Buying alcohol online is cheaper until shipping costs kick in

Buying alcohol online is cheaper until shipping costs kick in

Is it worth buying gin online? The short answer is that it depends on how many bottles you put in the cart. The long answer is that the savings the internet promises get eaten up by shipping as soon as the order falls below a certain amount. One concrete case serves as a gauge: G'vine, a gin that costs **39 euros** at Alcampo and over 40 in regular shops, shows up on some websites for **30-31 euros**, according to the person who started the thread. A gap of nearly ten euros per bottle that, on paper, justifies the click.

The problem appears in the fine print of the delivery. With **7.5 euros in shipping**, the same bottle ends up «dead even» with the supermarket price, according to a calculation circulating in the discussion. Savings only exist when you buy in bulk: ten or eleven bottles to last the whole year, as the person raising the question plans. That's where shipping gets diluted and the math works out.

What alcohol delivery really costs

Online liquor stores' rates don't reward loyalty. One of the websites analyzed charges **7.50 euros** for packages up to 4.99 kilos, rises to 9 euros up to 9.99 kilos, and climbs to **24.50 euros** for parcels of 25 to 29.99 kilos. The more you spend, the more they sting you, as one participant complains. Another operator, Vinissimus, applies a gentler scale: 7.60 euros for 1-6 bottles and 27 euros for 31-36 bottles.

Some defend the logic of the system: a glass package is heavy and breakage-proof packaging drives up the volume. The cost isn't the store's whim, it's physics, another forum user argues. The consequence is that the business model rests on a very specific niche: the thirsty and lazy buyer, in one participant's words.

The deals that aren't all they seem

The bottle-by-bottle comparison dismantles more than one slogan. A case of 20 Franziskaner at **25.35 euros** works out at 1.64 euros each with shipping included, more expensive than at El Corte Inglés and well above Lidl's usual offer of **0.89 euros**, according to one forum user's calculations. Relleniton's was two euros cheaper at a Carrefour Express than on the website; Beefeater was a euro cheaper at the supermarket. Only London 1 was five euros better at the online store.

The result is an uneven map: there are real bargains on certain products and traps on just as many others. Buying alcohol online without comparing prices item by item is an expensive way to save.

Alternatives: in-store pickup and home brewing

For those who want a good price without paying for shipping, in-store pickup is the way to go. Some chains let you collect your order in person, though finding a store with a wide catalog and a warehouse in Madrid remains a tough nut to sustancia ilegal. The other route is home production: homemade mead works out at **4 euros for 4 liters** according to circulating calculations, and some people are already fermenting twelve-liter batches.

Maximum savings, in any case, have a legal and health limit that no shipping table reflects.

In the end, the cheap online alcohol store does exist, but its name is a full cart. With one bottle, shipping eats the discount. With ten, the math works. Ironies of digital commerce: to save on gin you have to buy as if you ran a bar.