Frequently asked questions

From My Overview click on Categories (above the donut chart) or in the main navigation select ‘Analyse’ and then ‘My portfolio’ from the submenu.

Yes, just go to Your wine collection page or click through on any of the My wines links and select the PDF report button, for a nicely formatted summary of your collection.

The Download button next to the PDF report button gives you more options to download as a .CSV file, which can be opened directly in Excel or other spreadsheet programs.

The market level price that is the basis of your valuation is based on the latest prices from merchants in the UK or Europe (where not enough prices are available in the UK to form the basis of a price with confidence).

The market level price looks for a cluster of merchant prices at the low end of the market, on the principle that in fine wine markets where prices are plentiful, it is the lowest-priced cluster of wines that will sell through first.

Case prices are prioritised ahead of bottle prices, and where a cluster of prices are not present, or there are too few prices, we take an average.

Approximately 90 million retail price points are captured and processed to create market level pricing.

We have a high degree of confidence in the market level prices for those wines with many market prices/ high relative availability. Conversely should be taken with less confidence for markets where few prices exist.

Where an item has no market value it may be for the following reasons, the description is not recognised by our algorithms so as to derive a valuation. This may be due to

• the fact that the paperwork used to add to the system was faulty.
• Or where previously we sent out valuations and highlighted that items could not be valued and set a default value for insurance purposes.

In such instances please contact us and we will endeavour to work with you to remedy this

When you offer wine for sale, the system will obtain live prices of merchant prices from Wine-Searcher, including case prices where available, as well as bottle prices. This gives you a detailed snapshot of market, upon which to base your seling price.

Remember that buyers pay a 2.5%+VAT commission and will make a buying decision based on an all-in purchase price, so you may wish to make an adjustment accordingly.

From early summer we will look to value spirits through an automatic process, purely as a guide to value, to extend the core purpose of wine valuation to those private clients who are also storing fine spirits with us. We will advise as soon as the pricing service is extended. Thereafter we will show current prices but there will be no history for a while since we will be collecting prices for the first time.

Go to My Collection/ My wines from My Overview page or via the main navigation (Manage/ My Wine Collectorwines).

From within My Wine Collectorwines, towards the right hand edge of each wine entry, you will see a camera icon. Click the icon, add any notes, and submit.

How long does it take for condition images to be taken and added to my collection management account?

Condition photographs takes approximately two working days to complete which includes the upload of the high resolution images to your Customer Cellar Portal. Bulk condition photography requests, by their very nature, take a little longer but again we will process this as promptly and professionally as possible and will keep you fully informed as to progress.

You can add wine stored at home to your Wine Collector collection management account, and review the cellars individually or as a whole.

Use our Add wine Wizard. (Use the add wine link from the manage menu)

Although we have over 19,000 top wine names in our database (250,000+ including available vintages), you may well own wines that are not yet in our database. In this case, please get in touch at contact@winecollector.com.

From within the individual wine record, click the Wine Passport™ tab. Scroll down to the section entitled Provenance Documentation and click the icon in the top right corner of this box. This will bring up a pop-up window allowing you to locate the documents on your computer and upload them to your Wine Passport™.

Portfolio is a consolidated, summary view of all your cellars and their key breakdowns. If you have only one cellar it comprises a breakdown of all the wines in that cellar by key parameters.

When you are in your portfolio, you click the Graph Icon in the far right column of the grid, to bring up the historical price graph of that wine. From here you can add other wines or indices to compare performance.

If there is a wine you would like to buy but you would have expected to pay less than the offer for sale price, you can place a bid at a price that is less than the offer price. You can specify an expiry date when creating an open bid.

Once placed, if the bid is matched by a seller, a transaction will automatically occur. All bids are binding, so please do not place a bid for a wine unless you intend to honour a subsequent transaction.

A seller will lower their price to meet the bidding price or will click a match to bid button that appears against a wine listed in the trading exchange. A transaction will automatically trigger, and the seller and buyer will receive email notifications with their respective invoices (buyer for the value of the wine plus commissions; seller for the value of the wine less commission).

A match is only possible where the wine you store at Wine Collector is offered for sale,, and where bottle size, case size, duty status exactly matches.

You are pre-authorised for trading. Click on the Buy/bid button from the Overview page or from the main navigation select Buy & sell and then in the Buy wine from the submenu.

