Have a big wine collection you need to pare down? We know, most people want to hold onto their wines (that’s the point of collecting, after all), but there are circumstances when selling some of your bottles could be appealing.
For example, maybe you inherited a relative’s wine collection and it’s more than you want or have room for. Maybe you purchased an abundance of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon ten years ago and now your tastes have changed. Or maybe you no longer drink wine and are looking to sell as much as possible.
As wine enthusiasts, KnowWines can report that, yes, you can sell your wine legally in the United States through an auction house. These auction houses do both in-person and online auctions. In fact, in April 2020 we sold 36 bottles of wine online, and in today’s blog we’d like to share our experience and answer any questions you have about how to sell wine online.
A quick note, though, before we continue. We are an Amazon.com affiliate and when we recommend products for sale on Amazon, we do receive a small commission if you purchase items through our affiliate links at no cost to you. The commissions we receive help us pay for web hosting fees, products to test, and other costs associated with running this site. Thanks for using our affiliate links and supporting our independent blog!
Is My Old Wine Worth Selling?
Not all wine sells well in auction well. Most auction houses sell wines that are popular with collectors.
If you have no clue about the value, we recommend doing a little online research at Cellar Tracker, a website and database that makes it easy to find information on your wine. Simply type in the name of your wine and select the vintage (wine speak for production year). When you get to the page for your wine, you will find the following information:
Production Region
My Value (a value that collectors can add if desired)
Community Average Value (a value that platform users place on the wine)
Auction (the price this wine is fetching at auction)
Drink Between Years (the years that wine community members predict as the best drinking window)
No time for research? Simply list your wines in a spreadsheet, indicating the name of the winery, name of the wine, and the year of production. In our case, we exported a file from CellarTracker and sent it to the auction house, indicating we wished to sell 36 bottles of wine from Napa Valley in anticipation of downsizing our home.
Is It Legal to Sell Wine Online?
Regulations vary from state to state, but in general, you need to sell your wine online through a licensed auction house. As we were in the process of downsizing to a smaller home, we contacted Leland Little, a wine auction house that just happens to be local to us in Durham, North Carolina.
There are several wine auction houses in the United States. If you have an especially large collection of fine wines, you will want to shop around to at least three auction houses for estimates before making a commitment.
We had a fairly small number of wines to sell, so we enjoyed working with a local seller.
Things to Consider Before Selling Your Wine at Auction
What kinds of wines sell at auction?
The following types of wines typically sell well at fine wine auctions:
Vintage Champagne
White Burgundy
Red Burgundy
Fine Riesling from Germany
Classified Bordeaux wines
Sauternes
Cult Cabernet Sauvignon
Barolo
Is my wine bad?
Wine that is in bad condition won’t sell. It is difficult to tell by looking at the outside of the bottle if the wine could be bad (generally, you have to open the bottle and then evaluate the wine for flaws). However, there are some tell-tell signs that would cause a wine auction house not to sell a wine on your behalf:
The cork is sticking out of the bottle.
The cork is sunken into the bottle.
The label is in poor condition.
The ullage (amount of wine in the neck) is low.
Is my wine authentic?
Wine Auction houses have their own procedures for verifying the authenticity of the wine. However, if you have original sales receipts or packaging from the wine club shipment, those things are helpful to the auction house and buyer (especially in the case of older and rare wines).
How Do I Get my Wine to the Auction House?
Once you have provided a list of wines to the auction house and have agreed on which wines you will sell and the commission the auction house will get, the next step is to prepare your wines for travel to the auction house.
If you are local to the auction house, a representative from the auction house may come to your home to box up the wines. Typically this representative will have some wine boxes like the ones below to pack up your wines.
If you are working with a wine auction house that asks you to ship the wine, they may provide similar boxes. Otherwise, you can purchase these boxes and inserts for shipping.
How Does The Wine Auction Work?
The auction house will let you know the approximate date of the auction and the bidding process. Typically the auction happens at a location where people can attend in person, and online bidding happens concurrently.
Prior to the auction, your wines (and wines of your fellow sellers) are featured on social media, in newsletters, and through other promotional channels to get the word out about an upcoming auction. These promotions may occur anywhere from one month or one week prior to the auction.
The auction house will advise which wines should be sold individually, which should be sold as a pair or set, and which should be presented as a vertical (wines from the same winery/chateau but from sequential years). These decisions are based upon the experience of the seller and their understanding of what people buy. In our experience, we have sold wines as individual bottles, as a set of three identical bottles, and as a vertical of three or five wines (e.g. 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008).
Each auction house sells a little differently. However, there are similar patterns. The auction may start with vintage Champagne, then go to white Burgundy, and then to collectible German Rieslings. From there, they may go to red Burgundy and Bordeaux before switching over to collectible New World wines (e.g. Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon)
Each wine (or set of wines by one seller) is presented. If the auction is online, you can watch each wine get bid on and sold! Exciting stuff for wine enthusiasts!
How Do I Get Paid for My Wine?
How (and when!) you get paid for selling your wine online is a key detail! In our experience, it has been a fairly quick and easy process.
After the conclusion of the auction, you will get an email outlining either your sales or the entire auction catalog and the sales price of each wine at auction. Within a couple of weeks you typically receive and email with a list of your wines and their selling price, as well as an indication of when your payment is coming. Within 30 days or so of the auction, you will receive a check (or direct deposit) for the amount owed you, minus any pre-agreed-upon commission.
Selling Your Wine Online: The Wrap-Up
If you want to sell all or part of your wine collection, selling it through a licensed auction house is your best bet.
Start by making a catalog of your wines (including relevant information like its vintage and production region), and then locate at least three reputable fine wine auction houses to ask for estimates.
Once you’ve settled on a wine auction house, arrange for your wine to be picked up or shipped, and then sit back and watch the auction happen (have a glass of wine while you’re at it!).
Happy auctioning!
Cheers!