Yahoo Announces Wine Auction Deal

My employeer, Yahoo!, has decided to get in the wine industry despite its complexities. According to Kevin Wolverton's article, Yahoo uncorks wine auction deal , on News.com today.

As part of the companies' multiyear deal, USWineAuction is listing its entire inventory of collectible vintages on Yahoo's auction site. USWineAuction will also sell wine on consignment for individual Yahoo members.

He continues:

The company now has about 300 listings and plans to expand that, Berube said. All of the wine that USWineAuction has listed is on consignment from retailers, wineries and individual collectors, he said.

Despite the legal ramifications, Yahoo allowed its members to list wine for auction up until this week's deal with USWineAuction. Yahoo now directs customers who want to sell wine to the wine auctioneer.

The legal complexities of selling wine online were not Yahoo's motivation for cutting its deal with USWineAuction, Fitzgerald said.

This is not the first time a big Internet player has tried to tap into the high profit margins of selling upscale wine and circumvent the complex shipping laws.

eBay, the leading online auction site, banned the sale of wine and other alcohol products in 1999, largely out of concern that sellers were having a difficult time complying with the complex regulations. eBay reintroduced wine auctions on its main site last fall and allows wine sales through its Sothebys.com site and within its live auctions.

However, eBay allows wine to be sold only by trusted companies such as New Vine Logistics, and it still bans individuals from selling wine on its site.

According to an article in New.com last year, Ebay has exploring it:

eBay relaunched the category last week on a trial basis in association with partners New Vine Logistics and Winetasting.com.

eBay is only the latest online company to try to cash in on the wine market, which is worth billions of dollars in sales. Despite the potential of the market, several high-profile start-ups such as Wine.com and Amazon.com-backed Wineshopper.com have gone out of business trying to navigate the myriad legal regulations.

Now only if Yahoo! would pay me to make wine....

Related Links
· Yahoo uncorks wine auction deal- News.com article
· Wine Currently Auctioned on Yahoo!
· USWineAuction- Yahoo's fulfillment partner.
· Ebay Explores Selling Wine- News.com article
· Wine Currently Auctioned on Ebay
· New Vine Logistics- Ebay's fulfillment partner.
· Winetasting.com- Ebay's fulfillment partner.