Belgium
northern Belgium
Convenient for sellers in Flanders and the south of the Netherlands, and a short detour for anyone travelling the A1 corridor.
Three depots across Europe
Drop your whisky off
when it suits you
Waiting for our van to reach your region is not always convenient, and sending it across a continent for a handful of bottles is not something we want to keep doing either. So we keep three depots — in Belgium, Germany and Denmark — where you can deliver your bottles on a day that works for you.
Bring them in yourself, send them, or have somebody else deliver them straight to us. Every bottle that arrives at a depot takes 25% off your listing fee, rising to 50% if you supply the Whiskybase IDs as well.
Up to 50% off
Straight off your listing fee, per bottle
On your schedule
Not on the route planning
By appointment only
Address shared once we confirm
Shipping label on us
Reimbursed and settled with your payout
Why we keep them
Closer to you than
Groningen ever is
Our Danish route is a long one. Driving a van from Groningen to Jutland and back for a handful of bottles costs days and a good deal of diesel, and it means sellers sometimes wait weeks for a slot that suits them. A depot solves both of those at once.
That is not a small thing for us. We are constantly looking for better ways of getting whisky to Groningen — ways that are safer for the bottles and more responsible on the road. Every bottle that ends up in a depot is one that travels the last stretch in a full van rather than on its own, and a dozen separate journeys turning into one is the single biggest saving there is.
But the real reason we keep them is you. A depot does not run on our route planning — it runs on yours. Instead of waiting for the van to reach your region, you pick a moment that fits your week, deliver the bottles, and they are on their way to the next auction.
There are three of them, and between them they cover a good part of the ground our routes have to cross. Everything that arrives travels on to Groningen, where it is registered, inspected and photographed for the catalogue exactly as a collected bottle would be.
Belgium, Germany, Denmark
Our three
depots
Each one sits within easy reach of the main motorways. Pick the one nearest to you and request an appointment — we will confirm a moment and send you the address.
Germany
western Germany, close to the Dutch border
Our busiest depot after Belgium. Close enough to the border to be an easy drive from the eastern Netherlands, and central for the Ruhr area.
Denmark
Central Jutland
Opened because the Danish route is a long one. Rather than waiting weeks for the van, most Danish sellers deliver or ship to Jutland instead.
We do not publish depot addresses. You will receive the exact location once we have confirmed your appointment.
However it suits you
Three ways to get your bottles
to a depot
All three earn the same discount on your listing fee. Which one you pick is entirely a question of what is easiest for you — what matters to us is that the bottles reach a depot rather than being posted to Groningen one parcel at a time.
Bring them yourself
Request an appointment, and drop the bottles off at the moment we agreed. It takes about ten minutes: we go through them with you on the spot, note down exactly what we have received, and you leave with a receipt in hand.
Most sellers who live within an hour or two of a depot do it this way — it is the quickest route into the auction, and you get to ask everything you were wondering about while you are there.
Send them in
Buy a shipping label yourself and send the bottles to the depot. We cannot buy a label for you — a Danish carrier wants a Danish sender address — but we can pay for it.
Sending a decent batch? As a guide, 6 bottles or more with a combined expected hammer price of around € 500, and the label is on us. Keep the receipt and we settle it against your payout.
Have them delivered
Bought a collection at another auction, or inherited one that is still at the other end of the country? Have the seller, the executor or the house clearance company ship it straight to the depot in your name.
You never have to handle the bottles, find boxes or drive anywhere. Tell us what is coming and from whom, and we will take it from there — this is exactly what the depots are for.
Your reward for the detour we did not make
Up to half your
listing fee back
25%
Deliver to a depot
Whatever way the bottles get there — in your own boot, by carrier, or handed over by somebody else on your behalf.
€ 1,75 off the listing fee, per bottle
50%
…and add the Whiskybase IDs
Give us the Whiskybase reference for each bottle when you register it and the discount doubles. It saves us the identification work, and it makes the catalogue better.
€ 3,50 off the listing fee, per bottle
There is one pot to pay everything out of, and that is the listing fee of € 7,00 we charge per bottle. Out of it comes the driving, the packing materials, the inspection, the photography and the hours that go into a catalogue. So when we give something back, it comes out of exactly that fee — which is why the discount is a share of it rather than a figure we picked.
A bottle that arrives at a depot is a bottle we did not have to drive to. That saves us a stop, a stretch of motorway and a share of the fuel, and a quarter of the listing fee is roughly what that is worth. Add the Whiskybase IDs and you save us the identification work as well, so the discount goes to half.
