LHBS prices vs buying online

[OrdinaryAvgGuy]

Even though we don't agree and I feel that it's an easy thing to save the local stores, just use them!, I think you are probably a pretty good guy.

Your name on here suggests you are a Joe Walsh fan? Post Eagles?

Yeah Walsh is a cool guy. Actually recently saw him in concert.

 

[bimmerbill]

I am thinking of getting a credit card that offers cash back on grocery buys. Are there any online stores that label their items as "groceries."

 

[OrdinaryAvgGuy]

I enjoy the fact that Leon will recognize my phone number and say "hi Bill" When I call. He also has tons of beer on tap that he is more than willing to share and did I mention he is much cheaper than online.

I hate ordering anything online but I guess I am a dying breed. I shop at the same stores all the time and I like knowing the people I am giving my to. I do not buy music or books online but rather visit the stores.

Oh bother I guess since I am sure it is going to end up online for everything anyway. I just hope it is after my time since I think so much of life is lost when you lose the personal touch of dealing with people in person

If I had a Leon that offered a decent price I would shop locally also. That's unfortunately not the case round here I guess.

 

[45_70sharps]

Many many years ago, Joe used to DJ at a Seattle radio station and even drove their hydroplane race boat at the yearly race on lake Washington one or two times.

Cool guy.

 

[tmoney645]

Morebeer only gives you free shipping if you spend more than 59 bucks...

 

[BxBrewer]

I just did a small comparison. 2 extract kits, American amber and American IPA. Nothing added. Shipped.

Austin $77.00
Morebeer $64.45

 

[bdkelly]

I've done an analysis between AHS, Midwest and my LHBS before, and I tend to just order small amounts of grain and equipment online. I'm lucky enough to live in an area with three somewhat local shops (2 within 30 minutes, 1 a little more than an hour), and I find myself going to all three and ordering online. When buying things from an online retailer, I can usually toss in some of the more expensive and harder-to-find grains in an order without taking too much of a hit to the shipping cost, so it works out that way.

I do tend to buy most of my specialty grains (and some full recipes) from one shop in particular because he has bulk grains and doesn't force you to buy the full pound. He also has a loyalty program where if you buy enough you get 10% off for a year. Doing the analysis when factoring that in, plus tax, plus shipping for the online prices, it usually works out to a little bit more at the LHBS than it does to order online. So if I have the time to get out there, I'll usually throw it to the local guy.

 

[BxBrewer]

Morebeer only gives you free shipping if you spend more than 59 bucks...

When you only do 1 order a month. I clear that no problem. The shipping may not be fast but i keep my kegs and fermenters full with no problem.

 

[OrdinaryAvgGuy]

Morebeer only gives you free shipping if you spend more than 59 bucks...

Yes, this is true. If you need one or two small things then going local may be the way to go. If you are going to brew a batch or 2, spending 60 dolla should be fairly easy.

 

[SpentGrains]

I buy online a little more simply because the store is 2 1/2 hours from me.
In my old truck, that's a lot of money in gas if I'm not going there in the first place.

I probably wouldn't drive 5 hours round trip to a LHBS even if they gave me a FREE ingredient kit when I got there, and my car gets over 30 MPG. That's enough time and money on gas to buy ingredients and brew a batch.

Okay, I'm jealous. Wish we had a LHBS around here that has the selection and prices that morebeer has..

I really like the other local guys too but the lack of online inventory really puts them at a disadvantage. And if online stores evolve into the Amazon business model (move closer and closer to same day delivery) it WILL put most LHBS out of business IMO.

 

[SpentGrains]

I am thinking of getting a credit card that offers cash back on grocery buys. Are there any online stores that label their items as "groceries."

Here in CA grains and the like aren't taxed because they are unprepared food items just like rice and bread, that sounds like groceries to me. I don't have an answer though other than they should qualify.

 

[45_70sharps]

I probably wouldn't drive 5 hours round trip to a LHBS even if they gave me a FREE ingredient kit when I got there, and my car gets over 30 MPG. That's enough time and money on gas to buy ingredients and brew a batch.

First off, where I live I have to travel for lots of my shopping needs and that's as close as anything.

Second, It's where my sister and her family live and where my folks moved to so I take my daughter over there one or two times a month to visit Grandma and Granddad.

Third, Portland is a destination from time to time for me and a buddy to go to hooters for lunch, then maybe go to a place where we can support single moms ( $1 at a time) so we drive through the place with the brew store on the way.

