Sina Finance's "Alcohol Price Insider" is now live, providing real-time market prices for renowned baijiu brands.
By Zhang Ao, "Alcohol Industry Insider" At 9 a.m. today, the iMoutai platform launched the premium Moutai liquor at a price of 2,299 yuan per bottle, which sold out rapidly upon release. This is the second major product launched following the Feitian Moutai. It has been one week since Kweichow Moutai Co.,Ltd. began direct sales of Feitian Moutai; what changes have occurred among various stakeholders, including scalpers and distributors?
First, for traditional scalpers, the direct sales model for Feitian Moutai has made prices completely transparent, eliminating both information asymmetry and price differentials. One scalper noted, "We're out of a job; the era of making money from Moutai is over. It's been impossible to earn anything these past few days."
Second, due to relatively ample supply, the secondary market for Feitian Moutai has become bleak. Some second-hand liquor merchants revealed that the current buy-back price for 2024-2026 Feitian Moutai is around 1,400 yuan, and they are refusing to accept the 2026 vintage.
Third, for distributors, Moutai is pushing them towards a market-oriented transformation. Some distributors have chosen to follow the distillery's price adjustment, now selling the 2026 Feitian Moutai at 1,499 yuan. "This adjustment is an active choice to follow the broader market-oriented direction."
"The era of profiting from Moutai is over." Starting January 1st this year, the iMoutai platform officially listed the Feitian 53% vol 500ml Kweichow Moutai at a price of 1,499 yuan. The primary listing was the new 2026 Feitian Moutai, while the slightly older vintages from 2019-2024 have not yet been offered for sale.
The "Alcohol Industry Insider" observed that daily releases begin at 9 a.m., with batches released every five minutes, each selling out in less than 30 seconds. On the few occasions when purchase was possible, the system often stalled due to "insufficient inventory" or "excessive visitor traffic," contradicting online claims of "easy grabs." This demonstrates that Feitian Moutai remains a highly sought-after consumer product.
According to official Moutai data, over 100,000 consumers purchased Feitian Moutai within the first three days of the launch. Public information indicates that one ton of Moutai liquor can fill approximately 2,124 bottles of Feitian Moutai. Based on 100,000 purchases, if each buyer acquired one bottle, the iMoutai platform's daily average release would be about 15.69 tons; if each bought the maximum of 12 bottles, the daily average would be approximately 188.32 tons.
In other words, during the New Year period, iMoutai released between 15.69 and 188.32 tons of Feitian Moutai per day. This scale of release has created a situation of "extreme contrasts" for different groups.
The first to feel the impact were the scalpers. A veteran scalper stated that reselling Feitian Moutai is now completely unprofitable. He recalled that in early 2024, reselling a single bottle could yield a profit of up to 1,000 yuan. Although the overall market was weaker in 2025, small profits were still possible, mainly through price differences on e-commerce platforms. "Now, with direct sales, prices are fully transparent; both the information gap and price differential have vanished."
Another scalper revealed that, influenced by the distillery's active release of product, prices for different vintages of Feitian Moutai have slightly declined. The buy-back price for the 2026 Feitian Moutai is around 1,400 yuan; prices for the 2025 and 2024 vintages have gradually fallen from around 1,650 yuan to the current 1,450 yuan. All three vintages are now below the market guidance price of 1,499 yuan.
This situation is also reflected on social media. On Xiaohongshu, some consumers who managed to buy Feitian Moutai on iMoutai hoped to resell it at a premium. However, the comments sections showed not a frenzy of scalpers vying to buy, but instead a wave of skepticism, with remarks like, "Cancel your order early if you don't need the liquor yourself, there's no premium," and "Have you woken up from the dream of making profits from reselling?"
Securities analyst Zhang Wen (a pseudonym) also commented, "The price decline has stimulated the release of genuine market demand, significantly squeezing out scalping behavior, while also allowing Moutai to capture market share in the pre-holiday premium liquor segment early, which will support its first-quarter performance."
"Already transitioning into service providers" The next group affected are the liquor traders who primarily buy back bottles. Inquiries made by the "Alcohol Industry Insider" to several traders indicate that this round of iMoutai releases has significantly impacted them. One trader stated that the current buy-back price for 2024-2026 Feitian Moutai is around 1,400 yuan. Furthermore, some traders have already stopped accepting the 2026 Feitian Moutai.
Moutai distributor Zhao Heng (a pseudonym) confirmed to the "Alcohol Industry Insider" that scalpers are the primary targets impacted by this iMoutai wave, stating, "The liquor traders probably can't survive this."
Having been operational for several days now, the iMoutai platform is also pushing Moutai distributors to transition into "service providers."
Moutai distributor Wang Zheng (a pseudonym) stated that they recently signed the 2026 contract, with the total distributor quota remaining over 10,000 tons. "The selling prices for relevant 2026 products are synchronized with iMoutai prices: 1,499 yuan per bottle for 500ml Feitian Moutai, 2,299 yuan for premium Moutai, and 3,998 yuan for kilogram Moutai."
But under these circumstances, have distributors' profit margins declined significantly compared to before?
Zhang Wen (a pseudonym) interpreted this from a price perspective: even if distributors sell the 2026 Feitian Moutai at the guidance price of 1,499 yuan, their cost price (i.e., the ex-factory price) is 1,169 yuan. "Distributors are still making a profit."
He also pointed out that Moutai's proactive move to lower market prices will put significant pressure on Wuliangye and other premium liquors. "This is equivalent to Moutai increasing its market share, even if distributors earn a bit less."
Zhao Heng (a pseudonym) affirmed this view and did a quick calculation: "Selling Feitian Moutai at 1,499 yuan via live streaming, after deducting platform commissions and potential returns, probably nets only about 1,400 yuan. It's actually not very cost-effective; distributors can't make big money this way."
"Personally, I'm not confused. Because I've always focused on customer service, I'm not too anxious about the market-oriented and service-oriented transformation. Moutai is also pushing everyone in this direction."
"Moutai has transitioned from a luxury attribute to a consumer goods attribute" Perhaps due to the increased volume of Feitian Moutai released on iMoutai, wholesale prices have experienced significant volatility, with some reports even suggesting that wholesale prices have fallen below the guidance price.
Zhao Heng (a pseudonym) corrected this perception, noting that although recent Feitian Moutai wholesale prices have been volatile, they have generally remained above 1,500 yuan. Furthermore, the "Alcohol Price Insider" corroborates this with terminal pricing data: Feitian Moutai selling prices are declining slowly, with the latest price still at 1,728 yuan.
Regarding the impact of "increased volume leading to price drops" on Moutai, Zhang Wen (a pseudonym) expressed concern. In the short term, volume can drive performance growth, but in the medium to long term, price is crucial.
Xiao Zhuqing, an independent commentator on China's liquor industry, stated that if Kweichow Moutai Co.,Ltd. wants to maintain its past luxury and financial attributes, it needs to control volume to protect prices. However, controlling volume to protect prices limits the ability to grow performance scale, which does not align with the expectations certain parties have for Kweichow Moutai Co.,Ltd..
He also noted that from the perspective of investment institutions and shareholders, there is also hope that Kweichow Moutai Co.,Ltd. can scale up. Scaling up requires increasing volume, and during this process, it is necessary to cultivate a broader consumer base and consumption scenarios, transitioning Moutai liquor from a luxury attribute to a high-frequency consumer goods attribute.
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