Sell whisky

WhiskyInvestDirect offers different ways to buy and sell whisky. Our live markets let you trade with other users in open competition, setting your own prices.

There are three mechanisms for selling through WhiskyInvestDirect's markets.

1. Selling your whisky for cash
2. Grabbing an opportunity from the Order Board screen
3. Beating the best selling price

Selling your whisky for cash

How to sell your whisky balance

Step 1.	Make sure you are logged in.  Press  ACCOUNT  and then click the  BALANCE  sub-menu option.
Step 2.	You will see your available whisky balance.  Click on 'Sell at best price'. The order panel will be loaded assuming the sale of all of the available balance in the line you selected. In a market where other people are currently quoting prices the price and the approximate order value will be set for you at reasonable values.  If these are not loaded there is no current price quoted by buyers, and you will need to decide your price. No whisky available?  You cannot proceed yet.  You can only sell available whisky.  If you need to cancel previous sale orders to release your reserved whisky go to  HISTORY > ORDERS  select an open sale order and from the order panel  KILL ORDER  .
Step 3.	Adjust your Price and/or the Quantity as required.
Step 4.	When you're happy with your order press the  SELL/OFFER  button, and  CONFIRM , as for a normal order entry. Then look below for what happens next.

Grabbing an opportunity from the Order Board

This is a different style of buying and selling.  Suppose you are indifferent to the location you store whisky in.  You might buy it when someone offers whisky cheaper, and sell it when someone bids up.  Or perhaps you like to buy when there's a hint that the whisky price is going up.

The order board lets you watch and grab available opportunities as they arise.  To do this you'll need both quick reactions and available resources.  You'll need available currency when you wish to buy, and available whisky in any vault you wish to sell from.  Otherwise your patience will only be rewarded with an 'insufficient funds' error when your order is submitted!

How to use the order board to sell

Step 1.	Make sure you are logged in.  Press  BUY/SELL  to get to the order board.
Step 2.	Use the filters at the top left to control which lines you see and so focus on the markets you're interested in.
Step 3.	Now watch.  Your order board screen will refresh itself every few seconds.
Step 4.	Spotted an opportunity?  The race is on!  Click a green brick to sell whisky for cash (or an amber brick to buy whisky), and the system will load what you've clicked straight into the order panel.  Then press the  SELL/OFFER  (or  BUY/BID ) button, check and  CONFIRM  . Then look below for what happens next.

Beating the best selling price

As a seller you want the highest price. You can accept the best offer, to try to sell quickly if you think the market is moving down soon.

If, on the other hand, you are patient, and want to try to save the market 'spread', you can advertise your price to the next buyer and wait, hoping that a buyer on the market arrives before someone offers whisky cheaper than you. With this strategy you are less likely to sell quickly, but might sell at a higher price. It all depends on there being a buyer of whisky at the price you offer in the reasonably near future.

Following this strategy you will become the market's new best price for buyers, and you will see your bid appear as an amber coloured brick on the order board, attracting buyers. This can take a while to get your head around. You are a seller advertising to buyers, so your advertised price is placed on a amber button, waiting for a buyer to click it. The more you offer, the narrower you make the spread, and the more attractive your price becomes to potential buyers out there.

How to sell at a higher price

Step 1.	Make sure you are logged in. Another thing you may need to do is check on your resources. You will need to have enough whisky available to meet your sale order. Press  BUY/SELL  to get to the order board.
Step 2.	Use the filters at the top left of the screen to control which lines you see and so focus on the markets you're interested in. Look at the prices in your chosen line. You'll see a spread between the green button's best selling price and the amber button's best buying price. You want to attract a buyer with an attractive price - so you want to narrow the spread in favour of buyers by offering more cheaply.
Step 3.	Click the 'Best Bid' green brick. This loads the order panel with the details of the best bid, in other words the best terms offered by a current buyer, with you as the seller. Let's try and tempt him by offering very nearly what he's asking!
Step 4.	When you're happy with your order press the  SELL/OFFER  button, check and  CONFIRM  , as for a normal order entry. Then look below for what happens next.

What happens next?

• You will probably receive a response in the order panel saying either 'Your order has been matched' or 'Your order is now open'.  Other messages are possible, but less likely.
• A part matched order will tell you 'Your order is now open' and the order panel will show what percentage of your order has been matched.
• We send you an email for each execution.  There might be quite a lot of these, because if your order is large there may be lots of smaller orders matching with you.  These emails are supposed to be a courtesy, but can be annoying if you get too many.  We also send a single contract - again by email - when your order is completed or cancelled.  You will only get one contract per order you place, and it will be for the whole amount you traded as a result of your order.
• If your order is to be posted on the order board you may see any unexecuted part of your order come up as a new offer on the amber side of the order boards.  Remember, as a seller you're advertising to buyers. Don't be too surprised if you're not the best offer for long.
• As usual you can monitor the success of your order from the  HISTORY > ORDERS  screens.  Sometimes it's best to monitor what's happening on the  ORDER BOARD  itself, because you'll see if anyone is bidding up against you.
• If you decide you want to push the sale through you'll need to withdraw your offer by killing it from  HISTORY > ORDERS  screen and replacing it with one at a lower price.