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November19 t1_j84p51n wrote

Reply to comment by urbandood in Love of rare liquor lands Oregon officials in criminal probe by Caratteraccio

Isn’t that how all allocated products work? That’s not nefarious.

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urbandood t1_j84phiv wrote

I asked if I could get on the list and he said no, so there’s that.

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November19 t1_j84qtl7 wrote

Yeah it sucks, but generally people aren’t going to sell you rare and desirable stuff unless there’s something in it for them. Giving you the opportunity to buy it is seen as doing you a favor, so it’s generally limited to industry friends and really good customers.

It means everyday schmoes get shut out, but that’s just the way it works with allocated products.

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MillyBDilly t1_j84rq3a wrote

In this case, they are selling to people who ill pay more then the store is illegally allowed to charge and the owner is taking the extra money under the table.

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urbandood t1_j84rstb wrote

I have less of an issue with good customers, huge issue with “friends” getting preferential opportunity to purchase rare goods. I know there’s gray market kickbacks going on. That should be criminal.

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corn_sugar_isotope t1_j84wajn wrote

Getting back to the story though, these were state officials that have some control of the distribution stream - and used that to profit personally. Have not read this link, but I recall several were fired recently.

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MillyBDilly t1_j84rke6 wrote

well no. Ideally all the produce goes to the shelf, and it's first come first serve.

Holding aside for their best customer is code for charging more then they are allowed.

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Boollish t1_j84xgo5 wrote

I mean, there are right and wrong ways to make sure everyone can get a chance at trying a product.

The actual Buffalo Trace distillery puts you in bourbon jail for 60 days when you purchase, so you can get one bottle of any product, the have to wait 60 days to get another. To me, this feels like a very reasonable way (though I've seen some crazy shit people have done to dodge this limit).

At this point, the bourbon retail race is dominated by flippers paying managers under the table and then immediately relisting in Facebook or Discord or any other app. So the "big accounts" are just the resellers.

Sure, flipping alcohol is super illegal, but the liquor industry is very large and is making a killing on the hype, so there is a tremendous incentive to not prosecute.

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