A GT Wharton posted an interesting survey that he conducted about the prices people will bay for rare beer on eBay. His article, entitled Market Behavior for Rare Beer: eBay Auction Prices in Review appeared today on Rate Beer’s Hop Press. It appears to be a quite thorough look at auction prices realized over a one-month period. His dataset included 887 auctions. The average price was $122 ($137 w/shipping included). $9.50 was the low price and $999 the highest.
The five most expensive auctions by 12oz volume were:
- Midnight Sun M: $544.77
- Cantillon Don Quijote: $312.40
- Cantillon Rose de Gambrinus 1992 Vintage: $284.00
- Russian River Depuration: $265.07
- Flossmoor Station Wooden Hell: $260.12
And here, for example, is a chart showing “Average Value of Three Floyds Dark Lord by Vintage.”
Interesting stuff. He doesn’t go into the moral dilemma of selling beer on eBay and the fact that most brewers decry the practice, but from a merely numbers perspective it’s worth a read.