Liquor price comparison- sometimes it pays to shop around
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When liquor sales went private three months ago, there was some sticker shock as prices jumped due to all the new liquor fees.
Things have settled down a bit, and some liquor prices are down. But in most cases they're nowhere near what they were before privatization.
There's definitely competition in the market, but are those prices differences enough to make you shop around?
Liquor retailers are counting on you to simply go to the store that's most convenient, whether it's a grocery store, a drug store or an independent liquor store.
Jun Padillo was replenishing his spirits at a neighborhood liquor store.
"And I usually pay $200 and now I pay over $300," he said.
Padillo gets the fact that new liquor fees increase what you pay by up to 30 percent.
He said he didn't bother driving around to see if he could find cheaper booze, but he would have been better off if he had.
An investigation found that the most competitive prices could be found at stores that are located in close proximity to competitors. And it's not a matter of pennies, either. Some bottles were as much as $10 cheaper at certain stores.
Absolute Vodka, for example, sold for just under $23 before privatization. One June 1, the price ranged from $25.71 to $29.33. On August 24, the low was the same, but the highest prices had jumped to nearly $33.
Jack Daniels Black Label sold for just under $25 before privatization. On June 1 it ranged from a bargain low of $23.30 to a high of nearly $33. On August 24, the same bottle ranged in price from a low of $22.99 to a high of nearly $33.
It's not worth driving all over town, but if price is a factor, comparison shopping at nearby stores could save you a chunk of changes. Some stores also include the tax on the shelf tags, while others list the price before tax to keep liquor sticker shock from hurting sales.
The grocery stores are also reporting problems with theft, so look for added security measures as they deal with that.
Things have settled down a bit, and some liquor prices are down. But in most cases they're nowhere near what they were before privatization.
There's definitely competition in the market, but are those prices differences enough to make you shop around?
Liquor retailers are counting on you to simply go to the store that's most convenient, whether it's a grocery store, a drug store or an independent liquor store.
Jun Padillo was replenishing his spirits at a neighborhood liquor store.
"And I usually pay $200 and now I pay over $300," he said.
Padillo gets the fact that new liquor fees increase what you pay by up to 30 percent.
He said he didn't bother driving around to see if he could find cheaper booze, but he would have been better off if he had.
An investigation found that the most competitive prices could be found at stores that are located in close proximity to competitors. And it's not a matter of pennies, either. Some bottles were as much as $10 cheaper at certain stores.
Absolute Vodka, for example, sold for just under $23 before privatization. One June 1, the price ranged from $25.71 to $29.33. On August 24, the low was the same, but the highest prices had jumped to nearly $33.
Jack Daniels Black Label sold for just under $25 before privatization. On June 1 it ranged from a bargain low of $23.30 to a high of nearly $33. On August 24, the same bottle ranged in price from a low of $22.99 to a high of nearly $33.
It's not worth driving all over town, but if price is a factor, comparison shopping at nearby stores could save you a chunk of changes. Some stores also include the tax on the shelf tags, while others list the price before tax to keep liquor sticker shock from hurting sales.
The grocery stores are also reporting problems with theft, so look for added security measures as they deal with that.
I went into the old liqour store in Burien to pick up a bottle of Bacon vodka. It was 47 bucks before the adders. Used to be 23/24 bucks.
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No wonder anyone doesn't shop there. Good luck Apu. I can get it fer half that at any number of places.
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"sometimes it pays to shop around"
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No kidding?
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I don't imbibe so it doesn't really affect me, but I do know when a 'new market' is set it takes time for that market to settle into a norm. Give it time.
Oh it will be soooo much cheaper when it  get's privatized, blah blah blah.Â
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Ooohhh, just give it some time it's only been a couple of days...blah blah blah.....
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Oooh it will create so many more jobs in the private sector after we fire all those middle class employees. yadda yadda yadda...
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Morons.
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You've been duped by special interest politics - and you pulled you pants down for them. How considerate. So to all those that voted yes - Thanks for putting so many people out of work, and driving up most of the prices for the rest of us.
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 @Audio Cat You're just upset because you lost your state job.
 @Glassman It's statements like that that prove how much you know..
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I have never worked for the state.Â
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Congrats - you get the Troll of the Day Award.
When free enterprise is allowed to work you would be surprised at the competition. For far to long it wasn't given a chance and that is why we pay to much for to many things in this country.
Gasoline is one of those things. When there were more oil companies they competed for your
business, now most of them are all owned by big conglomerates.
 @Jatok When free enterprise is let off the chain you get monopolies and price fixing. Good trade is good trade, but it has to be kept fair. That is why we have laws for regulation. It WAS given a chance - by Reagan - and look how THAT worked out.
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Because people are involved, the beast has to be kept on a leash. Look, I get that competition is healthy, but the bottom line is the bottom line, and at some point in a major corporation's life the numbers become more important then the people - and humanity is lost.
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It just depends on what kind of person one is, as to which is more important.Â
 @Jatok I can't disagree with anything you put down there.Â
The times have changed and not so much better in some ways. Free enterprise does not have to lead to monopolies. Years ago you had lots of smaller businesses competing for your business and it created quite a different market. What we have now with the big corporations create
monopolies and that's where the trouble begins. When you have one company that markets their product under numberous brands they pretty
much control what things are going to cost and that's the bottom line really.
@Audio Cat Yet another post based entirely on opinion, not fact.
If i recall correctly, the privatization measure was not about cheaper prices, it was about getting the state out of the business of selling liquor, and allowing the private sector to distribute and sell it.
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We had hoped there would be cheaper prices as a result of competition, but the state snuck in at the 11th hour and imposed additional fees, it said would help it recover lost revenue.
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 @northwestsurfer  @Audio To all too many it was all about the cheaper prices. It was one of the major selling/talking points of those that supported it within the voter base.
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How is that hope thing working out now?Â
 @northwestsurfer  @Audio Blaming the state for the voters inability to read what they are voting for?Â
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Ignorance is no excuse.
*your*Â
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End new high tech edit function.
That's why you go to Oregon to get your alcohol!
 @Tattooed_Angel Definition of irony. In tearing down the last vestige of the prohibition era in our liquor control laws we have revived the very thing that it was originally supposed to prevent - bootlegging.Â
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Go for it! WA deserves the lost revenue for it's blind obedience to the corporate interests that told them - " Of course it is YOUR idea citizens" Enjoy your new found freedom! And higher prices!Â
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Idiots.
@Audio Cat @Tattooed_Angel First it was "morons", and now we are "idiots".
I'd say that we are smart, for going where prices are cheapest. Morons and idiots would be blind and patron their obedience, as you speak of, to corporate interests. Thats not the case I see here
 @northwestsurfer  @Audio  @Tattooed_Angel I speak to the ones that voted FOR the measure, professing all the money it would save us,Â
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Not to the people that are doing what would be normal in a truly free market - which is buying it where it is least expensive. If I was on the border, I would be doing the same.
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You are swinging at ghosts.
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I feel that all those that voted for the measure because they believed what the special interests told them would happen when it passed _ and didn't  - are idiots.
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I've never known alcoholics to "shop around". Even the ones in denial.
 @Klondiko Allow me to introduce myself. I had a contract in Klamath Falls, OR, so as long as I was down there I bought 9 items for myself and for friends. I saved $126 over WA prices.