Online business idea

[silver_surfer]

I was drinking with a friend of mine. We were having some wine and he told me he got it pretty cheaply from an online wine store. Turns out he got it here.

I was thinking something like this would be a pretty cool business idea. Think about the difference in profit margin someone would have if they had a warehouse selling in bulk (or cases at least) and a website compared to a shop and shop assistants which sells single bottles.

Is this still a good idea or is it played out? Is there already too much competition or is this a decent niche? Do I need some sort of extra component to differentiate my site?

[stabla]

First I'd like to say that the silver surfer was one of my favourite superhero characters - besides batman

And, more on topic, an australian search for "wine" on google gave the following:

Wine Empire

Cellarmasters: Wine Club, Buy Wines Online, Red or White Wine, Mixed Dozen
Oxfam Shop - Wine Dozens
Vintage Direct - Homepage
wine society, purchase wine, buy wine, online wine

And that was on the first page, and i didnt go to all of them...

Unless you have a unique spin, or have contacts in the industry, i'd say it would be a difficult venture to undertake... just my opinion though, maybe give it some more research...

[crackers]

I think its a market which is hard to compete in and its a product already on offer.

[Go Jo]

I think its a market which is hard to compete in and its a product already on offer.

That doesn't mean you should can it though. It just makes it more challenging for you. Really do your research. You'll need to come up with something enticing and different.

There is a HUGE market for alcohol!

Regards Jo

[J_D]

Also unsure of what kind of licenses you need to a) buy bulk grog and b) distribute grog.....

It's a great idea, but as stabla said, you'd need a unique angle or something to set you aside from everyone else... like... a wine tasting party... like a tupperware or underwear party :-)

JD

[Brendan]

There is a business here in the uk, that does this.. but they have a unique spin on it, they choose the wine for you!

So for instance, you join a 'wine club', and every month they sell boxes of 8 specially selected bottles of wines, these are usually cleanskins or similar and always have a very unique name a description to go with the bottles selected.

This business has really taken off, and the guy who started it knew nothing about wine at all..

[silver_surfer]

It's a great idea, but as stabla said, you'd need a unique angle or something to set you aside from everyone else... like... a wine tasting party... like a tupperware or underwear party :-)

JD

Perhaps instead of something like a strippergram, the cases could be distributed via Winogram - a wino comes to your door, does a little soft shoe shuffle, and reluctantly hands over the booze! I kid, I kid. I do agree that a unique angle is essential, though. It's only an embryo of an idea right now.