My truck only gets about 10 mpg so I have to combine purposes on my trips.

 

[KettleCorn]

Anybody local that used to go to Vangaurd in San Dimas. Sean seems to be missing. We heard from the guy in Upland that Sean "closed his doors". This dude is 2x the cost of Sean, so we are being cautious about humors.

Sean also gave us a flyer that he was opening a Brew House in Monrovia.

Anyway, the question is inline with local vs online. Where do you go now if you used to go to Vanguard? Anyone out there used to go to Vangaurd?

 

[OrdinaryAvgGuy]

Third, Portland is a destination from time to time for me and a buddy to go to hooters for lunch, then maybe go to a place where we can support single moms ( $1 at a time) so we drive through the place with the brew store on the way.

LMAO, now there's a local job that I gladly support. Can't get real ****ies in your face online!

 

[RIC0]

Shamefully I have bought my last 10 batches online and have 2 local stores within 25 minutes from me. My next batch will be bought from a LHBS and something I can compare to online sales to see what the difference is.

I'm all for supporting local stores even if it does cost a little more and will find out very soon.

Shame on me for not using them more up to this point but if they are bending me over on pricing then shame on them.

 

[ruralbrew]

For the most part I buy locally. The LHBS is fairly reasonable with their prices and have a pretty good selection of base malts and specialty grains. I have done enough business there I get 10% off and they have a grain card program where you pay in advance but can get your specialty grains for close to base malt prices. They are nice people and I like them and are happy to support their business.

Having said that, I did buy hops on Black Friday and got a good deal so i am not adverse to shopping online. That was from Farmhouse Brewing Supplies, so I still figure they are kind of local, at least in the same state...
And if we take a day trip into the cities or go to Milwaukee to visit my daughters I always stop at NB and stock up. So between those two I am pretty well covered.

 

[Snisup]

My LHBS is terrible! I stop there at least once a month to pick up forgotten ingredients or caps, etc. Their selection of grains is decent and fairly priced but forget about hops, extracts and equipment. $2.75/oz for any kind of hop is ridiculous... Not to mention that they are pellets repackaged in clear ziploc bags... Yup.
Out of date ingredients... Yup.
They also keep very small quantities of hops and yeast on hand so they are usually out of things the day they come in.
The proprietors are nice people but not very knowledgeable at all. I would love to support them if their standards were raised and their prices were brought back into reality.

 

[twalte]

My LHBS is more competitive than I thought, especially if you take advantage of the American Homebrewer Discount and bulk grain purchases. I will definitely use him more to support his business. This was valuable exercise for me.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

God im glad i live where i do lol, we have way cheaper prices than those listed, and no sales tax.

Brew Brothers is a beer nerd paradise, and super cheap. I do buy some things online that i can find much cheaper, like kettles etc, but all my grain/yeast/etc gets bought there....

Nothing like going down the street 10 minutes and being able to buy fresh Citra and Simcoe pellet or whole hops for $1.75 an ounce.

They are far cheaper than buying grain online, even if Morebeer/NB gave me free shipping.

I was interested in just how much cheaper they really were, i knew they were quite a bit but never have done the math...
I just made a google doc with their prices, assuming the most expensive grain manufacturer(which is usually Briess) and buying everything by the #
Buying your entire list at Brew Brothers would cost me $39.95. Cheaper if you went for US malts like Great Western, or something like Rahr.
They didnt have Fuggles/East Kent, but had some variants, so i picked those, all of their hop prices are the same for the non 'hip' hops like Citra/Simcoe at $1/oz usually, so if they did have them they would be between $2-3.

 

[OrdinaryAvgGuy]

My LHBS is more competitive than I thought, especially if you take advantage of the American Homebrewer Discount and bulk grain purchases. I will definitely use him more to support his business. This was valuable exercise for me.

Nice work. Great to compare my local store to yours. In doing so, I discovered that:

My total @ LHBS = $75.30 (before tax)
Your total at LHBS = $57.38 (before 10% discount and before tax)

Comparing apples to apples, there is a 31% difference.

Now, the question is, is my LHBS way out of line or is yours cheaper than most?

Anyone else want to chime in from a different part of the US? Lets see your list. We have Raleigh NC covered and Sacramento, CA

 

[45_70sharps]

God im glad i live where i do lol, we have way cheaper prices than those listed, and no sales tax.

Brew Brothers is a beer nerd paradise, and super cheap. I do buy some things online that i can find much cheaper, like kettles etc, but all my grain/yeast/etc gets bought there....

