People forget just how different alcoholic
beverage sales is from the bulk of consumer products. Alcohol, beyond the fundamentals of age
restriction and tax collection, the public is barely aware of how deeply and
disparately alcoholic beverages are regulated.
There isn’t anywhere that this is more evident than with shipping. Americans
can order clothes, send gifts, and by just about anything on the internet,
parcels are dispatched with minimal ado and delivered to your place. Those of
you that are used to instant gratification, purchasing of alcohol on line is the
very frustrating exception. Sending a
bottle of local gin home from vacation or ordering vintage Champagne for an
anniversary can be complicated if not impossible. Unfortunately, this usually happens at the retail
outlet, leaving the merchant responsible for explaining why this problem exists.
Here
are the legalities of getting alcohol from one place to another, to help
retailers get the options across to their customers. Carrying alcoholic beverages on a plane with
you is doable, but you must follow the TSA rules. Airline passengers are familiar with the
3.4-ounce TSA rule for all carry-on liquids including alcoholic beverages,
full-size bottles need to be in checked luggage, but there are some
restrictions to that as well. As far as
your carry-on luggage, you can place all of the 3.4 oz. bottles of alcohol you
can fit in a one 1-quart plastic bag. In
your Checked luggage, anything under 24% or 48 proof, alcohol is unlimited, anything
24% to 70% or 48 to 140 proof alcohol is limited to 5 liters per passenger. Any alcoholic beverages over 70% ABV or 140
proof is absolutely prohibited. All
bottles must be unopened. Duty-free is
the exception to these limits. You
should be aware that TSA and customs are totally separate entities, passengers
should check customs limits set by the country they're entering, or be prepared
to pay duties on their purchases. Many
times this amounts to a dollar or so per bottle, but if you are bringing in a
very special spirit that can’t be obtained at home, this is a small price to
pay.
On an interstate train, there are no
restrictions on carrying unopened containers of alcohol. Control states have laws that forbid the transport
of alcohol across state lines in your car.
For instance, there is a discount liquor store just across the state
line between North and South Carolina that the North Carolina Police will take
the license plate numbers of customers and the police will watch for the cars
to cross into North Carolina and bust them for “bootlegging”. This is an example of the ends that some
states will do to protect their revenue, but most of these laws are primarily
to discourage purchasing large quantities of alcohol in a neighboring state
where taxes are lower. If you are planning
to drive across state lines with a "personal quantity" of alcoholic
beverages should use common sense, making sure the bottles should be unopened
and in the trunk.
How many times has a customer carefully
picked out the perfect gift bottle, then asked if it could be mailed? The real
question here is "where is it going".
It is not legal for consumers to
mail alcohol themselves to a U.S. destination, via any method. The United States Postal Service and the
common carriers like UPS, FedEx etc. will refuse to take any such parcel known
to contain alcohol. If the destination
is outside the country, shipping is legal, but you should check with customs of
the destination for their regulations.
Retail shipping is a real nightmare.
While most states allow licensed state retailers to ship to other state
customers within the same state, most do not allow any interstate retailers to
ship in. The regular carriers like FedEx and UPS have
recently stepped up enforcement of retailer shipping laws, and ship only to the
states that allow it.
If craft
makes of beer, wine or spirits hope to compete with world-wide operations like
Amazon, they will need to start to push for the change of rules in more states
to allow legal retailer to consumer shipping of alcoholic beverages. This is very clearly the only that the “shipping
lanes” can be opened up in the future.
