Market price is the typical shop price for a bottle today, before sales tax. Purchase price is what you actually paid for it. We never fill in a purchase price for you, and the two never stand in for each other.
Side by side
Market price | Purchase price | |
What it is | The middle of what shops around the world ask for a bottle of this wine, in this format, right now, before sales tax. Not what you would get if you sold it. | What this particular bottle cost you. |
Who supplies it | Wine Labs, with our own estimate where it has none. Every price carries a source tag — tap it to see where that one came from. You can override it with your own. | Only you. It stays blank until you enter it. |
Currency | Shown in your base currency, converted at today's rate. | Kept in the currency you paid in, alongside the purchase date. |
Where you set it | On the wine's page, under the market value. | On the bottle, beside the purchase date and source. |
What it totals into | Market value for the collection and for each storage. | Total Purchase Value for the collection, and a purchase price for each storage. |
Using them together
Comparing the two tells you how a purchase went. A purchase price below the market value means you paid less than a typical shop charges today. Keep in mind that the market price leaves out sales tax, while what you paid usually included it.
The market value of your collection is also a good starting point for insurance, because it is roughly what it would cost to replace your bottles at typical shop prices today.
Neither one fills in for the other
Worth being clear about, because it is easy to assume otherwise. A wine we have no market price for is not valued at what you paid for it — it is valued at the average market price across your collection. And entering a purchase price never changes a wine's market price, or the other way round. They are two independent numbers on the same bottle, and they add up to two independent totals.
Why currency is handled differently
A purchase price is a historical fact, so we convert each bottle at the exchange rate on its own purchase date. Your total purchase value therefore stays put as rates move. A market price is a price today, so it is converted at today's rate — which is one reason your collection value shifts on its own.
To set your own market price
Open the wine from your Collection.
Tap the market value at the top of the page.
Tap Set custom market value and enter your figure.
Your price then replaces ours everywhere, including in your collection total.
Collection → a wine → market value → Set custom market value
Next steps
Understanding individual market prices — the source tags, and how we price large formats.
Why did my collection value change? — what our market value means, and why it is not a selling price.
Understanding your total collection value — how the total on your home screen is built.
How to view your total purchase price — where to find what you have spent.