750 Ml Glass Bottle Prices

[uniiqueuser]

I asked several people the answer to this question......

If I am to purchase bottles I normally go to the bottle shop and get a carton of longnecks. Unfortunately these are filled with Yarra water etc which has to drained (ie consumed) so I can put home brew in them

Why does a carton of 12 x 750 ml bottles cost on average $10 to $15 more than a slab (carton to non-mexicans) of 24 x 375 ml bottles? Do the math, its the same amount of 'beer'.....

I have phoned CUB and they say the retailer sets the price. I have asked the retailer and they say the supplier sets the price. WTF?

Personally I think the price of a longneck has risen in line with the rising popularity of home brewing, as some form of deterrent.

If I was slightly better organised I wouldn't have to buy 'beer' at all, but sometimes I run out of my own stuff and I do need to replace those bottles I have given to 'friends' (real friends would return them).

If I had obtained all my bottles this way I would have been bankrupt many years ago- most of mine were obtained by having a 'swim' in the glass recycle bin at the tip or going for a cruise on recycle bin night.

Apologies if you think this is off topic but I think that bottles, and how to obtain them, is relevant to the 'Gear and Equipment' section.

 

[brettprevans]

who sets the price?
well they both do. CUB set the wholesale price then the retailer adds their margin. as a general rule theres very little money made in slabs of beer. where the money is made is when the slab is broken up ito 6 packs and single stubbies.

plenty of inof in the gear and equipment section aabout where to get bottles from. reception centres are great, as is aht emarketplace thread on AHB. plenty come up from time to time. the pet coopers bottles are good and cheap.

dont buy any formn a LHBS though. too expensive. odds are you;ll get bitten by the brewing bug and move to kegs in a couple years. I made that mistake and less than 2yrs later im kegging and gotten rid of most of my bottles.

 

[Supra-Jim]

Very minor point of order, CUB longnecks are now 800ml if i remember correctly?

Cheers SJ

 

[bakkerman]

Most big bottle shops sell the stubbies below cost.
I've asked around at LN, and the wholesale price for New is higher than the price you pay at Dan Murphy's.
Sold as a loss leader just to get the footfall in.

Guess the longnecks are being sold at a more realistic price.

 

[brettprevans]

Most big bottle shops sell the stubbies below cost.
I've asked around at LN, and the wholesale price for New is higher than the price you pay at Dan Murphy's.

marketing and pricing has been discussed elsewhere. its not always clear cut. there are rebates and a whole heap of other reasons for pricing.

longs arent a big a mover as stubbies. so although it costs less in material/packaging etc they dont move so they need a bigger margin. also its economies of scale. more stubbs are prodiuced so its a bit of a pain in ass for the breweries to have to produce longnecks. thewy would prefer to get rid of them (well some breweries would).

 

[buttersd70]

another thing to conisder; material cost of the glass itself, and transport costs. An interesting point given that;

1 empty coopers Longneck, plus cap, weighs 565g
1 empty coopers stubbie, plus cap, weighs 208g

1 carton of 12 (empty, with caps) longnecks weighs 6780g
1 carton of 24 (empty, with caps) stubbies weighs 4992g

1 carton of longnecks weighs 1.788 kg more than 1 carton of stubbies.....

More material used in the production, more expensive to transport due to being heavier.....added to that, the economies of scale as mentioned by cm2, and is it particularly surprising that it costs more?...

(Coopers used for my example, cos I had some handy.)

(edit: the assumption is made that the weight contributed by the beer itself can be dismissed, due to the fact already pointed out in the OP that the volumeof beer is the same for 12 longnecks as it is for 24 stubbies. Caps, however, have been included - as there are twice as many caps in a carton of stubbies as in a carton of longnecks.)

 

[uniiqueuser]

Supra Jim- yes and no. They started off at 750 ml (not counting those made before in imperial sizes of course) then they went to 800 ml for a while, then back to 750 ml a couple of years ago.

Butters- good point. There is great logic in what you have said.

However, longnecks, perhaps 15 or twenty years ago, were usually cheaper than stubbies by a significant margin.

Also, while long necks have more glass which would cost more and weigh more (increasing transport costs) wouldn't production costs be offset by reduced handling time of loose bottles? Half as many bottles = half as much handling time.

We all know it takes longer to bottle 60 stubbies than 30 longnecks. I am sure major breweries have the same problem.