A Purchasing Director at a medium-sized négociant in Bordeaux, a member of Liv-ex since 2011, describes how the data and notifications from Liv-ex let him trade more profitably.
Buying opportunities
This négociant mainly uses Liv-ex to buy stock. “I have a list of around 20-25 wines important to us that I am monitoring every week”. For these wines, Liv-ex will send him email notifications for the best buying opportunities on the exchange – “these notifications are very useful and it provides me with opportunities I would never have without Liv-ex.“
I am provided with buying opportunities I would never have without Liv-ex
Purchasing Director, Negociant
He uses Chateau Talbot as an example. “Talbot is one of our key wines. After Wine Spectator rated it as their top wine, Liv-ex helped me source this easily and at the best prices. Suddenly I could get ‘Liv-ex’ prices in Bordeaux, so I ended up buying 300-400 bottles!”
Logistics and settlement – easy, safe and efficient
Beyond helping them to source wine more efficiently, Liv-ex also takes care of logistics and settlement. “As we’re not a big negociant, we wouldn’t have the logistics structure needed to operate in the UK market without Liv-ex.”. Liv-ex brings the wine he buys from UK-based merchants (and other countries) to the warehouse in Dartess, which is ‘convenient’, and he will receive the wine within 3 to 6 weeks.
Liv-ex will only issue an invoice to the buyer once the stock has been checked in the warehouse. If the wine received does not correspond to the contract made on the platform, Liv-ex commits to honour the purchase no matter what happens.
Leverage in negotiations
Liv-ex also provides this négociant with leverage in negotiations: “With Liv-ex, we have a system that allows us to have an overview of market prices against which to benchmark, and this helps us bargain with courtiers”. He adds that for this, the confidentiality that Liv-ex gives is key.
Better view of the market – all in one place
The Buying Director is a keen user of the List Comparison feature, which allows Liv-ex members to benchmark wine prices against selected merchants. This has allowed him to get a ‘better view of the market’ without having to move between screens. He now has everything he needs in one place – Liv-ex.
This long-standing Liv-ex member prefers to remain anonymous.
