redwinefan wrote:Yes, there is a new Lot 18 voucher deal I just discovered:

Get $80 of credit for $35 <--- invite link i'll get a credit maybe

As proof that the deal site/groupon thing is getting out of hand, this site is called The Big hoopy (reverse interpolate the woot filter) Deal of the Day. Hey, I'll buy these vouchers anywhere they post them since it means cheap cheap wine

Cool thing with this one is you get the code instantly so I now have $80 in credit burning a hole in my Lot18 account. I'm going to hold out until they post some more interesting wines or until they do the 1 cent shipping again on spending it.

Hmmm these vouchers are a problem... they'd better post some more good wines soon! I have almost $300 I can hardly resist getting wines for 75% off retail!

cmaldoon wrote:Hmmm these vouchers are a problem... they'd better post some more good wines soon! I have almost $300 I can hardly resist getting wines for 75% off retail!

Yes, my only concern at this point is for them to stay in business long enough for all of us to spend our credit

DELETED PENDING CONFIRMATION

redwinefan wrote:Yes, there is a new Lot 18 voucher deal I just discovered:

Get $80 of credit for $35 <--- invite link i'll get a credit maybe

Another one available on the same site Get $40 for $20

Also the $80 dollar credit expires May 17, 2011 so don't hold on to it to long.

Lot18 is getting a lot of talk lately, but inVino (invite link...help me get credit!) just put up a couple Barolos for $40-45, and what's more interesting to me is a Santa Ynez Valley Nebbiolo for $18. Anybody had this one? Know anything about L'Uvaggio di Giacomo?

Thoughts on the Ravenswood on lot18???

@klezman, ill probably grab a couple of that just to see. I have $20 for InVino. Might as well use it.

redwinefan wrote:Yes, there is a new Lot 18 voucher deal I just discovered:

Get $80 of credit for $35 <--- invite link i'll get a credit maybe

As proof that the deal site/groupon thing is getting out of hand, this site is called The Big hoopy (reverse interpolate the woot filter) Deal of the Day. Hey, I'll buy these vouchers anywhere they post them since it means cheap cheap wine

Cool thing with this one is you get the code instantly so I now have $80 in credit burning a hole in my Lot18 account. I'm going to hold out until they post some more interesting wines or until they do the 1 cent shipping again on spending it.

This website headlines "50% off Stuff hoopy Guys Love" and "The Big hoopy Deal of the Day." If my wife sees this, she might think I've switched sides. Hmm? What to do?

jmdavidson wrote:This website headlines "50% off Stuff hoopy Guys Love" and "The Big hoopy Deal of the Day." If my wife sees this, she might think I've switched sides. Hmm? What to do?

The nice thing is they send you your Lot18 code immediately, so you can just go to your account settings and click "cancel account" after you get your Lot18 code.

I'm buying one for my girlfriend's Lot18 account off that site as well in case she ever questions me

james22785 wrote:Another one available on the same site Get $40 for $20

Also the $80 dollar credit expires May 17, 2011 so don't hold on to it to long.

The $40 for $20 hasn't "tipped" yet, so you might not end up getting the credit if it doesn't get enough people to buy.

I'm thinking that if you add the vouchers into your Lot18 account and let them sit there, you no longer have to worry about the expiration dates, but I've got no proof of this, it's just a guess.

Gilt.com is going to have Ramey and Arietta wines up today. I love Arietta, but unless it is an amazing deal, I don't think my wallet can take it.

/edit/ These gilt deals are live and don't look like anything special /edit/

klezman wrote:Lot18 is getting a lot of talk lately, but inVino (invite link...help me get credit!) just put up a couple Barolos for $40-45, and what's more interesting to me is a Santa Ynez Valley Nebbiolo for $18. Anybody had this one? Know anything about L'Uvaggio di Giacomo?

Woot offered the Uvaggio Vermentino back in July and there was good participation from the owner/winemaker, Jim. I'm not usually big on whites but found the Vermentino to be as described - light and refreshing, dry on the palate but with sweetness on the nose.

I'm probably going in on the Nebbiolo as it's a varietal with which I don't have a huge amount of experience but would like to try a couple more examples.

klezman wrote:Lot18 is getting a lot of talk lately, but inVino (invite link...help me get credit!) just put up a couple Barolos for $40-45, and what's more interesting to me is a Santa Ynez Valley Nebbiolo for $18. Anybody had this one? Know anything about L'Uvaggio di Giacomo?

