Brewerinia madness

[Rosie]

Hey guys,

Just wondering what everyone's take on the label, pumpclip, pen, beermat, etc collectors out there.

After putting up a web-site for my little backyard brewery, I am stunned by the number of emails, letters, etc requesting free stuff.

At first I thought, forget these guys, but now I am having second thoughts and going out of my way to send them stuff. And why are there so many of them in Poland?

Would love to hear your point of view!

Cheers,

[beertje46]

The requests have been going on for ever. I have a letter written to a local brewery requesting labels, dated 1952. I have two friends that collect bar mats (coasters) and trade with collectors world-wide. When I get a request, I forward to my friends and they do they trading. I supply my friends with a small amount of our coasters.

And yes, a lot of the requests come from Poland.

[lhall]

I'll send them something if they include a self-addressed envelope. If they include a couple bucks it's even better. But a mass emailed message asking for breweriana, I just delete. We get about ten a day it seems.

[BMOOR]

I'd certainly love to honor all requests for stuff, but there is no way I could answer all those e-mails that flood our inbox. I figure if they are not willing to pay for and send a self addressed stamped envelope, I am not willing to pay for and send a packet of coasters. There is not enought time in the day to address an envelope to Poland walk it to the post office and pay to ship it to Europe! When SASE comes, I pop some things in and send them off.
My biggest pet peeve about this is when e-mail requests come for caps and labels(we don't bottle, never have). IT tells me that they know nothing about my operation and are only trying to feed their fetish for beer memorobilia. Don't tell me you think my beer is great and then ask for our newest beer labels or bottle crowns!

[tariq khan]

If you think it's bad now wait t'ill your business grows, then you'll get requests for t-shirts and baseball caps (for charity raffles) and requests for free beer for special events. Some people will get aggressive and call you daily in the thinking that free beer is nothing in exchange for publicity. It can be a tricky situation.
Having said that a buddy of mine was having a film wrap party and called on a well-known Montreal Micro in the hopes of maybe getting a good deal on some beer. They not only supplied free beer but all the dispensing equipment as well !

Tariq (Dark Star Brewery, West Sussex, U.K.)

[Diamond Knot]

We just flat out have to deny them. It would take a part time staff memeber to send all the stuff out they request and all of them don't even know where our Brewery is. They get it off a collector website that lists the Breweries and their addresses.

I get quite a laugh from the ones that say, "I've enjoyed your beers many times here at home and want something for my collection.". They live in Prague, and I don't think the collective 22 Bbl capacity of our B1 and B2 sites reach that far.

A couple of weekends ago, a collector waltzed into our B2 site and requested a tap handle. He was willing to pay $2 US for it. Wow.......how could I turn that down. We countered with $20, and he promptly got upset.....then asked for "free" stuff.....coasters, posters, etc.
Most of these collectors just send E-mails or no SASE.

[Valleybrew]

We get swamped with requests via email. We added a breweriana package to our website retail section. Collectors can purchase a selection of labels, coasters, plastic cups, bottle openers, frisbees, tap handles etc.. Whenever they request the free stuff we reply with a link to the retail section of our website. We probably only get 2 or 3% sales though these referrals. Most people only want the free schwag. Still alot of email work.

[Diamond Knot]

Great idea, Valleybrew. We should do that......

[Rosie]

I knew that would spark some discussion.

I've only been responding to the ones that put something into it - a personal note, not some worn out photocopy, something local instead of hundreds of miles away and hopefully a SASE. I thought about charging, interesting to see the 2-3% conversion rate.

I think you just have to laugh...man just think how much sh*t Bar Towel Bob's wife gives him for all those towels around the house...

Cheers,

[CapeCodBeer]

We don't bottle, have coasters or labels...so we when we get email requests we have created a "signature" in our email that says soemthing to the effect of...thank you for your interest in Cape Cod Beer. At the current time we don't blah blah...

So All I have to do is hit reply - insert - signature - label request and send....

If you have a link to sell your stuff - put that in there too.

You gotta think that replying is better for "business" than not...even if they are from Poland....

And of course people who send a few bucks..and a SASE get the obligatory stickers, biz cards etc....

In the grand scheme, everyone collects something......

[v2comp]

after getting flooded with tons of email requests for coasters and stuff, I searched here and found this thread. I cant believe how many people want these things. there are some good tips and observations here though.

[LokeBrewSF]

My biggest pet peeve about this is when e-mail requests come for caps and labels(we don't bottle, never have). IT tells me that they know nothing about my operation and are only trying to feed their fetish for beer memorobilia. Don't tell me you think my beer is great and then ask for our newest beer labels or bottle crowns!

I completely agree. When I see these emails, it is a huge annoyance. We don't even use paper labels, never have (all bottles are decorated with ACL).

They are exactly like the schwag whores at beer festivals. Going booth to booth pounding down samples asking "what do you have to give me?" Get outta here and let's serve someone that actually cares what the beer tastes like.

[South County]

Same here, we're not even open yet and I have a stack of SASE that have $2-3 in them, mine are mostly US. The emails are all from Poland. I may get out labels to the US SASE guys. Interesting that people comb the net like that.

[Sulfur]

I have a PR folder where I collect these emails. Some day I will wade my way through them, that is the plan anyway. The folder continues to grow...some guys send an actual old fashioned letter. Those are the first I plan to answer when I have the time....

[beermkr]

I delete anything that comes in email form. If they take the time to send a SASE I put the coasters in the SASE and send it out. It is always a bonus when they send a couple bucks. It goes into an envelope to save for a keg washer

R/