Think that an empty gin bottle is only good for the recycling bin? Think again, as reselling sites are providing a great platform for bottles to be repurposed.
According to the Wine and Spirit Trade Association, Brits bought 75 million bottles of gin in the year to October 2020 – 10 million more than the 12 months before.
With so much more gin being drunk, there are consequently more empty bottles ready to go out with the glass recycling. However, there is a growing demand for these ‘pre-loved’ bottles among savvy shoppers who are snapping them up for upcycling, gifting and craft projects on reselling sites such as eBay.
British firm Lifestyle Packaging has conducted data analysis to find the average resale price for 120 popular and craft gin bottles and compared these to their recommended retail price.
Mermaid Pink Gin from the Isle of Wight Distillery, with its rose-hued textured bottled, came out on top. Retailing at £38, the average selling price for an empty bottle of the strawberry-flavoured gin on eBay was £11.98, giving buyers 31 per cent cashback per bottle.
In second place was world bestseller Gordon’s London Dry Gin. At the cheaper end of the retail scale at £15.50 per 70cl bottle, eBay sellers have made an average 30 per cent return on the RRP per bottle (£4.65).
Also in the top five were: Eden Mill Golf Gin, with its striking green jacket, for which resellers achieved an average of 29 per cent of the £30 retail price (£8.82); the original Mermaid Gin – with a textured, coloured bottle like its pink cousin – which returned sellers an average of £11.15 (29 per cent) of the £38 retail price; and Whitley Neill Blood Orange Gin, whose eye-catching orange bottle retails for £26 and netted resellers an average of £7.11 per bottle (27 per cent cashback).
Lifestyle Packaging claims that social media is driving the trend of upcycling and craft projects as people look for thrifty ways to liven up their home décor. On platforms such as TikTok and Pinterest, crafty gin lovers are searching for inspiration on how to epicycle empty bottles into decorative items such as lamps, diffusers, vases and terrariums.
If you’re interested in selling your empty gin bottles online, be sure to familiarise yourself with any transaction fees charged by the platform for expenses such as taxes and postage. Remember to always wash out your gin bottles with warm soapy water before preparing them for delivery in protective packaging.
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Greetings I am doing recycling and want to return the Gordon’s gin empty bottles for cash. If you can provide information on who is buying back here in South Africa. I contacted Distel in Wadeville but no luck
Hi there – this article references selling bottles through second-hand sites, such as eBay, for a cash return. You could always contact Gordon’s’ parent company, Diageo, to see if it runs a bottle returns scheme.