We’ve recently added a new field to our Marketplace listings to help both bidders and sellers set prices.  The field is called Suggested Price and can be found on the far right hand side of the Marketplace listings page.  It is intended to signal to both Bidder and Seller what market pricing for the specific wine might be, and serve as a guide for setting both bid and sell prices.

The Suggested Price field data is derived from multiple sources:

• Marketplace average transactions for that particular wine, vintage and bottle size for the past year.
• Auction data for that particular wine, vintage, and bottle size for the last 24 months as calculated by the auction algorithm’s on WinePrices.com
• Current Retail Pricing for that particular wine, vintage and bottle size from WinePrices.com

If there’s not enough data from all of those sources, the field will be left blank.

Bidders and sellers who use the Suggested Price will find higher bid acceptance and sell rates.  We also use Suggested Price in our Bid Feedback emails, so that sellers are able to signal to bidders the pricing that they are looking to see in order for them to accept a bid. Sellers can elect to send Bid Feedback from within VinCellar.

Bidders receive the email suggesting a price change and can then modify their bid.

When both bidder and seller come to the same market assessment, we find that both consummate the transaction happily.

by Beth Thomas-Kim, Director, Customer Service

Finer service is more than just being responsive, empathetic, and efficient.  It’s how employees view their role in the delivery of that promise.  I asked my team what they thought finer service meant.  Their responses included, “going above and beyond,” “taking the burden off the customer’s shoulders so that doing business with Vinfolio is easy,” and “bending over backwards to ensure the customer’s experience is a positive one, especially when things don’t go as planned.”  I couldn’t agree more.

We provide as many ways as possible for customers to reach us; phone, email, and live chat sessions.  Email, however, outpaces phone calls in terms of the frequency of contact methods.  Phone calls, by their very nature, demand immediate attention.  Unlike many other organizations that rely on automated call handling technology, calls coming into Vinfolio are answered immediately and personally. We have zero hold time before reaching a customer service associate.  Additionally, our response time for email contacts is very impressive given the percent of our total contact volume.  Response time averages 43 minutes for email.  Most companies promise a response within 24 hours.

But, let’s go back to the issue of turning a negative experience into a positive one.  That’s where the rubber meets the road.  Recently, a new customer made a purchase through our online store.  There was a problem with the wine he purchased and when we sent a replacement, it too was unsatisfactory. Complicating things was a misunderstanding regarding a charge.  Things weren’t going so well.  The customer was angry.  It took some time and patient communication, but in the end we resolved the problems and his latest email ended with, “Thanks a ton. You are wonderful.”

I encourage you to share your comments and if there are opportunities for us to improve your experience, don’t hesitate to post them here, contact me personally at beth@vinfolio.com or call us toll free at 800/969-1961.  

The new Vinfolio Marketplace homepage is designed to be your gateway into the Marketplace. In addition to providing relevant Marketplace stats including most traded wines, most recently added and best values, we have also made it simple to search by producer, top vintages and Burghound, Spectator, Parker and IWC picks.

Additionally, each day, we will highlight one wine that offers an exceptional opportunity based on its asking price versus the low retail price. Check the site daily or even better, follow @VinScoop on Twitter or become a Vinfolio fan on Facebook to find out the daily features.

With our last software release, Vinfolio has made several new tools available to sellers in the Marketplace. The ultimate goal is to put more power in the hands of the Seller, which will in turn enable the Bidder to make more realistic bids. Included tools are: BuyNow setting, ability to set a Reserve price, and option to give feedback to the Seller.  

BuyNow
Sellers now have the ability to tell Bidders exactly what they want to sell their wine for with a Buy Now price which is visible to bidders when searching for wine in the Marketplace. When a bidder places a bid at that price that matches the minimum quantity the Seller has set, the bid will be automatically accepted, regardless of storage location. To set a Buy Now price, simply set an Asking price and check the box to “Enable Buy Now”.   Because bids will be automatically accepted for you, we recommend double-checking your inventory before selecting this option. You will be charged a cancellation fee if a bid is accepted and you are not able to fulfill the wine. You may also set an optional minimum quantity for the Buy Now price and an expiration date.

Reserve price
As an option or addition to Buy Now, Sellers can now set a Reserve price. A Reserve price, which is not visible to the bidder, replaces the minimum price. Use this option to indicate the lowest price you are willing to accept for this wine.  Note that a bid at or above your Reserve price will be auto-accepted, regardless if you have set a Buy Now asking price. You have the advanced options of setting a minimum quantity and an expiration date for your Reserve price. Again, because bids will be automatically accepted for you, we recommend double-checking your inventory before selecting this option. You will be charged a cancellation fee if a bid is accepted and you are not able to fulfill the wine.

Bidder feedback
Lastly, Sellers now have the option to give feedback to bidders to improve their bids. On the Marketplace wine detail page, you will see an option for Bid Feedback underneath each wine you own for which there is an open bid. Click on the Feedback button to open the feedback form. This will give you an option to provide the terms to the bidder under which you would accept their bid.

Providing feedback does not obligate you to accept an updated bid nor does it ensure you will have first dibs to accept it. If a bidder changes their bid, a Bid Alert will be sent to all qualified Sellers. First to accept the bid, wins.

If you’ve logged into VinCellar in the last couple of days, you may have noticed the new Marketplace Summary tile on VinCellar home. This tile, also available on the Vinfolio homepage, provides a snapshot of all active bids on your wine in one quick glance. Even if you have not marked wine for sale you can use this snapshot to view, evaluate and accept bids on wine that you own.

To use, simply click the hyperlinked label to navigate to the My Cellar Marketplace tab. From that tab you can view a list of all wines with bids. Click through on the wine name to evaluate individual bids. As of next week, if you’ve marked that wine for sale you will be eligible to provide direct feedback to the bidder on changes requested to accept their bid.

Remember that while you can accept bids on wines owned, explicitly marking them for sale triggers their listing on the Marketplace, qualifies you to receive immediate bid alerts and, as of next week, qualifies you to provide feedback directly to the bidder.