Wine Market FAQs

The FAQs listed below are for the Wine Market area of the site

If you have a question that is not displayed on this list, please contact us and we'll get back to you right away.

Options: Return to the Wine Market or Return to Wine Market Info

The Wine Market is a listing of our customers' wines held in Cellarit's optimal wine storage facility in 14 degree centigrade and 70% humidity conditions. All wine is available for immediate sale and delivery at the price and quantity listed.

Our software automatically deletes bottles that are sold-out so if a wine is listed, it's available for next-day delivery!

Yes. Just go to the Buy Wine section of the site. You can purchase without registration - we use the information from the checkout process to automatically create a Cellarit account for you. You'll receive emails confirming your account registration and purchase.

Cellarit inspects all wines when they enter wine storage. Unless otherwise noted, all wines listed are in excellent general condition and typical of a wine from that producer and that vintage. This means good fill levels, no evidence of leakage or heat damage and good labels and capsules. It does not mean the wine is perfect as there may be very minor cosmetic scuffs, etc. associated with normal cellaring, handling, shipping or age. Older vintages can also be expected to have lower fill levels than current vintages of the same wine.

In general, unless a defect is noted, wines listed in the Wine Market are in excellent general condition and appearance.

Cellarit isn't a typical wine retailer. You may notice some unusually low wine prices or see the same wine listed at different prices.

Our wine storage customers control their own listing prices and sometimes they just want a quick sale, so be on the lookout for bargains!

Unless noted, all bottles are in excellent condition (see above) so the best-priced bottle is always the best bottle to buy.

• Choose immediate delivery Australia wide or Overseas.

• Choose 'Storage' to store you purchase for future delivery (or resale in the Wine Market). Your wine storage account is established automatically and there's no delivery or handling-in charge for Wine Market purchases.
  
  

Yes, a tax refund is available to both Australian residents and visitors.

If you buy wine from Cellarit we provide you with everything you need to receive a refund of 23.59% when you leave Australia (1/11th of the wine price for GST and 14.5% for WET).

You can claim the Tourist Refund Scheme refund at the airport. Some tips:

• You must spend $300 or more on each tax invoice
• There is NO LIMIT on the refund available to you
• You must take the goods out of Australia within 30 days, however ...
• You can also leave your Wine Market purchases in Cellarit Wine Storage for as long as you like for future delivery to your home, hotel, friend's house, etc.

So, even if you bought the wine a year or more ago, you'll qualify for the refund as long as you don't take delivery of your wine more than 30 days before you depart Australia.

Important: PDF documentation is attached to your confirmation email when you purchase wine and/or take delivery from wine storage. They are not packed with the wine!

To claim the refund you must:

• Have the wine with you at departure
• Show your Tax Invoice and/or your Delivery Documentation at the airport

Further information is available from the Australian Customs Service web site in the Travelers section under Tourist Refund Scheme (TRS).

Regretfully, Cellarit is unable to offer tax refunds to those who order wine for shipment outside of Australia (see below).

Yes. Cellarit offers efficient international wine shipment by airfreight, inclusive of special packaging and delivery to your door.

USA rates include all import duties & taxes. Other rates are for delivery only; any customs fees or taxes levied by local authorities are additional upon receipt. Cellarit can arrange for these taxes to be paid on behalf of gift recipients and charged to your credit card.

Customs clearance times vary widely by country. In general, you should expect your wine in 2-4 weeks.

We regret that Cellarit does not offer GST/WET tax rebates for wine shipped from Australia. See 'Can I get a tax refund?' if you intend to take the wine out of Australia personally.

We'll collect your wine from anywhere in Australia free of charge and transport it for you.

Transit insurance is additional (1% of nominated value). You'll receive a notification email once your wine is in wine storage. Then, simply click on the 'change price/quantity' icon to the left of each wine you wish to sell and nominate the price and number of bottles for sale. There's also a handy link to the Wine Searcher web site to help you with pricing decisions! You can make changes to price or quantity anytime.

There are 3 easy steps to send your wine to Cellarit for sale:

1. Register. It's free, it only takes a minute and there are no obligations
2. After login, click on Catalog My Wine to create an inventory of your collection and determine values
   (you can do this anytime and our software will retain all your entries as you go)
3. Click on Transfer to Cellarit to schedule a pickup at your convenience

Tip: if you only have a few bottles you can save time by clicking on Send Wine to Cellarit to combine steps 2 and 3

What happens next?

1. You'll receive a confirmation email and reference number with your pickup details, date and wine list
2. Within a few business days after pickup you'll receive an email with a receipt confirmation and report
3. Then, you can list your bottles for sale!

Each time you sell wine you'll receive an email notification with the details. At the end of each month you'll receive a detailed account that shows what you've sold and how much money Cellarit will transfer to your bank account.

