Thanks we update daily - overnight NYC time. I can see a time when we might need to up this rate. When stores keep on top of their online inventory W-S should have it within the day. If you see something on W-S that you know is ‘long gone’ PM me.
Really surprised to read this. I have a completely different perspective as a consumer. WS makes it extremely easy to search for wines and saved me a lot of money back when my cellar was in the log growth phase. While there are occasions when a store doesn’t have a listed item in stock, it’s the exception rather than the rule. Having to visit the website or call and check on inventory just doesn’t seem like that much of an imposition.
There are a few stores that appear to be brokers rather than actual retailers as they never seem to have anything in stock. I’m not sure of WS’ protocol for these. I never bothered to look into it because it’s easier to exclude those stores.
The issue the OP has with Total Wine is a little different because they do have different pricing and availability in different states. Not exactly a WS issue or anything that bothered me. A more annoying issue with Total for me was that the listings for some wines, available in dozens of Total stores but none accessible to me or willing to ship, could fill several pages of results. I ended up excluding TW and searching the Total site separately for my location. Not ideal but not that difficult either.
I eventually let my Pro subscription lapse as I wasn’t buying that much any more, I started to stick with a few trusted retailers, and the hassle of shipping to DC or VA lessened the appeal of out of state retailers.
perhaps this is a dumb question, but on regular (non pro) winesearcher, how do you specify bottle size? like to exclude halfs or magnum?
thanks
there’s a pull down menu on the right hand side of the search box, Steve. Default is “all”
I am a big fan of WS. Not a perfect resources of course (the Total stuff does rankle a bit, but as David points out, that is a product of Total’s set up not WS’s), but it does a great job of quickly and easily doing a job that would take forever for me to do myself. It also has the salutary effect of pushing prices down generally. A retailer that would otherwise fatten its margins has to realize that it will be obvious to the wine-buying public in a way it wouldn’t otherwise be.
I suppose I should let my pro lapse, simply because I am buying less and less, and doing so more and mire from a limited number of retailers, but I still find it useful to ensure that the wines I purchase are at market-competitive prices.
This, except W-S Pro is a service I happily pay for every year. For a modest fee it brings a world of wine to my virtual doorstep even if I buy less than I used to. And it isn’t just as a price comparison tool. It helps me understand where certain wines are or are not available as I (and the colletive we) perpetually educate ourselves about this (changing) little wine world we all are obsessively and somewhat irrationally invested in. Once I had WS-Pro, it was clear to me I would be hard pressed to go back. That may change — maybe; I doubt it — if I decide to stop buying altogether.
That seems very straightforward. I am pretty sure Total doesn’t ship between states. Only look at their stores in your state and you’re all set. Or just remove their listings entirely from your results.
you sure that’s not just under pro? can you please screen shot this? i am not seeing this under desktop or mobile view.
I think that’s just in the Pro version. It went away when I let my subscription lapse.
The Answer Man ^^^^
Interesting thread. I think I had noticed that pricing issue with TW too. But I don’t buy much from them although yesterday I popped in to
a) recycle some shippers as they somehow reuse them
b) pick up some cocktail mixers