Q & A
Q & A - Members
Do I need to become a Member to access the Marketplace?
Yes. You need to first register with VINEX (Sign Up here) to gain access - it's free. On receiving acceptance you will become registered and can add listings to source wines (buying) or offer available volumes (selling). However, if you want to select another member's listing and trade, receive all market insights and analysis, and unlock the advanced features including Notification Alerts and the Direct Market you will need to subscribe for Professional access (or 90 Day Trial).
How does the member profile and ranking work?
VINEX securely protects all buyers’ and sellers’ identities to ensure all transactions are conducted fairly and without bias. To provide buyers and sellers with confidence when trading, each member's profile displays important information, including country of origin, subscription level, current and historical transactions and previously agreed payment terms. In addition, all members are ranked based on their trading activity only, including listings added, offer/bids submitted and trades completed in the last 90 days.
Member Rankings (based on trading activity)
A higher ranking means the member has conducted more trading activity through the marketplace. Member rankings are automatically calculated and updated. However, VINEX reserves the right to adjust a member’s ranking if there is a breach of the Trading Rules.
How do I upgrade my membership or purchase additional licenses?
You can upgrade your subscription at any time or purchase additional user access licenses - login and select My Profile (under your displayed name).
Q & A - Agreements
After completing a trade, when do I receive the agreement?
All completed trades must be approved by VINEX Clearing & Settlement. This process generally takes 2 days however, all agreements are subject to the buyer's approval of a final sample and technical specification declaration; and the seller's acceptance of payment terms. On receiving both parties' acceptance a Sale & Purchase Agreement is issued and ready to be executed.
Q & A - Features
How do Notification Alerts work?
As a Professional member, you are able to filter the marketplace and then save those filter settings to My Alerts on your dashboard. Then, when a new listing matches your filter selection you'll receive an email notification with a link directly to that new listing. You can set-up multiple alerts with either a narrow or broad range of filters. You will only be notified if the listing matches your qualified filters. After filtering the Main Market, select 'Receive Alerts' located under your selected filters displayed at the top of all listings.
How long does it take to enter a listing?
The Add New Listing form uses easy navigation menus and selectors to reduce your time when entering a listing. There's only a handful of 'required' fields, with most being optional fields extending the form further. After completing the required information, you decide what's important to further accurately describe your wine listing. Best of all, after submitting your first listing you can duplicate (or copy) it as a completed template and edit reduce the time needed to complete additional listings.
Q & A - Buying
Questions are only an answer away
Knowledgeable. Available. Supportive. Efficient.
How does VINEX reduce my risk of dealing with sellers?
The role of VINEX is to provide a secure, digitised trading market where you can easily connect and successfully complete negotiations, supported by a sampling approval process.
VINEX reduces your risk and ensures legal, ethical and fairness in trading. We provide the following guarantees through to contract execution:
Registration Verification
All members are authenticated at registration
Member Anonymity
Protection of anonymity is paramount
First Listing Approval
New member listings must be approved by VINEX
Regular Audits
Compliance audits are conducted regularly
Exception Reporting
Comprehensive daily reports are monitored
Security and Privacy
Advanced technology provides secure protection
Trading Rules
Trading activity is monitored and reviewed
Member Feedback
Feedback is encouraged and reviewed
Member Ranking and Profile
All members are ranked by trading activity
Sampling Restrictions and Monitor
Requests are restricted for new members
Experienced VINEX Support
VINEX is available for all members
Clearing and Settlement
Completed trades are subject to the trading rules
To buy wines, do I need to become a member?
Yes, you need to first register and receive VINEX approval.
Once approved, you can list your sourcing requirements, request samples from members responding to your listing, and complete a purchase.
To search the marketplace and request samples from another member's sell listing you first must upgrade to a Professional subscription.
VINEX is a business to business market and you must be a proprietor or a representative of an organisation in, or associated with the wine industry.
Your registration enables VINEX to verify your details, ensuring our verification assurance for members seeking to trade with you and vice versa.
Who are the sellers?
Sellers include cooperatives, independent producers, wine agents/brokers, contract winemakers, bottling companies, brand owners, exporters and wholesalers.
Members range in size from large to small, are located within or across multiple regions.
To trade using VINEX they have first had to be verified and approved by our administration team.
Each member has a VINEX profile that displays their market status, country of origin and VINEX transaction history.
Can I source grape-based products, other than wine?
Yes. You can source, search for and purchase grape derived products, including juice, must, concentrate, flavoured wines, fortifieds and grape spirit.
In addition to searching the marketplace, you can also encourage suppliers to respond to your specific requirements by adding your own sourcing requirement listing.
VINEX Support can assist with more information; message us!
Can I add new listings across all three marketplaces?
Becoming a free registered member allows you to add listings on the Main Market using one of the available trading methods (except Pre-Harvest).
If your listing is for a limited premium quality/appellation wine, it will automatically appear in the Boutique market listings, targeting premium suppliers.