I signed up for invino not too long ago, I think it was your link I used, from an earlier post.

Speaking of invino, anybody familiar with the Stolzle "grand cuvee" crystal they're featuring? I don't see that style on Amazon, and not much in the way of reviews.

edit: I see Amazondoes have a "grand cuvee" burgundy glass from an outside vendor for a buck and a half more than invino, no info on shipping cost.

kylemittskus wrote:Thoughts on the Ravenswood on lot18???

I was interested, then saw K&L had it listed at $30, marked down to $14. Now out of stock, but made me think $95 for a 4 pack was not that awesome of a deal. I have not had it but was looking for reviews. Saw prices all over the place.

But then my $40 Lot 18 bucks only cost me $20.

But then again -- Wine Woots offering looks much more intriguing.

Decisions decisions.

InFrom wrote:I signed up for invino not too long ago, I think it was your link I used, from an earlier post.

Much appreciated

redwinefan wrote:Yes, there is a new Lot 18 voucher deal I just discovered

i would complain this is getting out of hand if it weren't so g.d. AWESOME

unwoofer wrote:Decisions decisions.

I went with the good, 'ol, trusty woot. Waiting for something special to show up on Lot18.

kylemittskus wrote:I went with the good, 'ol, trusty woot. Waiting for something special to show up on Lot18.

And if/when it does, with all of the credits, it'll almost be like getting wine free.

gcdyersb wrote:I haven't had this specific wine, but I wouldn't doubt the description. Buttonwood has made its wines in a tannic, fresh and somewhat funky style. If you like some horse sweat and farmyard (i.e. tastes like it's from France) then this is the wine for you. Definitely more old world in style. Folks don't expect that style from a CA winery, and often haven't encountered it since fruit and oak bombs are so prevalent.

The only thing that gives me pause is they used synthetic corks for a while. Some of their wines aged OK under those corks, some dried out. Sounds like these have done well. I'd recommend trying these--you'd probably never pin them as CA wines in a blind tasting.

Just got the 2000 Buttonwood Merlot Reserve today. Earthy is a good description. Someone mentioned it was more a French style Merlot and again I agree. My wine vocabulary is not very sophisticated. The nose though does remind me of wines I had in Bordeaux. For the price, I'm pleased. My first order through Lot18. Based on this, I'd order through there again.

redwinefan wrote:Yes, my only concern at this point is for them to stay in business long enough for all of us to spend our credit

Used your link for another $80 worth of lot 16 credit. I think you can order more the one cert, but you have to do it one at a time. I just re ordered 4 more bottles of the cab. Funny that its a Washington winery, but it ships out of Salem, Oregon. Still have $290 in credits.

BTW, the $40 for $20 deal is sold out.

bud8jr wrote:Used your link for another $80 worth of lot 16 credit. I think you can order more the one cert, but you have to do it one at a time. I just re ordered 4 more bottles of the cab. Funny that its a Washington winery, but it ships out of Salem, Oregon. Still have $290 in credits.

I tried to order a second as a gift, but it won't let me. I'm guessing we won't have to wait long for this deal to show up on yet another deal site anyhow!

bud8jr wrote:BTW, the $40 for $20 deal is sold out.

Yes, I think they just killed it since it says "sold out" but it still needed 9 more to even reach the "tipping point". I tried to go back and order this one since it wouldn't let me order the other one again, and no dice.

If anyone on here isn't a Lot18 member yet (which I somehow doubt at this point), I found a signup deal that will give you a $10 credit on your first order, but you have to use it in 24 hours. So you could buy some of these vouchers, signup, and get an additional $10 to spend:

http://www.lot18.com/invite/thefrisky

redwinefan wrote:Yes, there is a new Lot 18 voucher deal I just discovered:

Get $80 of credit for $35 <--- invite link i'll get a credit maybe

As proof that the deal site/groupon thing is getting out of hand, this site is called The Big hoopy (reverse interpolate the woot filter) Deal of the Day. Hey, I'll buy these vouchers anywhere they post them since it means cheap cheap wine

Cool thing with this one is you get the code instantly so I now have $80 in credit burning a hole in my Lot18 account. I'm going to hold out until they post some more interesting wines or until they do the 1 cent shipping again on spending it.

