Vinfolio Blog

As we’re building out the Vinfolio Marketplace and watching users interact more and more, we’re noticing several important trends.  One of the most important is that sellers setting a low ask price drives successful Marketplace transactions .  

As the above chart shows, the overwhelming majority of successful transactions in the Vinfolio Marketplace occur when there is a low ask price set by the seller.   More importantly, the higher percentage in Total Dollar Volume when ask prices are set indicates that bidders set a bid price more effectively when they see that there is an asking price from a seller.  For many sellers, this has a likely intended effect of raising the final price that they might see from any sale.  It’s also clear that setting an ask price sends a message to bidders and that the data is acted upon.

You can set asking prices after you've clicked on either "Sell wine" or "Sell via Marketplace" where you will arrive at the following screen:

   1. Indicate the quantity you would like to sell in the "Qty to sell" field.

   2. Indicate an "Asking price".

 

   3. If your wine is in Vinfolio storage, indicate a "Minimum price" and click "Auto-accept" to speed up the transaction process. Then click "Finished".

   4. Be sure to read the Auto-accept Terms screen and click "Submit". You can also access Vinfolio's full terms from this screen.

 As Vinfolio deploys new features like Auto Accept, setting low ask prices will have even greater effect upon successful sales.  

The ability to create “Auto-Accept rules” is a new Vinfolio Marketplace feature designed to make it faster and easier for bidders and sellers to consummate transactions.  Initially only available to sellers with wine in Vinfolio Storage, auto-accept is an optional feature for sellers that automatically accepts a bid immediately after it is made provided that the bid price is equal to or above the seller’s minimum price (which is not disclosed to bidders) and other terms of the bid are satisfied (quantity, bottle size).  In the event a bid satisfies the Auto-Accept rule of more than one seller, the determination of the sellers permitted to accept part or all of the bid is made by applying the following rules in order:

1. Seller with the lowest minimum price for the auction item.
2. Seller with the largest quantity of the wine marked for sale in the requested bottle size.
3. Seller who has sold the largest cumulative gross value through the Marketplace since inception.

We’ve made this feature available so that sellers who pre-commit to the terms under which they would sell will be rewarded with first crack at new bids and the convenience of automating the acceptance process.   Bidders are also more likely to get a faster response which creates a better Marketplace experience.

How do use the Bid Auto Accept Rules?
When marking their wine for sale, sellers are able to enter their optional, public ask price and their private minimum price (which is required to create an Auto-Accept rule).  

In VinCellar, you'll need to mark a wine for sale.  To do so, right click the chevron image next to the wine you wish to sell.

You’ll need to check the Auto Accept box to activate this feature.

And then enter your Pricing.  We highly suggest setting an ask price, as it greatly increases the potential that you'll successfully sell your wine on the Vinfolio Marketplace.

 
Can I edit Auto Accept rules?
Yes, simply go to My Cellar, and click on the Marketplace tab

    
 
Then right click on the chevron symbol to the right of the wine name to open up the left action pop-up menu.  
 
Click on the Edit selling details link

You can then modify an existing Auto-Accept rule, change the quantity for sale, and change your pricing.   

What does it mean? 

For the Vinfolio Marketplace, Bid Fulfillment is a required parameter of a bid which specifies whether the bid quantity sought may be achieved through multiple purchases.  The initial design of Marketplace assumed that each bid would only ever be fulfilled by a single seller. Therefore, if the seller didn’t have the required quantity to supply the full bid quantity, the seller would not be able to accept the bid (nor would they be notified of the bid as they weren’t eligible to accept it). The original approach also had consequences if even a single bottle failed to pass inspection as it resulted in the entire transaction being cancelled instead of completing the sale of the accepted bottles.

Based on user feedback, bidders didn’t understand the initial approach and, in fact, assumed the opposite, where the bid quantity is really a maximum only and not also the minimum. For example, if a bidder wanted to purchase 60 bottles of a given wine for a particular price, bidders currently seem to assume we are notifying any and all sellers (even those with 1-2 bottles) and permitting them to accept bids for lesser quantities until the total of 60 bottles is reached.  The advantages of bidders specifying “Fill to max quantity” (multiple purchases) as their Bid Fulfillment method  are compelling, including:

• Bids are processed as bidders intuitively expect.
• Sellers of any quantity are eligible to accept bids so more selling opportunities are presented. With each seller acceptance, the bidder's maximum bid quantity is just revised downward by the quantity accepted (until it reaches 0).
• Sellers can complete the sale of wine that passes inspection even when another bottle that is part of the accepted bid quantity is rejected. The bidder's remaining quantity to buy is just increased by the number of rejected bottles.
• Vinfolio's aggregation of incoming supply in the bidder's name in our storage facility (including six months of free storage) enables the bidder to wait until the full quantity of his/her bid is completed (or expired/canceled) before transferring or shipping his/her purchase.

As a bidder, Bid Fulfillment enables multiple sellers to accept your bid and sell you wine.  However, it will also result in separate charges to your credit card for each accepted bid transaction that occurs towards satisfying the total quantity of wine you specified in your bid. You may also obtain only a portion of the total quantity you were seeking.

Sellers will see an increase in the number of bids received and more opportunities to accept bids.  This will have the fortunate effect of making it easier for you to sell your wine. 

So how do you use Bid Fulfillment to maximize your buying options?

It’s easy.  When you’re bidding on a given wine, simply click the choice labeled ”Fill to max quantity (multiple purchases).” 

 We take care of the rest.  We’ll notify all owners of the wine on which you’ve bid. 

Sellers can then accept the bid for either the entire quantity you’ve specified, or only as much as they can or wish to accept. 

After the seller has accepted the portion of the bid that they choose, Vinfolio Marketplace’s standard processes ensue.  Both the seller and the bidder will receive email notices, along with notices in their Vincellar or CellarTracker My Account.