15 replies to this topic

[ny_spirits]

Now that I have determined it is legal to ship distillled spirits via Fed Ex to other licensees, we are considering doing some distribution using FedEx. Has anyone else done this? If so, who pays shipping - do we pay, or do we pass the cost along to the liquor store/restaurant? Thoughts, anyone?

Thanks much!

[Ken]

Can't help with your question in New York..... However, besides being in the application process to distill in NY, I'm a partner in a restaurant/bar in CT.  If I didn’t' have to go through my distributor for all purchases in CT, I would love to order directly from you.   As a small business owner, one invoice for me is better than two.  Simply a matter of convenience, I would want you to cover everything.

As a side note, I tried your Core Vodka this past week (Cornell Distilling Workshop) and have to tell you... amazing!  Awesome aroma with just a hint of fruit in the after taste.  When a get a chance, I will stop by for a direct sale, already told my partner about your product and that we need to share it with a few of our favorite customers.

Ken

[coop]

We here in Colorado tried for 6 months to get UPS to make all of our deliveries to no avail. I got so many answers as to why they could not do it it made me sick. I went to FED-X and within 10 minutes had our account set up and have been shipping with them every week. With UPS i even went so far as to go on line to an on line liquor store in California and ordered a bottle of whiskey which UPS delivered to me in 5 days, had the delivery man sign and open the package to verify what it was and all they did was just to say we did not ship liquor. Their corporate people are so far off that it was silly. We ship to 29 states all of which were on the ship to states from that California company. If they could do it and if you are in one of those listed states then we can also ship to those states. We are shipping about 10 gift boxes a week and are real happy. The UPS rep came by last week and was flabbergasted by what we are doing and again had no answers as to why they could not ship for us but could and are shipping for them. I told him it was discrimination pure and simple. Coop

[Marc]

Anyone have any experience using FedEx as a regular freight shipper to their distributors? One case or a pallet?

[ckrogstad]

Marc, on Dec 9 2008, 01:51 PM, said:

Anyone have any experience using FedEx as a regular freight shipper to their distributors? One case or a pallet?

Hey Marc,

We've tried a lot of different LTL options (because we have yet to ship a full load, bu the day may one day come), and consistently our best rate comes from a trucking broker we found based in Vancouver, WA. He shops it around to a bunch of different trucking companies, and handles any complications that arise. I'm very happy with the job he does for us, and a few of our distributors are now using him, especially for shipping into the fickle Control State warehouses.
"Don Unrein" <donunrein@directlinktransport.com> (360) 772-4970
Like I said, I'm very happy with Directlink, so much so that I want to see him get more business. So, give him a call.

When is your Absinthe coming out?

Cheers,

Christian Krogstad
House Spirits Distillery

[ckrogstad]

Marc, on Dec 9 2008, 01:51 PM, said:

Anyone have any experience using FedEx as a regular freight shipper to their distributors? One case or a pallet?

Oh, right, FEDEX.
We use them for shipping a case or two, but for anything more we put it on a skid and FEDEX can't compete on skids.

[Marc]

Thanks, CK, that's exactly what I was looking for. We just got absinthe label approval today, and I'm talking to Taylor-Made tomorrow. Got 200 liters "resting" and going to distill another 200 liters this weekend.

[ny_spirits]

coop, on Dec 9 2008, 04:23 PM, said:

We are shipping about 10 gift boxes a week and are real happy.

Coop - Do you ship to liquor stores and bars, or just retail?

[coop]

ny_spirits, on Dec 16 2008, 11:11 AM, said:

Coop - Do you ship to liquor stores and bars, or just retail?

Just retail, we self distribute here and to ship to bars and stores the mark up would be way to high. It cost about $40.00 to ship a case. We are not reducing our price per bottle and then their mark up would out price it. Coop

[absaroka]

Coop: how are you able to ship out of state without being set up in that state as an approved wholesaler?  We'd like to get in to internet sales at some point, but the conversations I had with on-line liquor retailers contradicted what you are doing.

[coop]

absaroka, on Dec 18 2008, 11:37 AM, said:

Coop: how are you able to ship out of state without being set up in that state as an approved wholesaler?  We'd like to get in to internet sales at some point, but the conversations I had with on-line liquor retailers contradicted what you are doing.

Yes it contradicts what I am doing, they would want to say you cannot do that just let us stock and sell your product but you will be paying a wholesaler. The on line liquor stores DO NOT have a distributors license for each and every state either. One cannot buy at a cost of over $200,000.00 a distributor and liquor license for each state. We are not selling over the internet. We are selling to customers who want to ship a bottle to friends or someone calls us and ask us to ship to another friend. We do not ship to liquor stores or distributors. We only ship to certain states which ship to Colorado. If they can ship to Colorado then we can ship to them. I think it has something to do with the rights to ship wine between some states which have a reciprocating agreement. What is good enough for them is good enough for me. Coop

[absaroka]

coop, on Dec 23 2008, 12:53 PM, said:

I think it has something to do with the rights to ship wine between some states which have a reciprocating agreement. What is good enough for them is good enough for me. Coop

That answers it right there for me.... we have a very corrupt association that lobbies against this (specifically wine) but somehow I can purchase liquor from the on-line retailers without a problem.  Thanks for your input!

Bryan

[ny_spirits]

One last question for Coop (and anyone else who has shipped via fedex) - how do you package? I need to ship a case of vodka - we have custom wine boxes with dividers, and I was simply going to wrap the bottles in newspaper - does that sound sufficient? How do you package for shipping?
Thanks!

[Andrew]

ny_spirits, on Jan 23 2009, 10:19 AM, said:

One last question for Coop (and anyone else who has shipped via fedex) - how do you package? I need to ship a case of vodka - we have custom wine boxes with dividers, and I was simply going to wrap the bottles in newspaper - does that sound sufficient? How do you package for shipping?
Thanks!

At some point your box will meet the hands of a part-time low wage warehouse employee. If you've seen those school competitions where eggs in containers are dropped from a helicopter, plan on that.

Here's the Fedex wine packing literature for more serious guidance:

http://fedex.com/us/...ng_Brochure.pdf

-A

[coop]

Andrew, on Jan 23 2009, 04:16 PM, said:

At some point your box will meet the hands of a part-time low wage warehouse employee. If you've seen those school competitions where eggs in containers are dropped from a helicopter, plan on that.

Here's the Fedex wine packing literature for more serious guidance:

http://fedex.com/us/...ng_Brochure.pdf

-A

We take our cases which also have dividers also, put a few inches of popcorn all around our sealed case and ship a box in a box. The 2 inch of popcorn give extra protection from the miss handling of boxes. You can never be too safe. If you can drop it 5' and feel it is ok then ship. coop

[ny_spirits]

Update: We just shipped out 2 cases - at ljust under $20 a case it isn't cheap but it sure beats driving 2.5 hours into NYC! Packaging was a pain, but a friend who ships wine (he owns a liquor store) just introduced me to a great product that is fedex approved for shipping wine and spirits - we'll try it next time - www.spiritedshipper.com.