How is the price put together?
Cellarnova shows a market price for every bottle. Here you can read where that price comes from, why prices for the same wine can differ so much and which figure to use for what.
Three kinds of prices, three colours
- Green dot: international price database. A database that collects the offers of wine merchants all over the world. Cellarnova looks up the average price for exactly your wine and vintage, together with the lowest and highest listing. That average is statistically corrected: it isn't a simple arithmetic mean of all offers, so a few outliers don't skew the figure.
- Blue dot: looked up on the web. If the wine isn't in the price database, Cellarnova looks up the price at European wine merchants. Below the price you'll always see what it's based on, with the date, and whether there's any doubt, for example if there's only a listing for a different vintage.
- No dot: entered by you. A price you enter yourself stays as it is: Cellarnova won't overwrite it.
Prices are per 75 cl bottle, including VAT. Tap Price details on a bottle for all the figures, the explanation and the price history of that bottle.
Why prices can differ so much
- Taxes differ from country to country. The same bottle costs a lot more in a country with 25% VAT and excise duty than in one without.
- Some offers are without taxes. Expensive bottles are often traded while they're still in a bonded warehouse, so without VAT and excise duty. That usually explains the lowest listings.
- The kind of merchant. A specialist shop with the last cases of a scarce wine asks more than a large shipper working on volume.
- Scarcity. For a small estate that allocates bottles per customer, prices vary widely; for a wine made in millions of bottles, they're close together.
Which figure for what
- Value of your cellar: the average.
- Buying: look at the lower end, but add VAT and shipping, because the lowest listing is often without taxes.
- Selling: expect less than the average; a private seller usually gets 50 to 70% of the retail price.
- Insurance or estate: the average is an indication, not a valuation. Have a recognised expert confirm it.
Price history
Every time the market price of a bottle changes, Cellarnova saves the new price with the date. That way you can see how the value of your wines and your cellar develops.
Where to buy?
When a wine merchant who is a Cellarnova member offers a wine, a Where to buy? button with that offer appears in the bottle's Price details window. As long as no member merchant offers the wine, there's no button. The market price you see for your bottle doesn't change because of this: it still comes from the international price database or from the web, as explained above.