Normal wine storage fees apply while your wine awaits sale. These vary but for most customers there will be a $6/dozen handling-in / inspection fee, storage of $1.90/dozen bottles per month and insurance of $1/$1,000 of value per month. No other storage fees listed apply to sold wines. You'll receive a notification email / receipt report and then your can list your wine for sale.

You set the listed price, inclusive of the buyer's commission of 10%. We recommend that you set a price that's competitive in the marketplace in order to sell your wine. To help you set an appropriate price, there's a simple link for each wine to the Wine Searcher web site. The price results will show you if other retailers carry that wine and their selling prices. If you set your wine price lower than the others, you can be sure that you've improved your chances of selling that bottle.

Yes. However, unlike some auctions, Cellarit includes its 10% buyer's commission in the listed price of the wine.

So, the price you see in the Wine Market is the price you pay.

Yes, there's a seller's commission that varies according to your tier level in the Cellarit Loyalty Program. It ranges from 10% down to 7.5% of the listing price..

Both the buyer's and seller's commissions are calculated from the listing price. If your listing price is $100, subtract the 10% buyer's commission and your seller's commission. If your loyalty tier corresponds to a 10% seller's commission, you'll receive a credit of $80 on your monthly account. 

Are our commissions reasonable? Here's the math: the buyer's and seller's commission combined are 20% "off the top" down to 17.5% (if the seller's commission is 7.5%). From that, Cellarit pays GST to the Australian Tax Office and merchant fees to the credit card companies. That leaves Cellarit a gross margin of between 14.5% to 16.5% before the costs of liquor licensing, web site, marketing, staffing and overheads.

We're confident that most wine retailers, auctioneers, etc. work on much higher gross margins. Our technology and efficiencies, however, mean that Cellarit can offer its customers, both buyers and sellers, a better deal.

Yes, but they vary:

• If you purchase wine for delivery there's a delivery fee (inclusive of insurance)
• For purchases under $100 of wine there's also a $6 handling/packaging fee
• If you purchase wine and place it into storage, there's no delivery or handling-in fee but all other storage fees apply
• If you send wine to sell a handling-in fee and storage/insurance fees apply

All of the storage related fees are detailed in the What Does It Cost section of Wine Storage.

• Wine purchased from the Wine Market can be paid for by Visa, MasterCard or Amex via a secure Commonwealth Bank of Australia payment gateway. For Amex (only) here is a 3% surcharge.
• If you sell wine, proceeds are credited to your monthly wine storage account. Cellarit will make a bank transfer of surplus funds to your nominated bank account on the 15th day of the month.

GST is somewhat complex in relation to the consignment sale of second-hand wine.

Cellarit acts as an agent in the Wine Market between the buyer and seller. Cellarit collects and pays GST on both sides of the transaction and issues email tax invoices detailing GST amounts.

Buyers: All wine purchases are inclusive of GST and buyers receive an itemised tax invoice PDF by email with each order. The invoice is not packed with the wine, so please print it or retain the email for your records.

Sellers: For private individuals, sales proceeds are paid to you without further GST implications. If you're a business, Cellarit requires a tax invoice from you inclusive of GST.

It is the seller's responsibility to disclose their relevant tax status information to Cellarit and to remit GST, if applicable, to the Tax Office.

The success of Cellarit's business relies upon happy customers. Cellarit endeavours to provide the highest quality service and products and regularly invests in its staff, systems and procedures accordingly. We'll always try to solve any problem quickly and efficiently. However, we do work on very narrow profit margins to offer our customers the best possible value, so there are limits as a commercial necessity.

Cellarit inspects all wine bottles when they enter our facility and any faults are noted. For example, a bottle might be noted as having an ullage (wine fill level) of "low shoulder" or there may be a "damaged capsule". References to label damage, such as "torn label" or "stained label" refer to the front label only. Any sign of poor previous storage conditions, such as evidence of leakage, is also noted. In the absence of a description to the contrary you can assume that the bottle is in excellent all-around condition for its age and type.

Although we can verify the outward condition of the bottle we can't guarantee the quality of what's inside the bottle. Even the best and most recent bottles may be "corked","off" or have other problems after the bottle is opened, such as a spongy cork, etc. The risk is greater for older bottles, especially those with low ullage levels.

When you purchase wine from the Cellarit Wine Market you are relying on Cellarit's expertise to accurately describe the outward condition of the bottle. At its sole discretion, Cellarit may accept a return. Contact us by phone or email within 24 hours of receipt and describe the problem. We'll notify you if we'll accept a return and provide you with instructions on how to proceed. Under no circumstances will Cellarit accept a bottle for return once it has been opened or otherwise damaged. You must keep the original packaging and bottle(s) for inspection.

Note: the transit insurance (underwritten by QBE insurance) doe not cover all possible transit risks (for example, heat damage). You may wish to review the transit insurance Terms & Conditions for coverage and exclusions accordingly.