as a club in south florida, I order from three different places. now, a member wants to sell me their wine out of north carolina and none of those three distribute their wine. what can i do if anything
Answer From Expert Roger Bohmrich MW
This sounds to me like both a business and legal question, as is often the case in this highly regulated industry. I gather that the "three different places" who supply wines for your club are licensed wholesalers in Florida. Is the member you mention a winery located in North Carolina or a private individual with a cellar? If that member is a wine producer, my best suggestion is for you to approach one of your current suppliers to ask if they will bring in the wine for you, ideally on a "clearing" basis with a reduced margin so that you can have an attractive cost of acquisition. This would be easier for them than taking on the brand for general distribution. They would handle all the logistics and conform to legal requirements. I would think you could convince one of the three local companies to do this for you, particularly if you are a good customer and they can be confident that your club will purchase and pay promptly for all the wine which is ordered. They will certainly not want the problem of unsold inventory they have purchased for you alone. It's conceivable you could negotiate one of two pricing arrangements: a low price to take delivery of the entire shipment as soon as it arrives (or within that same month), or a higher price if they agree to hold stock for, say, 90 days at a time, allowing you to take small drops as needed. Otherwise, I doubt there is any way for you to purchase directly from the member.
