WineBid.com the premier online wine auction. Buy and consign fine and rare wines at weekly auctions. We offer collectors complimentary appraisals. Find Bordeaux, Cabernet, Burgundy and more.
Winebid (winebid.com) has 65 customer reviews on Five Star Index, with an average rating of 2.8 out of 5.
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AMBER F.
Thanks to winebid.com I have an established (specific) wine collection of my dreams... EXCEPTIONS!!! Please read During the last auction, Winebid continually extended an auction where I was the clear winner against an organization that resells their inventory through them instead of allowing me the win and eventual purchase! Winebid lost me for life after nearly $5000 in purchases....
Jim
More of a FedEx problem than a Winebid problem however had i known they would be shipping via FedEx I'd have made different arrangements. For wine deliveries I use a UPS address as I'm rarely at home to accept shipments. I paid to have the wine shipped and upon arriving in Portland FedEx returned it to Winebid in Napa without using the phone number in my FedEx profile to contact me. I just called Winebid and the CS person that I'll have to pay again to have the wine shipped, offered no other solution I'll probably just let the wine stay there and be done with it. edit: I later called the shipping arm of Winebid and they listened to and understood my problem. They also agreed to re-ship the wine at no further expense to me. Having said all this I cannot recommend buying wine through Winebid. It might look like a bargain but it's not...it's expensive. Plus many reviews speak of having been sold fake wine. Sadly this is a big issue these days. I know this because I'm in the business of selling fine wine. Buy locally or from a distributor, forget the middle man.
Consumer
I buy wine all over the world mostly at auction and find the opportunity to buy interesting and often overlooked lots on WineBid intriguing. What I do not like is that fact that I am continually ambushed at the end of an auction (like the last 30 seconds) by buyers who have shown no interest in a lot. This past weekend one guy literally was able to outbid me on 5 lots and I had no chance to respond. There is not one wine auction in the world that would not allow an under bidder to not respond but this is the environment that has been created. it is not conducive to creating a healthy marketplace. I am not sure why I even bother with the process.
Response from WinebidDec 23, 2020
We've corresponded directly about this as well, but we appreciate the opportunity to provide more information in this online space as well for other readers. At this time the final auction close each week is at 7pm Pacific on Sundays and bids cannot be accepted by our system after this cutoff. Bidders seem to have their own favorite and creative strategies on how to best ensure they win at the last minute. One of the best ways to avoid being outbid at the last minute is to enter your "max bid" amount when you initially place your bid. This would be the highest amount you are willing to pay for that item. Your bid would start at the minimum winning amount and increase automatically as needed up to your maximum amount. Other bidders cannot see your max bid amount. With this strategy, if someone tries to outbid you at the last minute with an amount below your max bid they will automatically be outbid and your winning bid will simply adjust to their unsuccessful bid amount entered. Some online auctions do extend their auction close period to allow bids to be updated at or just after the listed auction close time, and that is a feature WineBid is actively exploring as well. Although this functionality may upset bidders who "snipe" at the last minute, it does present a more fair and level playing field as you mentioned. Feedback such as this is always welcomed. We can be reached by chat on winebid.com or by email to [email protected]
Martin B.
I guess shame on me. I bid on and won a bottle of wine for $31. After tax and a ridiculous shipping fee, I paid $56 for the bottle, which is the same I would have paid in the store in my city. I doubt if I will use Winebid in the future but it hasn't tarnished me from bidding on other sites, I just have to be more careful of the overall cost before I bid.
Response from WinebidDec 3, 2020
Thank you for your post, Martin. You bring up a valid concern and solid advice about considering all costs associated with an online purchase, especially a single bottle or small quantity. As with other auction sites, a premium is added to the final hammer of your winning bid. This fee covers all costs associated with operating the auction as well as insurance against loss or breakage of your purchases. State sales tax is required to be collected, and shipping fees are passed through directly from the shipper. Since you shipped just one bottle this time it was more expensive on a per bottle basis as each carrier has a minimum charge per shipment. A shipment containing at least 3, 6, or at best 12 bottles together will be more economical on a per bottle basis. Free storage for 6 months is offered on WineBid purchases and many of our customers take advantage of this to consolidate multiple purchases before shipping their wine. Our wine shipping calculator provides estimates for 1-12 bottles for each available shipment method. https://www.winebid.com/Help/ShippingCalculator Please don't hesitate to reach out to our Customer Service team with any additional feedback or questions. [email protected] or 888-638-8968 or chat at www.winebid.com
BJ J.
