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Shipping bottles from Tasting Room


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We are heading into tourist season and already getting asked if we can ship bottles home for customers? Is the answer a definitive "no"? Does it depend upon the state? What are the legal shipping options?

If we cannot ship, I am thinking of having bottle shippers that we can offer customers and package the bottles for them to make it easy for the customer to take to the post office or pack n' ship and mail themselves. Any thoughts, ideas? Outlets for bottle shipper materials?

Thank you in advance!

Amy

Durango Craft Spirits

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Can you deliver locally? If so, then you can probably ship as well, although USPS won't handle beverage alcohol. With FedEx and UPS, you've got to have an alcohol agreement attached to your shipping account.

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Yes, we are in Colorado and we can self-distribute within the state.

If we provide the customer with the packing materials (get it completely ready to ship) can they take it to the Post Office? I heard they have a no ask, no tell policy? Will FedEx and/or UPS ship bottles for the general public? Again, will they ask?

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USPS: NO.

UPS: NO.

FedEx: YES, but… You need to get set up, not easy to do. And even then, home delivery seems a gray area.

We have an agreement for shipping alcohol with FedEx. Ours does not allow for shipping to consumers. Not sure if all of their agreements are like that.

If you do start to ship you need to find info on the state laws. We have a retailer who ships to most states but will not ship to 6 or 7 of them due to the state laws. Shipping into some states will get you trouble.

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This is CRAZY. We are located in New York and UPS first stopped our local liquor store from shipping our spirits, then us from our set up account, and finally a large retail location that was doing our shipping. It has cut into our business enough to concern us. I understand laws can factor from state to state, but it seems if we found a retailer in a state that does allow a private entity like UPS to ship our spirits then we would be fine??

RED TAPE TERROR

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Amy,

I would strongly encourage you to contact an attorney for a decisive take on this matter. I can share contact info with you (gotta track it down) for one that specializes in bev stuff in colorado. I've know of more than a few colorado distilleries that ship spirits direct to customers -- as much as I'm all for interpreting the law in my favor... this is our liquor license/livelihood we're potentially putting at risk. I turn down multiple requests to sell/ship bottles every week. I would not ship spirits without being 100% positive that it's legitimate to do in Colorado - but that's just me. For customers that come in asking if we can ship bottles back to their home, we offer to package up their bottles in bubble wrap, but that's as far as we go.

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Our experience is similar to what Troy mentioned above. We are set up with Fed Ex to ship spirits, but we had to specify that we would only be shipping to licensed dealers, such as distributors. We also have to put a large sticker on each box indicating that alcohol is inside and that the person signing must be 21 or older.

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