On 2015-04-13 18:34, dsi1 wrote:

>> Wineries around here used to have free samples. As the wine business
>> grew, wine tasting became a destination activity, so most of the
>> wineries started charging. If you go in just to sample you pay for the
>> samples, but if you go in to buy in some reasonable quantity they end up
>> comping the samples. My brother works part time in one of the few local
>> wineries that does not charge for samples.
>
> Charging for samples is a mickey mouse way of doing business. It implies
> that your customers are scumbags and are not to be truste

I can understand it. When the business was just getting off the ground
it was a good way to introduce their products. People would realize
that the wines were pretty good and buy some to take home. Barring that,
the might feel some moral obligation to spend money after getting all
the free samples. But then people started taking advantage going from
one winery to another just to get free samples. There were local bus
operators who were organizing wine tours, charging busloads of people to
go on wine tasting excursions. They were making money on the
transportation and the wineries were paying for all the wine.