Ways To Make Money Selling Old Wine Corks & Empty Bottles
by Saeed – Last Updated June 18, 2016
What do you do when you open a wine bottle?
Drink it, of course!
I mean, what do you do with the bottle and the cork?
If you just dump in the trash, I have a surprise for you today!
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You can actually make some money with em in two ways:
Be Specific About The Bottle Type
A Bordeaux bottle is different from a Riesling bottle which is different from a Champagne bottle. You can absolutely sell a mixed box, but since youll probably be selling in smaller quantities than corks you should get specific as to exactly what you have. Good news: unlike their corks, Champagne bottles do sell!
Make A Wine Cork Bath Mat
Who wouldnt want to feel pampered? It doesnt matter if youre from work or youre just hanging at home. Wine corks leave a pleasantly smooth feel on the feet when you step on them.
They might cause you to slip, so dont stand on them if theyre not joined together.
A number of people have come up with wine cork bathmats and the results are unbelievable. Among others, most bath mats are stylish, resistant to water, and are immune to bacteria and molds. Heck, wine cork mats will last for a couple of years if you care for them properly.
Depending on the size of the mat and your speed, the least time that you should take to make one is 3-4 hours.
Youll need approximately 150-200 corks for the project. Ensure that theyre clean before using them. If not, clean them in warm soapy water.
Slice all the corks in half lengthwise. For safety reasons, lay a non-slip surface for the board and put on gloves. If possible, get a friend to help you cut the corks.
Next is providing a structure for the mat. You could use a solid choice such as water-resistant wood, preferably marine-ply or a plastic shelf liner for flexibility.
Get the size either by measuring the custom size of your choice or using another mat as a guide. Cut the plastic or wood using either a sharp knife or box cutter.
Arrange the cork halves on the mat or line. Before gluing them to the mat, lay all of them first to determine a pattern. This prevents you from getting stuck in the middle.
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You Deserve Choices Beyond Your Average Clear Wine Bottles
When it comes to bottle size, Berlin Packaging offers a huge selection of bottle capacities, including miniature wine bottles in 187 ml, small bottles in 375 ml, and larger 750 ml bottles. 500 ml wine bottles are available upon request. Our selection of wine bottles for sale includes a full line of wine jugs and glass growlers as well. Choose from a variety of colors, including blue, clear, green, and amber glass bottles. Select your preferred cap style, too, from continuous thread caps to corks and crowns.
Most empty wine bottles are in stock in all three of our warehouse locations and are available for local pick up or with same-day shipping options. Whether you’re running a winery in Napa Valley, or you’re one of the more than 1,800 vintners in Oregon, Washington, Michigan, New York, Connecticut, or other emerging wine hotbeds, you can trust us to keep you stocked with high-quality bottles. Glass wine bottles are sold in convenient re-shipper case-packs with internal dividers that protect each bottle. We have the largest network of vendor partners in the industry – we partner with the best manufacturers in the world to bring you the highest quality packaging options direct to your production facility. Our wine bottle experts are standing by.
Create an account with us and you’ll be able to:
- Save multiple shipping addresses
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Send Your Bottles Or Corks To Their New Happy Owner
Make sure you clearly list in your auction how much shipping will cost. Wine bottles are heavy. You dont want to be stuck with a hefty shipping bill.
I recommend looking at other auctions to get an idea of what people charge for shipping.
Also, make sure you package the wine bottles to ship safely. Sellers are usually responsible for bottles that break because of poor packaging.
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Be Specific Without Going Crazy
Specifics always make a listing better, but if you have a variety of corks from different wineries, you dont have to list the names of all of them. However, if all of your corks are from the same winery or you have duplicates, definitely include that information. A buyer might need just what you have whether its corks from that specific winery or the uniformity of 100 corks.
Turn Your Old Corks Into Cash
Ive lived in my apartment for 10 years, but soon Ill be moving. As Ive been clearing out my storage, Im finding a lot of old stuff and trying to remember how I came into possession of it. When I came across my pasta bowl filled with wine corks, fuzzy memories started to materialize, and I thought, oh, yeah, thats how.
I remember having big plans for my wine corks. I was going to do something crafty and green, and make all my friends swoon over my shabby-chic cork creation. The problem is, Ive never been a crafty person, so I never came up with an idea for the corks, and Im not sure why Ive been adding to the collection all these years.
