around BerserkerDay?? WE have the date set!
For competition, would it be possible to alert everyone prior to BD as to when certain offers will go live? Not necessarily knowing what the offer may be, but just allowing the potential for scheduling. I go back to the Nicora deal from yesterday. If you weren’t at the computer when it went live, you really had no shot. Of course, this may tax the winery/vendors too much, I have no idea. This is why I love the auctions. As long as you know when they close, you pretty much have a shot.
Again, may thanks to Todd and the gang and all the wineries and vendors. Yesterday was really fun and today is great to see the aftermath.
+1. Have the forum list the offers in the order posted, newest on top. You only have to look at the ones at the top at you haven’t already acted on, or are not interested in
Hi Todd,
Thanks for all the work you put into this. Yes, for Briceland, orders are down from the past.
I might have done better if I had thought of the idea of making a more special offer that was only for donors. Was this something that people came up with on their own, or did I miss a memo?
I’d like to get your insight as to whether or not it is worthwhile to have our offer open for a few more days. Thoughts? In fact, I still have one more Pinot Pack, which kind of surprises me.
Thanks again. The great thing about the event from my POV is the exposure, even if sales are not huge, people have heard of us.
We were up from last year,but I attribute that more to just letting people select whatever they liked. I can understand the draw of free shipping, but from my perspective (I use a third party for pick and pack and am 100% compliant with State laws) going to a deeper discount made sense. And my offer expires on the 31st too.
I like the sentiment that people are trying out new wineries, and so would be discouraged by a top 50 idea. In terms of the downhill analogy, sometimes that lowly placed skier wins…
Yeah, we’ll now the spring offerings mail in spring but they can invest your money back into their business several months earlier. It’s a win win lose scenario for them us them.
+1 I like this and also suggest have one MAIN “chatter” thread. Sticky that and keep other ‘post pics!’, ‘omg what have you bought!’, ‘havin’ fun yet?’ threads to a minimum…
Chatter yes. but keep it in one sticky thread perhaps.
Unless you’re monitoring the site constantly, you basically get barraged by new offers every couple of hours you come back on… so it’s easier if it’s numbered/sequential offer threads.
Love the work you guys do… it really is a win win for both sides…
Seemed from the past BD the offers were more limited, say to the first 15-20 people so there was a greater urgency to buy as soon as the offer was posted
Maybe it’s based on the offers, as I’m receiving far more ‘we did much better than last year’ emails than the opposite…
What makes one offer “better” than the other - is it just a matter of discount, or can an offer be “better” if it offers a vintage/varietal that is not regularly available?
It would be interesting to know if total dollar purchases (aggregating all vendors) were down compared to last year - were folks spending the same (or more) dollars but spreading them across more merchants or were they spending less money?
The large number of vendors certainly encourages becoming a donor - it was a life-saver for me 
to be able to research wineries and wines and make decisions about what to buy (and then buy 50% more) - so if you want to encourage donations, keep expanding the pool of wineries. Merchants who were not happy with the results this year can always improve their offers next year ![[highfive.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/d/db21b9263a9105e51f6f8b11e61dd4de095611f9.gif "highfive"){kind=small}
Just my 2 cents (from a very satisfied customer)
I like a weekday/weekend combo for next year. Maybe Friday/Saturday. Maybe 1 offer per hour for 50 hours straight with preview for donors including times for each posting.
I’m sure there are some funny stories about where you were when buying an offer yesterday. I was at the final meeting with wedding planner for my daughters wedding. Got yelled at by wife, told by daughter to take it out side, rolled eyes from planner and laughs from future son in law! Secured the deal though.
Work day is better for me as well, but not sure that kept me from buying except for limited time offers like EMH Black Cat, for example… I didn’t see that until the 3 hr window was up…
what doesn’t help is that this happens right in the peak mailer realease window though… however, the same would be true last year I guess as well…
Todd
I know it has been said before, can you repost the offers that are ongoing?
it’s always up to the wineries/retailers who own the offers - seems like most will mention something in their thread if the offer still stands, like Balliwick, Briceland, Loring (that was because I forgot his 2nd offer, though), etc
I think it is a mix of both and will differ person to person. Personally, a high discount offer along with the option to purchase some vintages/varietals not normally available as single or a small pack add on to my order really tend to get me interested. Especially when trying a new winery, it’s nice to grab the current release and also a library release (or ten!) so you can enjoy these immediately while you possibly need to lay down the new bottles for a period of time before drinking. I still purchased some deals yesterday from sites that did not have this kind of deal structure, but am sitting here today contemplating add on orders at regular price from a few offers just for this reason.
This was my first BD, but from looking at all the offers yesterday, some were just not discounted enough after or potential shipping was factored in. I would possibly jump on one of these if it was something unique or difficult to source, but would need to come from a winery that I hold near and dear. My primary goal was to be introduced to new wineries that I would not necessarily order from without first sampling at a discounted rate. I am sure others came in with different strategies. After sampling, I can then make an educated decision - Do I want to order a case, join the club, visit on my next tasting or try something different next time? This lead me to gravitate toward the smaller packs (~3 bottles) that included shipping. I could see my strategy changing, year to year, based on the needs of my cellar and ever evolving personal taste and lifestyle.
I think it’s too much of a good thing and ppl don’t have unlimited funds. Plus, timing is bad with all the mailers coming in at the same time, but can’t do anything about that, Berserkerday is Berserkerday.
What I really missed was the gift card auctions from wine retailers. They didn’t wanna participate this year?