If you subscribe to Professional, you have access to the Direct Invitation Only market, and can trade Forward contracts and confidentially invite preferred/accredited sellers to respond with supply offers.
PURCHASE 90 DAY PROFESSIONAL TRIAL
Access all areas of the markeplace today for £90. View all market intel, receive notification alerts, group your listings, utilise all trading methods plus the Direct (by invitation only) Market for 90 days.
What fees do I pay to complete a purchase?
None. You will not be invoiced any fees on completing a purchase. However, you must first register and receive VINEX approval to enter the market.
If you want to search listings and place bids, make counter-offers or request samples on wines listed by other members you must first upgrade and subscribe for Professional access.
Fees & Rates Summary
- No Listing or Contract Fees
- Access subscription fees are optional
- Pre-Harvest Forward Contract fees apply
- Listing Promotion fees are optional
- Fulfillment service fee is optional
- Fees may apply for other VINEX services, eg. Freight Quotes
How does the Direct Invitation Only Marketplace work?
The Direct Market is available to invited Professional subscribers only.
Here you can add a sourcing requirement and restrict your universe of suppliers to only those in the industry you know or would like to discretely approach.
Your listings are locked and restricted in view (no price, volume details or technical specifications are displayed).
Through your listing, you can confidentially invite up to 8 suppliers per listing (search by Country and Company Name) to respond with offers. This enables you to pre-qualify the suppliers you would like to notify and confidentially source supply from.
The Direct Marketplace provides you with control and efficiency, whilst creating competitive tension amongst those suppliers invited to respond to your sourcing requirements.
Your anonymity is protected throughout to ensure a fair and unbiased negotiation, including sampling to objectively secure best available supply.
Can I request samples?
Yes. Sampling is obviously vital in completing a successful purchase and many suppliers will provide samples on request and several style options.
If a supplier chooses not to provide samples when listing and negotiating with you, they must still supply a final sample and technical specification declaration for your approval after completing a trade, as part of the Clearing & Settlement process.
All completed trades are subject to your approval of a final sample (if applicable) and specification declaration. Your first sample request must be approved by VINEX.
What are the 5 Quality Levels A - E?
The quality levels ranging from A - Luxury down to E - Generic are broad categories within which wines must be classified to provide an indication of quality.
Just as price may also indicate a quality assessment, the A - E categories are another convenient way to search and compare wines of interest.
Of course, you will ultimately make your own determination as to the quality, style and value of a wine.
The Boutique Market is only relevant for wines within the quality grading levels of A-C and / or contains at least 85% content from a single region.
Below are some guidelines to consider when listing your wine requirements and selecting an appropriate quality level.
A - Luxury | Wines showing exceptional concentration of flavor, structure and character. Suitable for iconic wine brands, generally released following extended maturation. |
B - Premium | Wines showing outstanding regional or varietal characters, with impressive structure and character. Suitable for aspirational wine drinkers, released after limited maturation. |
C - Reserve | Wines showing sound regional or varietal characters without the flavour weight and structure of Premium quality. Suitable for the occasional wine purchase. |
D - Commercial | Wines showing an approachable varietal character with less structure and weight than Reserve quality or above. Suitable for everyday drinking. |
E - Generic/Other | This quality level is for generic (entry-level) wine, flavoured wine, must, juice, concentrate, spirit, tannin and all other grape-based products. |
What is VinScore?
VinScore is an independent evaluation service provided by VINEX's qualified tasting experts.
The service is only available for Bulk 'Finished/Bottle-Ready' and 'All Bottled' wines. Each wine is given a rating (within its quality level) out of 5.0; with a tasting descriptor.
It’s an objective assessment designed to assist you by providing a valuable unbiased filter to compare and select wines and save time.
Sellers are not obligated to purchase or display a VinScore rating.
Q & A - Selling
Questions are only an answer away
Buyer Access. Experienced. Efficient.
How does VINEX reduce my risk of dealing with buyers?
The role of VINEX is to provide a secure, digitised trading market where you can connect and successfully complete negotiations, reach new buyers, all supported by an efficient sampling process.
VINEX reduces your risk and ensures legal, ethical and fairness in trading. We provide the following assurances through to contract execution:
Trading Rules
Trading activity is monitored and reviewed
Member Feedback
Feedback is encouraged and reviewed
Member Ranking and Profile
All members are ranked by trading activity
Sampling Restrictions and Monitor
Requests are restricted for new members
Professional VINEX Support
VINEX supports all members
Clearing and Settlement
Completed trades are subject to the trading rules
Registration Verification
All members are authenticated at registration
Member Anonymity
Protection of anonymity is paramount
First Listing Approval
New member listings must be approved by VINEX
Regular Audits
Compliance audits are conducted regularly
Exception Reporting
Comprehensive daily reports are monitored
Security and Privacy
Advanced technology provides secure protection
To sell wines, do I need to subscribe for access?
