Where to get bottles?

[klemsontigers7]

Does anyone have suggestions on the cheapest place to get bottles online? Some sites charge outrageous shipping costs. I'm thinking I need about 50 750ml bottles.

 

[dralarms]

Where are you?

 

[shen]

I get mine for free from my local winery. They give them away in their tasting room. Also I have a friend that owns a bar/restaurant and get some from him as well.

 

[GreginND]

If you are looking for new bottles, I would suggest you make friends with a local winery and see if you can't buy a few cases off of them.

 

[Pumpkinman]

Shen, this is exactly where I am getting mine now, they are saving them for me, however, they sold me new bottles for $8.00 a case as well!
klemsontigers7, at approx 17 lbs per case (this is what is listed online), freight is expensive. http://www.juicegrape.com/ is having a 10% off bottles sale, but to be honest, I would hit up a local winery as shen stated.

 

[dangerdave]

I get free bottles from several wineries within an hour of my home. However, I have been low on clear bottles lately, so just the other day, I ordered 4 cases (12 bottles each) from homebrewit.com for $12.99 a case. The shipping to my house was only $12.19 for the whole bunch---mainly because they are nearby in Indiana. That's the cheapest I have ever found online with shipping.

Good luck!

 

[BobF]

What Greg said. I snagged 50-something cases of new bottles at a local winery for $4.80/case.

 

[GreginND]

Yes, economy of scale!

 

[dangerdave]

I'm not closed to any wineries. It costs me about $40 in gas to get to and from the nearest one(s), so I figure that into my equation.

 

[Grasshopper]

I came across this online source the other day using a Google search. It looks like shipping is free if you order more than $100 worth which maybe more than you need. I have not bought anything from them so can't comment on their service.

http://www.shorecontainer.com/

If anybody has used them, I would appreciate feedback as I might be in need in need of some bottles in the near future.

 

[Tom_S]

I once scored quite a few cases of bottles from a winery in central Missouri that was getting rid of all their corked bottles and going to screw caps. My wife & I made a mini vacation out of it one weekend and came back home with 17 dozen bottles at 20 cents apiece. The good thing was that they didn't have labels on them. We also got to attend a wine tasting while we were there.

 

[dralarms]

I came across this online source the other day using a Google search. It looks like shipping is free if you order more than $100 worth which maybe more than you need. I have not bought anything from them so can't comment on their service.

http://www.shorecontainer.com/

If anybody has used them, I would appreciate feedback as I might be in need in need of some bottles in the near future.

Next time I need bottles I'm ordering from them. Then all I have to do is sanitize. No more scraping, scrubbing, running the dishwasher and then sanitizing.

 

[Tom_S]

Unfortunately, that also means no getting to empty the bottle in the first place.

 

[harleydmn]

I buy from them but pick them up, nice bottles.

 

[dralarms]

Unfortunately, that also means no getting to empty the bottle in the first place.

But I don't like store bought wine.

 

[dangerdave]

I came across this online source the other day using a Google search. It looks like shipping is free if you order more than $100 worth which maybe more than you need. I have not bought anything from them so can't comment on their service.

http://www.shorecontainer.com/

If anybody has used them, I would appreciate feedback as I might be in need in need of some bottles in the near future.

I had to search through my emails, but I found it! In Febuary of this year, having stumbled upon Shore Container online and being fascinated by their low $9.25 a case, I ordered ten cases for $92.56. They didn't give me a shiping cost at checkout, but advised that they would email me the shiping info for my approval. The next day I got the email. With a shipping weight of 168 lbs, they agreed to send them to me for a mere $97.60 shipping! Grand total was $190.16 for product plus shipping. I did not approve.

 

[GreginND]

As I said, economy of scale. If you are not near a winery that usually makes large orders anyway, I think your best bet is to team up with other home winemakers in your area and see if you can't put together a larger shared order. Otherwise I guess you'll have to go the trash route and put in the labor to clean some used bottles. Check out local restaurants/bars or the recycling bins.

 

[wineutopia]

You could try Craigslist as well. I have gotten a lot of bottles that way. Also make friends with owners of restaurants. FREE!

 

[Boatboy24]

I have purchased from Shore container once and was happy with the whole process and the quality of their bottles. It's been a while, but if I recall correctly, the cost to ship three cases was the same as the cost for one. Similar with other vendors. Play around with your quantities to find the sweet spot for shipping.

 

[Craiger]

This doesn't help you now, but I do a couple of things. When I give my wine to friends I say that returning my bottle isn't necessary, but always appreciated. That way I'm not always depleting my stock.

Second, when I first started, I asked all my friends to save their empty commericial wine bottles for me. In very short order, I had an abundance of wine bottles. Yeah, I had to soak the labels off, but I did a little at a time, and in a bizarre way I enjoyed it.