I used your link. You should get a $5 referral credit according to the email I received.

klezman wrote:Lot18 is getting a lot of talk lately, but inVino (invite link...help me get credit!) just put up a couple Barolos for $40-45, and what's more interesting to me is a Santa Ynez Valley Nebbiolo for $18. Anybody had this one? Know anything about L'Uvaggio di Giacomo?

D'oh! Wish I hadn't just cashed out last week on some InVino credits.. I'd be all over this! Though I don't think I'll regret what I got--but I'd have gladly swapped a Barolo for the '96 St. Emilion.

redwinefan wrote:If anyone on here isn't a Lot18 member yet (which I somehow doubt at this point), I found a signup deal that will give you a $10 credit on your first order, but you have to use it in 24 hours. So you could buy some of these vouchers, signup, and get an additional $10 to spend:

http://www.lot18.com/invite/thefrisky

What is the deal with Lot18? There are way too many deals for this to be logical. Is it a Ponzi scheme where they'll screw the wineries in the end? Or do they just jack up the list prices with the wineries' knowledge and balance the books behind the scenes?

gcdyersb wrote:What is the deal with Lot18? There are way too many deals for this to be logical. Is it a Ponzi scheme where they'll screw the wineries in the end? Or do they just jack up the list prices with the wineries' knowledge and balance the books behind the scenes?

That, my astute friend, is a good question. I find most of the deals pretty good. So my guess is the former.

gcdyersb wrote:What is the deal with Lot18? There are way too many deals for this to be logical. Is it a Ponzi scheme where they'll screw the wineries in the end? Or do they just jack up the list prices with the wineries' knowledge and balance the books behind the scenes?

My guess: we're entering the "bubble" phase of deal sites. Not just wine deal sites, but private deal sites like Lot18/RueLaLa, and Groupon type sites as well.

Some of the older sites like RLL and Gilt are commanding such a high valuation in the private market, that the newer VC backed ones are throwing money around buying customers in the theory that they'll lock them up as long term customers and eventually command a huge valuation.

It all reminds me of the sites back in 1999 that would pay people to surf the web. Somehow that made sense back then.

This business model was best encapsulated by the underpants gnomes in South Park:

kylemittskus wrote:That, my astute friend, is a good question. I find most of the deals pretty good. So my guess is the former.

I'm hoping they're just doing a massive marketing blitz to build up a customer base. Their founders seem to big to be part of a wine ponzi scheme (then again Bernie Madoff had a pretty good run for a while). Either way I plan on using my credits sooner rather than later - just in case.

hunterjaydog wrote:I'm hoping they're just doing a massive marketing blitz to build up a customer base. Their founders seem to big to be part of a wine ponzi scheme (then again Bernie Madoff had a pretty good run for a while). Either way I plan on using my credits sooner rather than later - just in case.

Before I got my (thanks woot enablers!) coupon credits, I did a little googling. It looks like someone got near $3 million in seed money in November 2010 to start this up. My guess is, six months, need to show some results and this is a good way to get it. Some sites say it is linked to Snooth

Edit:

Linkies to articles

http://www.snooth.com/articles/wine-reviews/introducing-lot-18/

http://techcrunch.com/2010/11/10/lot18/

unwoofer wrote:Before I got my (thanks woot enablers!) coupon credits, I did a little googling. It looks like someone got near $3 million in seed money in November 2010 to start this up. My guess is, six months, need to show some results and this is a good way to get it. Some sites say it is linked to Snooth

Good research. So, get spending! :D
I have some friends who are also trying to lock up customers in this market. You're dead right.. everyone and their dog is trying to start one of these. Teh right time to start one was 3 years ago ;)
Indicentally, what valuations for Gilt and RueLaLa are you seeing? And compare with the $110M for woot...

richardhod wrote:Good research. So, get spending! :D
I have some friends who are also trying to lock up customers in this market. You're dead right.. everyone and their dog is trying to start one of these. Teh right time to start one was 3 years ago ;)
Indicentally, what valuations for Gilt and RueLaLa are you seeing? And compare with the $110M for woot...

Well, Gilt raised money in 2009 at a 400 million valuation and again last year at a larger but unknown valuation, and the really crazy valuation increases have happened in the last year, so my guess would be they are "valued" at way more now.

