Hi guys

Please see the proposed changes to Market Place here - http://www.nakedwines.com/groups/two-zero.htm

IMHO this will make MarketPlace both simpler and better value than Advance Bookings

Regards

Rowan

Rowan (Staff) 16:36 11/07/2011

Please do not flame me for this comment. It is just my opinion and i know this might not everybody’s preferences.

This post is my take on the whole Marketplace V Advance booking saga.

It does seems that this is detracting from the original concept of the Naked philosophy.
I have been supporting Naked from the start in 2008. The whole idea of supporting small independent winemakers really fired up my love of wine. I was getting fed up of supermarket choices of wines mainly forced on us by large companies. My local vintners were keen to push upmarket Clarets and other £20+ wines. Then along came Naked, wow what a fresh approach, new winemakers keen to get their wines into the larger market outside of the home region, country. The ability to converse with them and share them passion and to meet likeminded drinkers, attend tastings etc. The ability to speak to a real person from Naked on the phone, or in person. All these things are what make Naked great.

The point i want to make is, do we really need a lot more wines on the site, possibly from winemakers who would not sell normally on the site. I do not want to see any of our regular winemakers lose sales through this. I have been reading posts from others saying they would like to see more wines over and above the one a week about to be offered as a compromise for the MP/AB situation. I believe one a week is a sensible solution. How many wines choices do you truly need as testified by the amount of bids being placed on MP is dwindling.

Please continue to support the regular winemakers, they are what makes Naked what it is, and take up the new offers as and when they take your fancy.

Marketplace is dead, long live Marketplace II.

Malcolm 20:52 11/07/2011

well, i agree with all of this. but i cant see growers wanting to sell the small quantities that are being ordered on mp. lots of the wines i've fancied have failed to reach the required number. at least with ab there was a physical presence of wine.

John 15:53 11/07/2011

I've bought wine both through AB and MP and I'm not sure why it has to be one or the other. I think they could be two separate offerings that provide different advantages (and disadvantages) to the customers and wine makers:

AB - should be similar to an "en-primeur" offering - you know what you'll pay, you are sure once you bid that you'll get the wine, and the decision to buy will be based on previous vintages of wine / wine makers' reputation / Naked's tasting etc. The wine maker benefits from cashflow.

MP - should be more about the winemaker offering/accepting a discount, priced in part (or in whole) according to what people are happy to pay. In return they are guaranteed a bulk sale direct to consumer. I don't see why this can't be done in relation to wines that are available now rather than in several months’ time as I'm sure there may be many other reasons winemakers want to shift stock at a discount (ie they are new and don’t have a track record – or they have a small amount of surplus that would not be of interest to wholesalers).

The concept of MP at the moment is an odd hybrid – it’s got the uncertainty of an auction with little of the flexibility or excitement, and then a long wait for the wine. There seems to be only three price points of 100%, 90% and 80% (set by the seller), and it is unclear whether there will even be any wine sold at all when you are making a “bid”. The way MP is marketed on the site at the moment - “You decide the price that’s fair” – isn’t really how it seems to work to me (unless I'm missing something).

I think for MP to work better it should be more interactive (between seller and buyer), more flexible in terms of price points, and quicker. I’ll leave it for better brains than mine to devise exactly how that would look.

Richard 14:30 11/07/2011

i too liked ab, i wrote my comments at the time of the change. i didnt really care if ab was that much cheaper, and never really bothered to add in the transport costs. i was buying wine, if i was that worried about the cost i wouldnt be buying in the first place. i had some great bottles and no duds. since going to market place i am not getting the same amount. ive bid for some lovely things, and nobody else has, or once bid less than the top price and the wine sold out. so i am not getting the fun from being a angel that i was, and that makes me a little sad.

John 13:35 11/07/2011