Above average shipping fees, and slow shipping to boot as well. They claim to have shipped on 1/22, but I'm unable to see where the shipment currently is until it's delivered into the possession of the Texas delivery company they've contracted with. How am I supposed to know when to be home to sign for it if I may only have 1-2 days notice, if even that? I would never use this service again, especially if purchasing an expensive bottle.
Response from WinebidMar 5, 2020
Dear John - Your feedback about your shipping experience is appreciated, and we regret there was a delivery issue with your shipper. Shipping is completely customizable and our storage service makes it easy to accumulate more bottles before you ship to make shipping costs as economical as possible. Until just recently our Texas customer base had limited options to ship their wines, so we were thrilled to find a Napa area shipper that provides low negotiated rates and conveniently allows customers to schedule their wine shipments directly through their WineBid account. This shipper may not be the best option for everyone as their Ground method will be a little slower, but more economical and a little simpler to schedule. For tighter control of delivery timing and notifications there are several reliable 3rd party shippers who can pick up your wine from our warehouse and ship to you using a common carrier like FedEx or UPS. A complete list can be found at https://www.winebid.com/Help/OtherShippingAndStorage and customers would coordinate their shipment directly with the selected shipper.
John C.
very slow pay and high cost of selling through them. charges sellers and buyers 16-17% each so they make 35% on all transactions but they pay you really slow after the wine is sold..at least 30 days
Response from WinebidMar 5, 2020
Dear John - We appreciate your feedback and certainly understand the desire to receive payment as quickly as possible when your wines are sold. To protect our sellers and ensure they can receive full payout for items that sell each week there is some delay between the close of an auction and receiving your proceeds. This allows time to address any payment issues by the winning bidder or a chargeback due to fraud. Sales proceeds can now be deposited directly to your bank account via ACH which not only is a safe and convenient option but also eliminates the extra days spent waiting for a mailed check!
G. P.
Probably the worst wine auction page that I ever seen. I do not recomend it. Bad customer service, slow shipping and extra charges.
Response from WinebidDec 12, 2019
We are sorry to hear you've had a negative experience with WineBid as we pride ourselves in providing white glove service. There is no WineBid account registered under your name, so we'd appreciate if you could reach out to our Customer Service manager directly to provide more information so we can look into your concerns. Please call 888-638-8968 ext 233 or email [email protected]
Jim W.
I have been using wine bid for approximately 4 to 5 years. During that time I spent well over $20,000 on wine from wine bid most of the wine has been stored so that we could enjoy it later on after some of it has aged. Lately we have been running into a lot of spoiled wine sometimes by the case I checked into it with wine bid and of course the first thing they did is fall back on their statement that they are not responsible for anything ever and that everything you do is at your own risk. Even though there is insurance you pay I found out that the insurance is for them in case they make a mistake. But you have to pay for their insurance. If you read all of their legal mumbo-jumbo they do cover themselves in every way possible. I also thought in the wine business that they were a little more scientific determining whether the will wine is good or bad. The reality is it doesn't matter if it's good or bad to them because they just fall back on their legal statements. As the other reviewers have stated read every word of their websites disclosures. Do your research and also realize that it doesn't matter to them particularly if the wine is good or bad because they get paid. Anyway now that I'm spending more time doing my research as I should have…admittedly. I am now finding much better pricing on other websites. The other new joke in town is their new import business where they import fairly large quantities of wine and then review it themselves most likely because other reviewers like Mr. Parker wouldn't touch it. And of course the reviews always come up just over 90 points sometimes 91 sometimes 92. Regarding their shipping. I've always felt their shipping arrangements very reasonable and the fact that they will hold auction bottles of wine until they have full cases before they ship and the fact that they don't ship when the weather is not correct I find is a plus for wine bid. I will not be buying any more wine from wine bid as the only real way to show dissatisfaction with the company is not to give them any more money. It is unfortunate that the management at wine bid would much rather make the dollar instead of taking care of their customers so they can make the multi dollars. Bad business
