Justify the Price!

 

I love it when someone asks me questions about whiskey. It is one of my favorite aspects of being in the industry. Sure, I love sipping, tasting, and writing, but more than anything else, I love sharing knowledge. It is one of the things about hosting whiskey events that makes me giddy.

 

I try to give good, helpful answers. I try to be kind. The goal isn’t to make someone feel bad for asking a question. That is unless it is a question they know they should not be asking.

 

About once or twice a year, I’ll get someone who challenges me to justify the price of something I’ve reviewed. I purposefully chose the word challenges because what’s being asked isn’t an innocent question. Without fail, it stems from someone who wants something but doesn’t want to pay the price for that something.

 

Humans place values on nearly everything in life. If we buy a box of eggs, we decide if what’s being asked is fair. Same with a car. Same with a pair of eyeglasses. And the same with whiskey. We can take it several steps further; if you negligently hurt or kill someone, a jury decides what the fair price you should pay for your negligence.

 

I used to be in the eyewear business. It pains me deeply that, every two years, I need to spend close to $700.00 to replace my eyeglasses – and that’s with inexpensive frames and insurance – my correction needs are, unfortunately, much stronger than the average customer’s. And, because of my background, I can tell you within a few dollars how much the glasses cost to manufacture, and I can assure you it is about 5% of that amount. The profit margins in eyewear are beyond stupid. But I have never, and I will never, demand that the clerk justify the price. I can pay the required price or choose to walk around blindly.  

 

Far too many costs are involved for a brand to bring a bottle of whiskey to a store shelf to ask a reviewer to justify that brand’s price.

 

Here’s how the whiskey reviewing process works: We are given a bottle of whiskey. Sometimes, we’re provided with relevant background information. Other times, it is nothing more than a bottle of booze, and we must research. But what’s never included is a brand’s balance sheets, tax returns, payroll records, marketing costs, etc., and I wouldn’t dare ask how the price was determined.

 

Very simply, it boils down to three components:

 

1.  I don’t know.

2.  I don’t care.

3.  It is none of my business.

 

Suggesting a product reviewer to become a forensic accountant is beyond my understanding. Whether the product is big or small, bargain-bin priced, or a luxury item, it does not matter. You’ll never see Consumer Reports justify the cost of an automobile or a toaster it reviews because reviewers consider value, not price.

 

For those who do expect product reviewers to justify pricing, I believe you’ve hit on an opportunity to corner an extremely niche market. I’ll go out on a limb and suggest that the average consumer’s eyes will glaze over and, barring it being published in Forensic Accounting Daily*, wouldn’t understand it or even care. I wish you all the success in the world.

 

The takeaway is if you want to know something about whiskey, ask. You’ll get an intelligent, thoughtful answer. If you want to be snarky, expect an appropriate answer. Cheers!

*Disclaimer: I am unfamiliar with any publication called Forensic Accounting Daily, but I apologize if it exists and I’ve insulted you.