No Listing or Negotiation Fees
No. You only need to register, be approved by VINEX and start offering your wines.
Registration is free.
VINEX is a business to business marketplace and therefore you must be a sole proprietor or a company representative, in or associated with, the wine industry.
Selling fees only apply to completed trades.
Fees & Rates Summary
- No listing or negotiation fees
- Contract fees apply to completed trades
- Pre-Harvest Forward Contract fees apply
- Access subscription fees are optional
- Listing promotion fees are optional
- Fees may apply for other VINEX services, eg. Freight quotes, VINPay prepayments
Who are the buyers?
Buyers purchasing through the marketplace have all been verified by VINEX.
They include exporters, importers, bottling facilities, wholesalers, retailers (and other wine producers who have additional supply requirements).
Buyers are across all regions and markets across more than 57 countries.
Can I sell grape-based products, other than wine?
Yes. You can offer all types of grape-derived products including juice, must, concentrate, flavoured wines, fortifieds and grape spirit.
For wines, there are options to customise your listings; including organic, kosher, crude, faulty and numerous other variations.
VINEX Support can assist with more information.
When selling, what fees do I pay to VINEX?
Suppliers are invoiced a contract fee payable to VINEX on receiving a fully executed Sale & Purchase Agreement.
Fees are based on a percentage of the total value of each contract.
Fees also apply for other VINEX services including securing a Pre-Harvest forward contract or competitive Freight quotes.
A full list of Rates & Fees can be found under Services here
Do I have to provide samples?
Obviously sampling is vital to completing a successful trade.
While you can choose not to supply samples, when you add a listing and negotiate with a buyer, you must provide a final sample for the buyer’s acceptance as part of the Clearing & Settlement approval process.
If samples are made available when negotiating a trade you are 300% more likely to complete a trade.
How do I supply samples?
When offering your wines through the marketplace, you can indicate if samples are available or not.
The supply of samples to interested buyers is at your cost, including freight and must be delivered duty paid (if international).
VINEX will advise you of the buyer’s request and provide dispatch address details, along with labels to print and apply to each bottle.
On entering a tracking number, VINEX reports on the delivery status.
How does the Direct Invitation Only Market work?
The confidential Direct Market is available to members with Professional access.
Here you can offer your wines and restrict your universe of buyers to only those in the industry you would like to confidentially approach.
Your listings are locked and restricted in view (no price, quantity or technical details are displayed) and can only be viewed by members with your listing's Access Code.
Through your sell listings, you can confidentially invite up to 8 members (search by Country and Company Name) to respond. If the buyer you're looking to invite is not in the VINEX list, there's a request button to add the buyer.
When offering your wines, you can pre-qualify the buyers you would like to notify and trade with.The Direct Market provides you with control and efficiency, whilst creating competitive tension amongst those buyers invited to submit offers.
Your anonymity is retained throughout to ensure equality in trading when offering your wines, and to avoid destabilising market pricing.
When listing a wine, what are the 5 Quality Levels A - E?
The quality levels ranging from A - Luxury down to E - Generic are broad categories within which wines must be classified to provide an indication of quality.
Just as price may also indicate a quality assessment, the A - E categories are another convenient way to search and compare wines of interest.
Of course, you will ultimately make your own determination as to the quality, style and value of a wine.
The Boutique Exchange is only relevant for wines within the quality grading levels of A-C and / or contain at least 85% content from a single region.
Below are some guidelines to consider when listing your wine requirements and selecting an appropriate quality level.
A/Luxury |
Wines showing the exceptional concentration of flavour, structure and character. Suitable for iconic wine brands, generally released following extended maturation. |
B/Premium |
Wines showing outstanding regional or varietal characters, with impressive structure and character. Suitable for aspirational wine drinkers, released after limited maturation. |
C/Reserve |
Wines showing sound regional or varietal characters without the flavour weight and structure of Premium quality. Suitable for the occasional wine purchase. |
D/Commercial |
Wines showing an approachable varietal character with less structure and weight than Reserve quality or above. Suitable for everyday drinking. |
E/Generic/Other |
This quality level is for generic (entry-level) wine, flavoured wine, must, juice, concentrate, spirit, tannin and all other grape-based products. |
What is VinScore?
VinScore is an independent evaluation service provided by VINEX to increase buyers' interest in your wines. The service is only available for 'Finished/Bottle Ready' and 'All Bottled' wines. Each wine is given a rating (within its quality level) out of 5.0. With a VinScore your finished wine listings will be more appealing and provide an unbiased filter to help buyers compare listings of interest. Whilst you’re not obligated to purchase or display a VinScore, it has been shown that listings are 300% more likely to lead to a completed trade.
Can VINEX assist me with a wine valuation?
Yes. VINEX provides a service called VinValuation – it’s free and you don’t need to supply a sample. Based on your wine’s details, VINEX will respond to you with a VinValuation after taking into account all market and current trading factors.
We will advise a valuation price range along with commentary on the prevailing market conditions.