For The Love Of Port

I have often seen wine/port being offered for sale with the designation "FOB" - what does this mean?

Derek

F.O.B. is an acronym used in the US for "filthy old bottles" so you never really see this used on new cases of wine.

Fresh Off the Boat? hehe

In all seriousness, F.O.B. = Freight On Board, which means that the customer pays for all freight charges between agreed point of shipment and the destination. It is most commonly used with freight companies when dealing with large commercial shipments, either pallet or container load volumes. Frequently these shipments go "common carrier" which means that these are either trucks for hire by independent drivers or those that are part of an established fleet.

But with a wine company, it would designate that the buyer agrees to pay from the winery/retailer's loading dock to the buyer's home or office.

Hmmm - I can't see a UK merchant using the word "Freight" unless directed at the US - is FOB a term that does not apply in the UK?

Derek

PS: My guess was Free of Bond - i.e. Duty Paid

I was going to put 'Freight on Board' as a joke! No, it is used in the UK as well. I teach purchasing, payables, inventory and order management for our software. It is American software but many of our British customers use the term as well. Sometimes they refer to 'Carriage' instead.

Glad to see you've replaced the horse and buggy over there with the carriage!

Roy Hersh wrote:Glad to see you've replaced the horse and buggy over there with the carriage!

Technological advancement is a great thing

You're all wrong!!

FOB stands for FREE ON BOARD

It means the seller arranges for the goods to be delivered to the port of despatch and arranges for them to be loaded onto the ship or plane, but is not responsible for the cost of shipping or insurance thereafter.

Tom