Ask the Collective
The questions independent drinks founders ask most — answered. Distilled from years of community knowledge so the good stuff never disappears in the feed again.
What are the realistic pros and cons of selling spirits and beverages on Amazon?
Amazon makes your brand available to a huge customer base and can offer cheaper shipping than managing your own 3PL, but profitability is challenging and requires significant sustained spend on advertising and promotions. Members have learned hard lessons about the platform's dynamics. **Pros:** - **Wide reach** — puts your brand in front of millions of potential customers automatically - **Shipping economics** — can be cheaper than managing your own third-party logistics for individual orders - **Organic traffic from external brand-building** — members report that investing in consumer awareness outside Amazon (direct marketing, PR, social) drives profitable organic sales *on* Amazon without needing to throw cash at Amazon's own ad platform **Cons:** - **High advertising costs required** — you must spend heavily on Amazon's promotional tools and media to achieve meaningful volume; members report struggling to make Amazon profitable even with ad investment - **Amazon holds all the cards** — the platform controls pricing, visibility, fees, and policies in ways that can surprise you after launch; members describe "some you didn't know existed before you started" - **Very tricky unit economics** — multiple members noted they've never been able to make Amazon profitable and have actually pulled advertising spend entirely - **Brand values misalignment** — Amazon's working practices can clash with independent drinks brands' values **Key strategy:** The one member reporting strong Amazon profitability said their biggest win was **building direct consumer brand awareness away from the platform**, which then organically drove profitable sales on Amazon without relying on Amazon's own ads. This approach also builds a direct customer relationship outside the platform. Members emphasise that Amazon is a big customer for many (hard to ignore) but universally describe it as tricky to make work profitably. Several have formed a discussion group to share learnings and mistakes to avoid.
How should small drinks brands approach seasonal discounting (Black Friday, Christmas) without destroying margins and brand value?
Members emphasise that deep seasonal discounting is often a losing game for small premium brands. The consensus is: **don't participate unless it genuinely works for your business model and customer base**. **Strategic alternatives members are using:** - **Clear slow-moving or nearly-expired stock** — Several members use Black Friday/seasonal periods specifically to liquidate dead inventory at discount rather than applying across-the-board cuts. This frees cash from working capital without eroding core product margins. - **Modest, purpose-driven discounts** — One member runs "Green Friday" offers on B Corp soft drinks with tree-planting tied to sales, reframing the event around values rather than race-to-bottom pricing. - **Tiered discounting** — Offer small discounts on core range (e.g. 20%), larger discounts on slow-moving SKUs only. This protects your flagship products while moving problem stock. - **New customer acquisition campaigns** — Position it as a trial/tasting campaign rather than a blanket sale. Members note it can work for customer discovery if margins allow. - **Skip it entirely** — Several premium brands simply don't participate. One importer cited the "Huit Denim approach": close the website, reopen after the event when "common sense returns." Multiple members note that for premium aged spirits at £25–£50, the math rarely works—you attract cheaper customers, spend heavily on ads to reach them, and end up with zero margin. **Key warnings:** - Seasonal discounting in premium spirits is often a trap. Customers buy rum 2–3 times a year anyway (Christmas gifts, birthdays, Father's Day); heavy Black Friday discounting doesn't create incremental volume, it just shifts when people buy and at lower price points. - Turnover is vanity; margin is sanity. Don't get sucked into a race to the bottom you can't win. - Massive competitor discounts (e.g. Diageo's aggressive pricing) make modest 20% offers look pointless and devalue the entire category. - Advertising costs to acquire discount-hunting customers often exceed the margin you make. **The underlying advice:** If running Black Friday isn't profitable within 60 days *and* doesn't align with your brand values, skip it. Focus on making the rest of the year succeed and selling less at higher margin.