I sell Prime for £100 a CAN at UK’s ‘most expensive corner shop’ Wakey Wines – I know it’s pricey but I don’t care
THE OWNER of Wakey Wines who flogs Prime drinks for £100 a can has defended his sky high prices.
The off-licence in West Yorkshire, has gained almost 600,000 followers on TikTok after going viral for selling Logan Paul and KSI’s drink at extortionate prices.
But shop owner Mohammed Azar Nazir, 41, says stocking the drink – which is not on sale in the UK in a can – costs him an “arm and a leg”.
Mr Nazir is selling Prime, which quickly sells out at supermarkets where it costs around £2 a bottle.
He was blasted for flogging the drink for £100 a pop.
Now, Mr Nazir has revealed his team travel to America to bring back Prime Energy, which contains 200mg of caffeine in each can.
Mr Nazir is also selling bottles of Prime Hydration which retail in supermarkets for £2 for £14.99.
When approached by Sun Online, the dad-of-six, who was revealed to have served prison time for drugs offences, defended his prices.
He said: “I don’t force nobody to buy any product from my shop.
“But if they knew how much hard work and what goes into this to get this into my shop…it costs me an arm and a leg.
“I’m a VAT-registered company, I have to pay VAT on it. So I can only get it from a VAT-registered company.
“I was the only shop to get the cans in at first.
“Import charges, my tax, everything, you have to put that into account. People don’t see stuff like that.
He added: “I don’t need to go into detail but believe it or not I’m not earning a lot of that can.
“By the time the flights, hotels and taxis and everything, I’m only earning a percentage of it.”
Wakey Wines, as the shop is known on TikTok, has attracted customers from all over the UK and even as far as Canada. The shop’s posts have had almost 14m likes.
When the Sun Online visited, a postman delivered fan mail to Mr Nazir who has developed a cult following for his catchphrases: “What’s the best shop in Wakey? Wakey Wines”, “Abdul, come closer, Abdul, go back,” and “Bingo bingo, Gala bingo”.
Mr Nazir said his new-found fame had led to approaches to appear on the comeback series of Big Brother.
He was slated by YouTuber turned boxer KSI for selling Prime drinks at inflated prices, who told talkSPORT this month: “There’s a guy called ‘Wakey Wines’ and I don’t know if it’s a joke or not, but either way it’s terrible practice.
“People want to try these drinks and they have not got the chance to try the drinks.
“You have people who are bulk buying and selling it for stupid prices and taking advantage of the hype and I hate it.”
But Mr Nazir, who also is flogging his own pick-and-mix WFD Sweets for £20 a bag, said: “I should say this to KSI – I love him to bits – he should supply it to me directly then I can put the prices down.
“If he can supply me directly I can put it out there cheaper. I don’t need to send my team to America.
“If he is willing to meet me and supply the drink directly I will put it out for a cheaper price.”
“I’d love for me and him to sit down about this. But he hasn’t spoken to us about how we can get this drink.
“We have to travel to America, mate, it costs a lot of dough.”
Mr Nazir, who has brought out a range of Wakey Wines merch to capitalise on his viral fame, denied taking advantage of the Prime craze, which has seen people clashing in supermarket aisles to get hold of the drink.
He added: “I haven’t been on holiday since 2015. I don’t drive a posh car, mate, I don’t even drive a car – I drive a ‘15 plate van.
“People think I’ve got Phantoms and Ferraris, I haven’t.
“I’m just a normal guy who’s got six kids and is providing for his family. I’m a single father, do you know what I mean?
“I’m just doing what anybody else would do.”