Now, Im faced with a reality check.
drop!
My next apartment is going to be smaller, and lets be honest: its ridiculous to keep a bunch of wine corks. So I decided to let them go. It felt like defeat all that wasted time and space spent hoarding the corks. Unless, that is, I could find someone else who has a purpose for them.
Enter eBay.
I happen to be an experienced and trusted eBay seller with only excellent customer reviews . So now, Im selling my collection. If youre in a similar boat, heres how you can, too.
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Clean Out Your Wine Bottles
You dont have to clean the corks, but you do have to clean bottles before selling them. You dont have to peel the labels off, though. People using the bottles for crafting might like the labels. On the flipside, people using them to bottle their own wine might want to put their own labels on them. How much work you do is really up to you.
Classic Modern Bottles For Every Wine
Whether youre relaxing at home or holding a party, wine bottles are the ultimate packaging for homebrewed wines from Chardonnay to mead. The Cary Company carries a full range of empty wine bottles, such as Bellissima, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Claret, Hock, and even Champagne bottles. Choose from smaller wine sample bottles to larger premium styles that range from 187 ml to 1.5 liter with cork, 28-400, or crown/pry-off finishes. These glass wine bottles are available in many popular colors with a punt or standard base. Wine bottles can also be used for gift-giving, crafts, or decoration. Make sure you visit our vast selection of Wine Corks including Colmated, Technical, Agglomerated, Synthetic, and Natural Wine Corks.For multiple pallets or truck load pricing, please call for a quote.
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Wine Bottle Corks And Stoppers
Make Some Cute Wine Cork Earrings
With wine corks, theres almost no limit to the fun that you can have with them. Throw in some adjustments and you have a cute pair of wine cork earrings.
You could make the simple pair that requires a serrated knife, a wine cork, a hot glue gun, earring backs, and a permanent marker.
Theyre easy to make and take a conveniently short time to create, but you wont get much from them. Two cents a pair tops.
Alternatively, you could up your game and go for a fancier pair thatll need:
- Metal wire
- Fish hook earrings
- Jewelry pliers
The first step is to decide how long you want your dangles to be. Then, cut a few inches of the metal wire for both earrings.
Use the pliers to twist the bottom of each wire piece into itself so beads wont fall out the other end when you put beads on it.
Cut two ¼ inch thin disks using the scissors or knife from the wine cork. You can cut out a different thickness depending on your choice.
Thread the cork piece and beads of your choice in an alternating pattern onto each wire. Leave roughly ¼ at the top of the wire to thread through the fish hook earring hooks.
Upon achieving the bead/cork decoration you had in mind, thread the upper part of the wire through the fish hook earring hook. Secure the wire around the entry hole in place using pliers.
For a stunning look, use whole corks, painted corks or colored corks plus the beads of your choice.
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Selling Empty Bottles And Corks On Ebay
Some people have been recycling used wine corks, turning them into a wide variety of things Stamps, Wreath, Coasters, Key Chains, and even business card holders.
Just one step away from ending up in the garbage bin, these wine corks have been given a new lease on life by these artists and crafters who actually make money selling art they have created from trash
If you are one of those artists, then great, keeping making money.
But if youre not, but like the idea of making money with your old and unused wine corks, there is a way.
You can become the supplier for those artists!
1. Collect Bottles & Corks
First things first, start collecting wine bottles and corks you come across.
Ask friends and family to gives theirs to you if they dont need or want them.
You can, of course, take this one step further ask your local restaurants and bars and see if you can pick up their empty wine bottles and corks every few days or so.
Once you have enough bottles and corks, its time to clean them up. Plenty of hot water and a little soap will do the trick.
2. Get em Listed
Its as easy as taking a few pictures and creating a listing.
Take a look on eBay to see how successful sellers are doing it and do the same for your listings.
For example, some sellers sell their empty wine bottles in lots of 5 or 10. It allows them to sell more, faster.
How Much Can You Sell Wine Bottles & Corks on eBay?
As far as how much you can sell these things for, it really depends on a few things
Dont Overdo The Specific Bit
Buyers love specifics because they make their task of identifying what they need easier. However, if you have wine corks from various wineries, you dont have to go through the trouble of listing the names of all of them. That only works if your corks are from a similar winery or if youve got duplicates.