It is deliberate that both of those reward the same thing: fewer kilometres and fewer hours per bottle. Every load that reaches Groningen in one full van instead of a dozen separate journeys is cheaper for us, better for the bottles, and a good deal easier on the road.
There is nothing to claim and no code to enter. The discount is applied automatically when your lots are settled after the auction, and you will see it itemised in the statement in your account.
Curious what else does and does not come off? Our pricing page lists every fee we charge, in full.
Sending your bottles in
You buy the label,
we pay it back
We would happily buy your shipping label for you, but we cannot: a Danish carrier wants a Danish sender address, and the same problem crops up elsewhere. So you buy it, and we reimburse you.
We reimburse the cost of a standard, uninsured label for shipments that justify the trip: as a guide, 6 bottles or more with a combined expected hammer price of around € 500. Treat those as a rule of thumb rather than a barrier — sitting a little under, but confident about what you have? Ask us before you ship and we will tell you honestly where you stand.
The amount is settled against your payout after the auction, so nothing changes hands twice and you do not have to wait for a separate transfer.
Because the label is uninsured, the risk during transport stays with you. We know how carefully we pack whisky ourselves, and we also know how some parcels arrive here — we simply cannot carry the risk for a box we did not fill. Take your time over it: our packing guide shows you exactly how.
The moment your parcel arrives we unpack it and inspect every bottle, and confirm to you that everything got here in one piece. From then on your whisky is our responsibility.
After you hand them over
What happens
next
A bottle delivered to a depot follows exactly the same path as one we collected at your door. Only the first few kilometres are different.
-
1
Arrival and inspection
Whatever route your bottles took, the first thing we do is unpack them and check every one against what you told us. You get a confirmation that everything arrived in good condition — and from that moment your whisky is our responsibility, not yours.
-
2
On to Groningen
We empty the depots regularly and bring everything back to Groningen ourselves. Nothing is left sitting around: a depot is a waypoint, not a warehouse.
-
3
Registration and photography
Each bottle is registered, inspected in detail and photographed for the catalogue. Your lots appear in your account as they are processed, so you can see exactly where your consignment stands.
-
4
Auction and payout
Your lots go into the next auction, where you can follow the bidding live. After it closes we settle up — listing fee, depot discount, reimbursed label and all — and pay you out.
Rather not drive at all?
We will come to
your door instead
A depot is the quick way in, but it is not the only one. Every month our van drives fixed routes through the Benelux, Germany, Denmark, Sweden and northern France, collecting bottles from sellers who booked a slot.
It is free, there is no minimum, and we bring the packaging — so you never have to touch a roll of tape. The trade-off is simply that you wait for the route to reach your region.
Before you set off
Questions about
our depots
Anything we have not covered? Every question we answer is indexed on our questions and answers page, or ask us directly — we would rather answer one question now than sort out a misunderstanding later.
Where exactly are your depots?
We do not publish the addresses. You will receive the exact location the moment we confirm your appointment. All three sit within easy reach of the main motorways, so getting there is rarely the hard part.
Can I just drop by?
No — by appointment only. There is nobody at a depot permanently, so an unannounced delivery cannot be accepted and a parcel that turns up unexpectedly may sit longer than either of us would like.
How much do I get back for shipping?
The cost of a standard, uninsured label. We do it for shipments that justify it — as a rule of thumb 6 bottles or more, worth around € 500 together at the hammer.
Those are guidelines rather than hard limits. Sitting just below one of them? Ask us before you ship and we will let you know where you stand.
Am I insured while my parcel is in transit?
No. We reimburse the label, but we do not insure the shipment — we did not pack the box, so we cannot carry the risk for it. Once your bottles arrive and pass inspection, they are our responsibility.
Can somebody else deliver my bottles?
Yes, and it is one of the reasons the depots exist. Bought a collection elsewhere or inherited one? Have the seller, the executor or the clearance company deliver or ship it straight to the depot in your name. Just tell us what is coming and from whom.
Does the discount apply if I ship instead of driving?
It does. However your bottles reach the depot — in your own boot, by carrier, or delivered by a third party — the same 25% comes off your listing fee, per bottle.
How do I get the full 50% discount?
By supplying the Whiskybase ID of each bottle when you register it. Every bottle on Whiskybase has one, and it tells us in a single number exactly which bottling we are looking at.
That saves us the identification work and it makes the catalogue entry better, so it is worth another quarter of the listing fee to us — 50% in total, or € 3,50 off per bottle.
What if a bottle does not sell?
It simply goes into the next auction, and most bottles sell the second time around. If you would rather have it back, we can return it at your expense. Our terms set out the details.
Pick a depot,
pick a moment
Tell us which depot suits you and roughly what you are bringing. We will confirm a moment and send you the address.