Consumers may not ship alcohol of any type via FedEx services. The shipper must be a FedEx-approved alcohol shipper, the recipient must be a business entity that holds appropriate alcohol licenses, and the shipment must otherwise comply with applicable laws.
Unfortunately, it's against the law for an unlicensed person to ship a bottle of wine to a friend -- or anyone else for that matter. And, if you are licensed to ship wine, you have to have a special contract with UPS for shipping wine. Some states allow only on-site visitors to a winery to ship wine.
Six states—Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky, Nebraska, New Hampshire and Rhode Island—and the District of Columbia authorize the direct shipment of all spirits as specified. Eight states allow the direct shipment of beer and wine as specified: Delaware, Massachusetts, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Vermont and Virginia.
Who can ship: There are only two legal ways to ship alcohol in the United States. A retailer must be licensed to sell alcohol by a state that permits shipments in and out of that state and must have an alcohol shippers contract with either UPS or FedEx. It is illegal for a non-licensed individual to ship alcohol.
Alcoholic beverages with more than 24% but not more than 70% alcohol are limited in checked bags to 5 liters (1.3 gallons) per passenger and must be in unopened retail packaging. Mini bottles of alcohol in carry-on must be able to comfortably fit into a single quart-sized bag.
Hand sanitizer shipments meeting the criteria in 49CFR 173.150 (g) may be offered as a nonregulated or nonhazardous shipment under this exception to FedEx Express. ✓ When shipping in non-glass inner receptacle, each non-glass inner receptacle contains 16 ounces (0.125 gallons/0.47 liters) or less of hand sanitizer.
All shipments must meet UPS packaging requirements for Spirits. UPS will accept inner packaging of molded Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) foam, folded corrugated tray, or molded fiber tray. Each packaging component secures the bottles into the center of the shipping container away from the side walls of the shipper.
Lastly, if a shipping clerk asks what you are shipping, don't say beer. It's a silly but necessary point to address. FedEx and UPS are not really concerned about what you are shipping, but if someone does ask what is being shipped, say that it's anything but beer. Yeast samples, antique milk bottles, anything really.
To ship hand sanitizer with a commercial carrier, you first need to set up a hazardous materials contract with UPS. Signing up for the UPS Hazardous Materials Contract Service is straightforward. Establish a UPS payment account—if you don't have one already—and request to ship hazardous materials when prompted.
Since these and similar items use flammable alcohols such as ethanol and/or isopropanol (rubbing alcohol) that are flammable and potentially hazardous, they must be shipped using the same guidelines as other dangerous products. Not adhering to regulations could get you into trouble.
Alcoholic beverages are (mostly) off the menu on Amazon. Verifying that a buyer is of legal age (21) makes selling alcohol difficult, experts say. Last year, Amazon began permitting the sale, to preapproved sellers, of more than a thousand wines. Customers can shop by wine type or by region.
The three simplest ways to gift a bottle of whisky are:
- Put it in a gift bag. Simple. Easy. Job done.
- Wrap it tightly, twisting the paper around the top of the bottle, covering it in sticky tape. Easy, but a giveaway to what's inside.
- Just hand it to them. They're only after the liquid inside anyway.