Plus there was Groupon declining Google's rumored $5 billion acquisition a few months ago.

redwinefan wrote:Well, Gilt raised money in 2009 at a 400 million valuation and again last year at a larger but unknown valuation, and the really crazy valuation increases have happened in the last year, so my guess would be they are "valued" at way more now.

Plus there was Groupon declining Google's rumored $5 billion acquisition a few months ago.

Agreed. For what are essentially closeout stores and customer-aggregators for other stores, valuations based on them while still in customer-aggregation mode is nuts.

Unless the next phase IS the new retail. But what? How ias their data / retention / buying / inventory / supply chain pattern or model superior to other online stores? There's the "don't lose out" psychology, and good ones like woot make good community (but look at gilt and others, they don't really), but I'm trying to see what I'm missing.

There is a huge bubble, but why do they all want to grab this space (and pay over the odds)? there will be a reason, even if it doesn't justify the layout.

hunterjaydog wrote:I'm hoping they're just doing a massive marketing blitz to build up a customer base. Their founders seem to big to be part of a wine ponzi scheme (then again Bernie Madoff had a pretty good run for a while). Either way I plan on using my credits sooner rather than later - just in case.

I'm with all the bubble and (silly) high valuations of companies with this sort of business talk. Maybe Snooth/Lot18 does have a bunch of money to throw around right now. But after that's gone--then what?

Who seriously prefers Lot18 to any of the other wine discounters? It has the interface of InVino with the limited selection and shipping drawbacks of Woot. InVino has better selection, though, for that type of interface. And Woot has a much longer track record when it comes to direct-to-customer sales (that they facilitate).

gcdyersb wrote:
Who seriously prefers Lot18 to any of the other wine discounters?

All I know is that I have $300 in Lot 18 credits after spending $100 credits already! I'm going to ride this wave until they either go out of business or stop offering these voucher deals!

richardhod wrote:Good research. So, get spending! :D
I have some friends who are also trying to lock up customers in this market. You're dead right.. everyone and their dog is trying to start one of these. Teh right time to start one was 3 years ago ;)
Indicentally, what valuations for Gilt and RueLaLa are you seeing? And compare with the $110M for woot...

Ruelala is part of Retail convergence (also smart bargains) and was sold around a year or more ago to GSI Commerce. Price was around $350M with half upfront and half over three years. Those are rough numbers if I recall. GSI is a public company so if you have interest you can find more specifics.

joshsting wrote:All I know is that I have $300 in Lot 18 credits after spending $100 credits already! I'm going to ride this wave until they either go out of business or stop offering these voucher deals!

Im feeling like the chinese after a recent t bill sale.

joshsting wrote:All I know is that I have $300 in Lot 18 credits after spending $100 credits already! I'm going to ride this wave until they either go out of business or stop offering these voucher deals!

Well, yes, that does win people over. Short term, at least.

gcdyersb wrote:Well, yes, that does win people over. Short term, at least.

I'm thinking investor-level Ponzi-esque model. They get 3.5M in VC funding, pay it out in these credits, but also show incredible top line revenue numbers as everyone has to burn their credits in 6 months. Now, when they go back to get more VC funding, they show the strong revenue numbers, blame the losses on "one time startup expenses" and quickly secure 10M+ in additional VC funding... Wash, Rinse, Repeat.

BTW, anyone find any new vouchers out there today?

Any thoughts on the latest Lot18 offering?
2005 Mount Veeder Reserve, 3 bottle bundle $172. If I had more credits I might go for it (would make an nice gift to some wine snobs I know - who are more interested in price than quality).

hogfatt wrote:Dang, sold out right as I was going to buy that 6L...

They have 2 Cab Magnums for $99 too, was thinking of throwing down on that...

The deals on most of the St Supery stuff don't seem that great. The "winery exclusive" 3 bottle pack for $95.90 (+10 shipping) is very similar to previous Woot offerings at 59.99 (+5 shipping).

Here is the previous Woot 3 pack of 2005 St Supery. It had a Cab instead of the PV.

hunterjaydog wrote:Any thoughts on the latest Lot18 offering?
2005 Mount Veeder Reserve, 3 bottle bundle $172. If I had more credits I might go for it (would make an nice gift to some wine snobs I know - who are more interested in price than quality).

Looks like it's available from a number of online sites for between $50-$70 a bottle (not sure about shipping), so $172 for 3 isn't a screaming bargain unless you are using up vouchers purchased at half off.