Nothing like going down the street 10 minutes and being able to buy fresh Citra and Simcoe pellet or whole hops for $1.75 an ounce.

They are far cheaper than buying grain online, even if Morebeer/NB gave me free shipping.

It's probably a market share thing.
They probably sell cheaper because they sell more.
Sort of a catch 22 if too many people in an area buy online, the local stores cost more.
If they switch to buying local, the local store is able to sell cheaper. They are able to buy cheaper and the overhead per item goes down.

 

[hoppyhoppyhippo]

I'm lucky that my LHBS has prices comparable to Northern Brewer. Maybe a little more but not noticeable. And I get a 5% discount that makes everything then right around the same price.

 

[OrdinaryAvgGuy]

God im glad i live where i do lol, we have way cheaper prices than those listed, and no sales tax.

Brew Brothers is a beer nerd paradise, and super cheap. I do buy some things online that i can find much cheaper, like kettles etc, but all my grain/yeast/etc gets bought there....

Nothing like going down the street 10 minutes and being able to buy fresh Citra and Simcoe pellet or whole hops for $1.75 an ounce.

They are far cheaper than buying grain online, even if Morebeer/NB gave me free shipping.

I just made a google doc with their prices, assuming the most expensive grain manufacturer(which is usually Briess)
Buying your entire list at Brew Brothers would cost me $39.95. Cheaper if you went for US malts like Great Western, or something like Rahr.

I just check out Brew Brothers and they seem very reasonable.

They offer free shipping for orders over $200.

Orders between $100 and $200 are $10 to ship.

Assuming that your math is correct, this would be cheaper than brewmiesters, My LHBS and Morebeer. Very nice.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Anyone else want to chime in from a different part of the US? Lets see your list. We have Raleigh NC covered and Sacramento, CA

Updated my post above for Hillsboro, OR...again no sales tax here.

 

[thadius856]

It would be interesting to do this with the big 4. Northern,Midwest,Austin and Morebeer.

Possible not quite what you were looking for, but for kicks and grins... here's a price comparison when I was shopping for my kegging supplies. Interesting none-the-less.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

It's probably a market share thing.
They probably sell cheaper because they sell more.
Sort of a catch 22 if too many people in an area buy online, the local stores cost more.
If they switch to buying local, the local store is able to sell cheaper. They are able to buy cheaper and the overhead per item goes down.

Not necessarily true, there is another brew shop no more than 10 minutes away i wont mention(locals likely know) that charges from what i have seen to be 20-40% more on grain and upwards of 100% more for things like hops and other brewing things like Starsan than Brew Brothers...and from what ive heard thats the reason they(Brew Brothers) opened their shop in the first place because they realized what a markup the only brew shop at the time in the area was taking.

But i do agree its probably a volume thing, but not all the local shops are as...fair with their pricing.

 

[OrdinaryAvgGuy]

Possible not quite what you were looking for, but for kicks and grins... here's a price comparison when I was shopping for my kegging supplies. Interesting none-the-less.

So what did you end up doing? Buy from multiple retailers?

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Possible not quite what you were looking for, but for kicks and grins... here's a price comparison when I was shopping for my kegging supplies. Interesting none-the-less.

How old is this? Im going to be setting up my Coffin keezer in the next month or two...so a lot of this could save me some $$ if its fairly up to date.

 

[Airplanedoc]

I do most of my shopping online. My HBS is 100-150mi round trip depending on which town I go to. So by the time I factor in 4-6 gal of premium, and tax, it is usually much cheaper to pay the shipping. That being said, If I am in one of those towns, I always swing in, and usually buy something. A week or so ago, my neighbor had to run over to see his sister, so I rode along with him, dropped him off at his sisters, and I ran to the LHBS for a $23.87 better bottle, and I picked up 2 cases of used cleaned wine and beer bottles from the recycle pile for free. So it was a sweet deal for me, and I flipped him a few bucks for gas.

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

I just check out Brew Brothers and they seem very reasonable.

They offer free shipping for orders over $200.

Orders between $100 and $200 are $10 to ship.

Assuming that your math is correct, this would be cheaper than brewmiesters, My LHBS and Morebeer. Very nice.

Used Ball Lock = $50
4x50 = 4 Ball Lock Kegs delivered for $200..as much as i hate people stealing my local used keg supply that is a damn good deal if they will honor it for shipping kegs.

Thrown in an air lock or something to get you over 200 lol.