seangm wrote:Craig wrote:Screw you guys, I'm very mature.
I think you're being a little unfair to sean here. I didn't read his post as "why the heck is Bellwood charging these prices?!" but more like "How can I justify buying this at that price?" Of course Bellwoods will and should charge what the market will bear, but it's still fair to question whether that's worth it to you as a consumer. I'm not really planning to pick up any Jutsu at that price either, mostly because Great Lakes and Collective Arts are selling their just as good IPAs for a buck less a can.
Thank you, this is exactly what I was suggesting. Market forces or not, the pricing seems high to me. People are obviously willing to pay it, and I have no issues with that. I am curious to see if it moves as well at the LCBO for that price though, a lot more competition, and I imagine to the less engaged beer consumers they will likely grab the similar looking pale ale that costs $1-1.50 less per can.
of course the price is crazy high!
I for one will not be buying (more). I drove from Markham to Ossington about 4 years ago to buy a bunch of their overpriced beer because I read the hype and wanted to see/drink for myself. The price may have been '"reasonable" when they were only at Ossington and the lineups cleared stock within hours. Once the novelty wears, most people start to compare to other options.
Is Jutsu a great beer? Yes
is is worth $4.50 if you've never tried it? yes
is it worth $4.50 as a repeat buy? NO, there are cheaper alternatives that are just a touch "lower in quality" but much better on the value scale.
That goes for most Bellwoods offerings.
My guess is, 1) now that they have satisfied a large portion of the FOMO crowd with delivery, and the FOMO crowd not willing to pay an additional $15 to ship 9 bottles, can now buy from their local LCBO, soon enough their "higher quality" will cease to justify the premium price. 2) they won't be able to sell 5.6% pale ale for $4.50 at LCBO for long, unless they keep volume relatively low (to satisfy those that are not sensitive to price)
Long story short, I'm no Bellwoods fanboy, but not surprised they have not reduced their pricing in step with lower production costs