[Closed] Virgin Wines - is there a catch?

You dont really get a £50 discount, you get £50 off the order, but the wine is a little overpriced to start with, so shopping around may get a better deal.
I had a similar thing with Naked Wines. The initial 12 bottles was a reasonable price, subsequent months were not. Some very bland wines that I had never heard of. If Virgin is the same, then you are subscribed to have 6 bottles a month minimum.
They may lose slightly with the first order (though I doubt it), subsequent months they are raking it in, £30 iirc for 6 bottles that were distinctly average.
We're going to miss our November trip to stock up on wine and beer this year, so will be looking online to get a good deal for the 24 or so wines we want, I wont be looking at Virgin. If the worst happens, it'll be down to Laithwaites or other such seller.

Same experience here
Overpriced, I now give the local Merchant my business, much better value.

As above, I've found wine clubs to be a bit overpriced and bland.

Better to try a good selection of the stuff priced from £5 to £10 at Aldi or Lidl and find out what you like.

Had some really great stuff from both lately.

is there a catch? Not very good wine

Just join the wine society. It's £40 (but you get £20 in a voucher)

Better, cheaper wine. And you buy what you want, when you want. Free delivery on cases.

https://www.thewinesociety.com/joining-the-society

then pick a case

It is honestly worth it. There's no BS like Laithwaites/Virgin/Naked

I normally get mine from Sainsbury's when they have the buy 6 or more and save 25% offers (which is quite often).

I got a similar voucher for my microwave and considered using it for the same reason. The one I had needed a subscription but I just googled for a better code which was just £60 off an order. Haven't tasted any of it yet though.

Yep, they're overpriced.

You're better off with multibuy 25% off type deals as above. Waitrose are running one at the moment, I've just saved fifteen quid over six bottles.

£30 iirc for 6 bottles that were distinctly average

Without wishing to sound like a wine ****er, any wine at a five a bottle is going to be pretty average, cos most of what you're paying is the fixed costs of bottling, transportation and duty, very little on the actual wine. Spend a couple of quid more and the extra spend all goes on the wine, if that makes sense, and there's a huge difference in quality.

Waitrose currently have 25% off when you buy six bottles or more.

Or just find a local wine merchant. Most usually have a 'wine of the month' or a tasting club with a recommended list for a set budget.

Without wishing to sound like a wine ****, any wine at a five a bottle is going to be pretty average, cos most of what you’re paying is the fixed costs of bottling, transportation and duty, very little on the actual wine.

yep under £1 to buy the actual wine itself..

I use them.

Sign up to their Winebank scheme - you pay a fixed monthly fee (you can decide what) and they add 20% to it. It builds up a nice little fund fairly quickly which eases the pain of buying a crate at £100+ because most of the money is already there.

There isn't a subscription as such (you can choose to receive wine at fixed intervals if you want) but I just place an order when my Winebank balance is reasonable and they're forever chucking in "limited time £10 voucher" offers which helps too.

You get a "Wine Advisor" (basically a personal salesperson) but mine is actually very good indeed - from the orders I've placed he's worked out what I like and will often suggest stuff I wouldn't normally think of. They do have a good range, the trick is going to find it otherwise they'll just chuck a load of same-old-same-old at you.

I complained about one bottle which was awful and they just refunded it no questions asked. They also made a mistake in one order (two bottles of a white instead of the red - easy mistake as it was basically the same name / same vineyard) and again, a credit to my account within minutes when I complained. I just gave the two bottles of white to a neighbour! Other than that, it's been excellent.

If you don't want a DD then these wine clubs will be a pita because the direct debit is the only thing they are really interested in.

As others have said, go to your local independent and tell them you want a mixed case and give them a price. Independent retailers need all the help right now

I’d disagree with the posts on value. The half price sign up discount is a good deal - use it. I used Virgin for a few years and with the wine bank the price/value/quality was ok and (I was on the “discovery” plan) I got much more interesting wines than the supermarkets sell.

But, as someone has already pointed out / wine society is the best bet. All those supermarket offers are a sure sign the wine is overpriced normally. Wine society don’t mess about. Discounts are rare and small - you pay the right price for the wine.

Wine society for sure.
I'm lucky as the cellar is just down the road, but we haven't had a bad bottle yet and that's prices from £5 to £40.

If you're talking about virgin wines specifically, then there's no subscription aspect.

I use them occasionally, but without a monthly payment.

Wine society don’t mess about.

talking of the wine soc, I've just got a 47 year old bottle of bordeaux. It'll help with presents at christmas as it's my wife's age.

The chance of such an aged, well looked after bottle was too good to turn up

Thanks all, will give it a miss but will look at wine society. I've 19 bottles sat waiting to drink, and I don't drink masses, so not in a rush - the voucher expires soon so just wanted to work out whether I should go for it now.
Cheers!