Principally, our Exchange gives you ready access to many other Wine Collector Private account holders who have a similar appreciation for fine wine and, just like you, recognise the importance of pristine storage and wine provenance.

Wine provenance is know and verified by Wine Collector which significantly reduces the risk of counterfeit so you can purchase outstanding, Wine Collector stored, fine wine’s with full confidence and knowledge.

Other advantages include; lower trading commissions, faster trade turnarounds as there is no third party involvement.

As the wine being traded on the exchange are only items stored with Wine Collector, Wine Collector are able to share the date that the case arrived into Wine Collector's care. This verified history may in instances not be the date it entered your account but a date that it entered into the account of the previous owner. Thereby giving you the owner the advantage of this valuable information in a marketplace where such information is not readily available to aid decision making

A trade can only be cancelled if the wine purchased is not as described.

Cosmetic condition is clearly visible from the condition reports available to buyers. As wines are sold as described please carefully view images before bidding.

If you purchase a wine on the exchange but wish to cancel for another reason, please be aware that this will not be possible, as you are buying from other Wine Collector customers who have wine stored with Wine Collector.

You can only sell cases that are stored with Wine Collector on the exchange. You can also only sell cases that have been recognised by our algorithms and have a market valuation. If your wine is not recognised please contact us and we will endeacour to remedy with you.

Go into My Wine Collector wines from the Overview page or from the main navigation (Manage, then My Wine Collector wines from the submenu.

Once in My wines click on the Action button on the far right hand side of the wine entry you wish to sell, and select Offer for sale.

If you have multiple cases of a wine you intend to sell within the same line entry you will be prompted to choose the number of cases you want to sell. You cannot sell mixed cases or a part of a case however where the case is made up of a set number of bottles for example 9 bottles and is identified on the system as such it may be sold.

See FAQ To what extent do these values guide me to price wines I want to sell? for a suggested approach to determining your selling price.

Only wine stored at Wine Collector can be offered for sale

Selling costs are 6.5% + VAT subject to a £10 minimum commission.

A good rule of thumb is to offer at around 2.5%-3% below the current calculated market level price or a best market price - you’ll see regional listings by merchants when you offer a wine for sale, making the process of determining an effective price level at which you are likely to attract buyers very transparent. However be mindful that if the case has good provenance and been stored with Wine Collector for a good period of time, this may make it more attractive within the market place where such information is not available to aid comparisons of price and authenticate value

You can change your mind at any time, day or night. You are able to delete an offer for sale, change the price of wine that’s current for sale, and change the expiry date of wine you’re previously offered for sale.

You can see all your live offers for sale in the submenu of the main navigation, under Buy & sell/ My offers to sell.

Click the Action button on the far right hand side of each offer for sale to view, amend or delete an offer.

You will need to transfer funds to your Wine Collector account via bank transfer within 48 working hours of purchasing a wine. Wine Collector operates the trading exchange on behalf of its direct private clients, and so collects funds to then transfer to sellers, net of commissions. Wine Collector operates a peer to peer trading exchange with as little cost as possible, and for that reason requests buyers to buy by bank transfer rather than by credit card.

As soon as the trade settles, and the wine is ready to transfer to the buyer’s account, the seller is paid. The number of elapsed days can vary depending on whether condition images are pending, and assuming buyers pay within the terms of the Wine Collector trading exchange.

Go to My Wine Collector wines form the Overview page or from the main navigation menu (Manage/ My Wine Collector wines).

Click on the Order wine button immediately to the right of the wine name you want to have delivered. Select the number of cases and/or bottles you want delivered and click Submit.

This order will now be added to a delivery basket, that you’ll see in the top right corner of your account and in a tab on the right hand side of the screen.

Keep adding as many wines to the basket as you wish to have delivered, and when you are finished adding wines, click on the basket or the right hand tab to complete the request.

You’ll be able to confirm your default delivery address or add a new one, along with any specific instructions.

For orders placed before midday, delivery is usually next working day for orders to London and inside the M25 and within three working days to addresses around the rest of the UK - excluding Highlands and Islands which takes a little longer. You will be given an estimated delivery date once you’ve placed your order. For international deliveries contact our Customer Services Department on +44(0)OUTSTANDING PHONE NUMBER or email contact@winecollector.com