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Wilko Straight Wine Bottle Corks 30 Pack
or 6 weekly interest-free payments withWhats this?
- 30 pack sufficient for 5 gallons of wine
- Use with a hand or twin lever corker
- With straight walls
This pack contains 30 top quality, straight wall, wine corks for use with all glass wine bottles. A hand or twin lever corker is required to insert corks into bottles. Sterilise and soak in cold water for about 10 minutes before use.
or 6 weekly interest-free payments withWhats this?
Other Types Of Wine Enclosures
More wine closures may pop up, or out, of your bottle.
Vinoseal: Also known as Vinolok, this elegant, expensive glass stopper was developed by the Alcoa Corporation, but later handed over to Czech glass producer Preciosa. It was released in the European market in 2003. The glass is ringed with plastic to create a tight seal.
Helix: A twist-off cork that requires no corkscrew, created in 2016 by the worlds largest Portuguese cork manufacturer, Amorim, and the worlds largest glass-bottle manufacturer, Owens-Illinois Inc.
Crown cap: The cap of choice for beer bottles, this closure is used by traditional-method sparkling producers to seal their bubbles before disgorging, thanks to the crown caps ability to contain pressure. These bottlings are later resealed with cork, wire cage and foil. Many pétillantnaturel producers who dont disgorge choose to release their sparklers in all their crown-capped glory. Some still wines, particularly those in the natural camp, are even starting to flaunt the crown cap seal.
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What Is Cork And Why Is It Used To Close Wine Bottles
Unless you drink boxed wine to the exclusion of all others, cork has played a role in your wine journey. Whether getting the reputation as a world-class cork breaker sent you running for screw caps, or hearing the delightful pop! transformed you into a wine enthusiast, your wine memories involve at least a little cork. But cork is more than the recalcitrant barrier between you and your booze. Its a critical element of winemaking history and a fascinating organism to boot. And though new advances in winemaking technology mean that screw caps and artificial corks can work as well as the natural stuff, cork trees and their history are critically important, especially as climate change affects wine regions, growing seasons, and life cycles globally.
Though cork harvesting has been a practice since the ancient Greeks, it wasnt used in glass wine bottles until much more recently. Like wine, cork comes from a living, breathing organism: Quercus suber, or the cork oak. Amidst the frenzied yearly cycle of the wine industry, these evergreen oaks move like sloths, slowly expanding and growing the bark, known as orange cork. With an average lifespan of 200 years, each tree can provide thousands of bottle stoppers when cared for properly.
drop!
Know what that means? More drinking, cork crafting, shopping, and building thats conveniently and naturally earth-friendly. Now, get some glitter and drink up!
List The Wine Corks And Bottles Separately On Ebay
Ebay is a great place to sell your wine bottles and corks.
You want to split the corks and empty bottles into two separate auctions so you can make the most possible money. Ive noticed wine bottles usually sell in lots of 10 or 12.
Auctions for wine corks sell in lots as small as 20 and as large as 500.
The wine bottles usually sell for about 50 cents per bottle, but fancier bottles can fetch near $5.00 each . Wine corks, however, generally sell for about 10 cents each.
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Make A Wine Cork Pendant
Breath-taking, beautiful, and creative are some terms to describe these works of art. To make a wine cork pendant, you must let your imagination run wild.
Check out some tips from professional wine cork pendant makers but dont limit yourself to their ideas.
The supplies for the pendant are:
- Wine cork
- Doily or bicycle stamp
- Eye screw
Cut the corks into thin slices using the small saw or knife. Take your time to avoid cutting yourself.
For a smooth and flat surface, sand the cork slices.
Ink or paint the flat surfaces if you want to. Dont forget to get creative. Then, allow them to dry completely.
Stamp the image of your choice onto the front of the slice. Its okay to use an image thats larger than the slice.
You can also write something pretty on the slices instead of stamping. Or, for effect, carve a message with a strong, thin and pointed object and finish up with some bright colors.
Tip: Before stamping, add a pattern on the slice by painting onto a texture plate and pressing the cork slice onto a plate. Let them dry fully before stamping.
Also, press the slices into the stamp instead of stamping onto them since the corks are small.
For the final step, screw a 5mm eye screw into the upper part of both slices for hanging.
Consider coming up with various designs to maximize your chances of getting more customers.
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