sending wine via ups?

J

Jeff Davidson

Jeff Davidson
I'd like to send wine to a friend, did some poking around and found it to be illegal. Is this a "don't ask, don't tell" proposition or is there a likelihood the wine will be seized, I'll be subject to a fine and/or thrown in a holding cell at rikers island for a couple of months?
 
I have no recent experience. It is my understanding that enforcement is random -- some states do, some states don't; some UPS offices do, some UPS offices don't.
 
originally posted by Peter Creasey:

Jeff, some people (not me) have said they have had good success shipping cranberry juice.

. . . . Pete
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doesn't always work. i've had a shipping case "emptied" by ups in minnesota, a state i could legally ship to as far as state law was concerned, but the receiving ups office opened the shipper containing "jams and jellies", found wine, and "poured the wine out". i demanded that they return the empty bottles and they refused. some fucker got a free case of expensive wine.
 
originally posted by Jeff Grossman:
I have no recent experience. It is my understanding that enforcement is random -- some states do, some states don't; some UPS offices do, some UPS offices don't.
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I know CSW switched to FedEx after some crazy shit from UPS. So perhaps check them out.
 
UPS has as its policy (or so I am told) that they will not ship any alcoholic beverage from an individual. Thus, there is no way to do it with the knowledge of UPS, leading you subterfuge if you want to ship via them. I have heard numerous stories about wine shipments being seized and emptied, so there is no question what will happen if they discover it in a shipment. That being said, I have heard *cough* that double boxing it in a shipper within a larger box does improve one's odds of evading discovery. You're still running the risk of being found out, of course. And, yes, Fed Ex, does seem much safer for these purposes. What I have done in the past is to use a cooperative retailer to ship, but that relies on having one handy.

Mark Lipton
 
Some folks have had success asking a local wine shop with which they do business to ship on their behalf.
 
originally posted by slaton:
Some folks have had success asking a local wine shop with which they do business to ship on their behalf.
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the case of wine that i lost to the ups nazis was shipped from a wine shop.
 
If you do plan on shipping "olive oil" to your friend just make sure your box doesn't look it might have booze in it. Chances are it will get through without an issue. The 12 pack shipping boxes are the most recognizable.
 
originally posted by Todd Abrams:
If you do plan on shipping "olive oil" to your friend just make sure your box doesn't look it might have booze in it. Chances are it will get through without an issue. The 12 pack shipping boxes are the most recognizable.
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just make sure you're shipping wine that you are willing to lose.
 
originally posted by robert ames:
originally posted by Todd Abrams:
If you do plan on shipping "olive oil" to your friend just make sure your box doesn't look it might have booze in it. Chances are it will get through without an issue. The 12 pack shipping boxes are the most recognizable.
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just make sure you're shipping wine that you are willing to lose.
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I do know people that have had wine/beer shipments discovered by fedex and just had the shipment returned as innapropriate or something like that. If it's UPS policy to dump booze I wouldnt use them for any service. They're not the law.
 
originally posted by Todd Abrams:
originally posted by robert ames:
originally posted by Todd Abrams:
If you do plan on shipping "olive oil" to your friend just make sure your box doesn't look it might have booze in it. Chances are it will get through without an issue. The 12 pack shipping boxes are the most recognizable.
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just make sure you're shipping wine that you are willing to lose.
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I do know people that have had wine/beer shipments discovered by fedex and just had the shipment returned as innapropriate or something like that. If it's UPS policy to dump booze I wouldnt use them for any service. They're not the law.
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they are a law unto themselves. when they "dumped" the wine that i was shipping there were no laws being broken. they were just enforcing their policy.
 
originally posted by robert ames:
originally posted by Todd Abrams:
originally posted by robert ames:
originally posted by Todd Abrams:
If you do plan on shipping "olive oil" to your friend just make sure your box doesn't look it might have booze in it. Chances are it will get through without an issue. The 12 pack shipping boxes are the most recognizable.
Click to expand...

just make sure you're shipping wine that you are willing to lose.
Click to expand...

I do know people that have had wine/beer shipments discovered by fedex and just had the shipment returned as innapropriate or something like that. If it's UPS policy to dump booze I wouldnt use them for any service. They're not the law.
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they are a law unto themselves. when they "dumped" the wine that i was shipping there were no laws being broken. they were just enforcing their policy.
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Understood, but I believe Todd's point was that, given a choice of carriers, why not choose the one with a less hostile policy toward wine shipments?

Mark Lipton
 
Yeah, it's been sketchy for me. I've gotten away with it a couple of times, including bubble wrapping the bottles so they don't make the noise, but it always felt high risk and I have better things to do with my time and anxiety. Luckily, HDH collects wine in Seattle for consignment and does larger shipments from here so that's made it my go to for offloading stuff I don't want - has worked out great in fact.
 
originally posted by Todd Abrams:
If you do plan on shipping "olive oil" to your friend just make sure your box doesn't look it might have booze in it. Chances are it will get through without an issue. The 12 pack shipping boxes are the most recognizable.
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Hence the recommendation to double box. If you were going to do such a thing. Which I would never suggest.

Oh, and and try and get rid of your state AG. He's behind a lot of the stepped up enforcement.
 
originally posted by Jay Miller:

Oh, and and try and get rid of your state AG. He's behind a lot of the stepped up enforcement.
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That would be good, but then we'd have no one to get rid of the people who decided it would be OK to have the people of Flint drink water with lead in it. Satisfactory choices are at a premium in our little microcosm peninsulas of hell.
 
I've been shipping a six pack of wine from Napa to NY by UPS for the last 15 years or so & no trouble. I believe CA to NY is not illegal, or just nobody bothers.
 
i'm sure that it is legal enough. your good fortune is due to the lazy laid back ups employees in groovy california that are too chilled out to play fire chief and hall monitor with their own regulations.
 
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