Pat Nolan Blog

Bottled profit

Following on from recent news that White Claw and Every Can Counts have buddied up to promote can recycling, Closing Time came across a different - but nevertheless effective and profitable - method of recycling bottles.

Gin-lovers can recoup some of the cost of their liquid investment by selling their emptied glass gin bottles on e-Bay, with some empty gin bottles fetching up to £11.98 online.

Researchers at UK company Lifestyle Packaging compared the average price achieved for empty gin bottles against each (full) brand’s Recommended Retail Price.

To find out which gin bottles could make the most cash back, its data analysts searched for the average e-Bay re-sale price for 120 popular and craft gin bottles and compared this against their RRP.

They found that an empty bottle of Mermaid Strawberry-flavoured Pink Gin from the Isle of Wight (“textured blush-hued bottle”) won out at £11.98 for what had originally been a £38 bottle when full. This provides 31% in cashback on the original purchase price.

Gordon’s London Dry Gin costs £15.50 but the ’empty’ sold for £4.65 putting it in second place. e-Bay sellers can make on average 30% of the RRP back per bottle.

“Social media is driving the trend for upcycling and craft projects, with people looking for cheap and sustainable ways to improve their homes, decorate their wedding venues or create unique gifts,” says Lifestyle Packaging, “Crafty gin lovers are turning to TikTok and Pinterest for inspiration on how to upcycle empty bottles into decorative pieces, including lamps, diffusers, candles, terrariums, glassware, vases and much more.

“And with more of us trying to find new ways to save money and limit our impact on the environment, it’s clear this craze won’t be over soon.”

 


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