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I'm also curious to see what makes it illegal. Do you need a specific license to sell alcohol?

by alexvr 13y ago

contacternst 13y ago
Selling beer online CAN be legal if you are selling from a state in which it is legal and have gone through the appropriate licensing necessary. For example, it is legal in New York, a state in which Vermont shares many laws. However, selling beer online in Vermont is never legal. Interestingly, it is possible to sell a certain amount wine online in Vermont. Just not beer. Now I know. It is always illegal to ship beer beer via USPS. It is not against policy to ship beer via Fedex of UPS if you take the necessary steps. I believe you have to show them proof of proper license and pay a fee. Of course, if you do not take these extra steps... I don't think there's a problem. Fedex has destroyed plenty of my orders, but always let me ship more. No refund to speak of though.
- lukevdp 13y ago
  Are you able to register a company in a state where it is legal and carry on?
  - contacternst 13y ago
    This MAY be worth exploring. I am pretty close to New York, so I could register a business there and personally transport product easily enough. That being said, I'm not sure about the legality of transporting beer across state lines or the potentiality of making amends with the brewer of Heady Topper (The Alchemist Brewery). That being said, there is a major online beer seller:http://www.halftimebeverage.com/browse.cfm/long-trail-ale-12oz/4,383.html http://www.halftimebeverage.com/browse.cfm/long-trail-ale-12... That does sell a Vermon-based beer online... To be honest I'm pretty scared now of trying to sell any kind of beer online. It just seems so risky after having been threatened with legal action. On the other hand, I do have Jen's direct email address and could easily inquire to her about selling Heady Topper in New York...
defen 13y ago
Note: I'm not a lawyer, so don't take this as legal advice if you're planning on selling alcohol online :) The 21st amendment lets each state set the rules for the transportation of and importation of intoxicating liquors into that state. So the problem is not so much that it's prima facie illegal, as that each state has its own set of rules/taxes/requirements that you must comply with. I suppose a state could make it illegal to sell alcohol online.
tptacek 13y ago
* There are states such as Utah that forbid shipping alcohol directly to their residents. * There are states such as Texas that forbid the unlicensed shipping of alcohol from outside the state to residents. * There are states (I think IL is one of them) for which large classes of alcoholic beverages are controlled by distributorships, which are licensed monopolies for shipping. * Both UPS and FedEx require a special license to ship alcohol through them. * It's illegal to ship alcohol using the USPS. A lot of these issues are in flux (and are tending to be resolved the "right" way), but there is still a lot of prohibition baggage in our liquor laws.
- twilde 13y ago
  distributorships arent a state based thing. It's all legally encoded into ATF regs; there are different classes of licensing; Manufacturer, Farm/Small Manufacturer (less than 10,000 gallons per year), Distributor/Wholsale Sales; and Retail Sales. None of these licenses are allowed to overlap. The problem with startup breweries/wineries is that they have to make thier sales exclusively to distributors, then market to retailers (get demand for the distros to carry). However, as a retailer, you're only allowed to purchase from the distributors. If the distro doesnt carry a product you want to sell, you legally cannot sell it.
thaumaturgy 13y ago
I did some work a few years back for a company whose entire business model was managing the rules, licensing, payments, and paperwork for interstate alcoholic beverage distributors. It was an eye-opener. The code itself was a horrifying pile of special cases, largely because each state had its own form, which required its own set of information, and its own rules regarding shipments, and its own license fees ... I wouldn't be surprised if 20% of the retail cost of alcoholic beverages is due to the headaches associated with moving them across state lines.

I'm also curious to see what makes it illegal. Do you need a specific license to sell alcohol?

by alexvr 13y ago

I'm also curious to see what makes it illegal. Do you need a specific license to sell alcohol?

Selling beer online CAN be legal if you are selling from a state in which it is legal and have gone through the appropriate licensing necessary. For example, it is legal in New York, a state in which Vermont shares many laws. However, selling beer online in Vermont is never legal. Interestingly, it is possible to sell a certain amount wine online in Vermont. Just not beer. Now I know. It is always illegal to ship beer beer via USPS. It is not against policy to ship beer via Fedex of UPS if you take the necessary steps. I believe you have to show them proof of proper license and pay a fee. Of course, if you do not take these extra steps... I don't think there's a problem. Fedex has destroyed plenty of my orders, but always let me ship more. No refund to speak of though.

lukevdp 13y ago
Are you able to register a company in a state where it is legal and carry on?
- contacternst 13y ago
  This MAY be worth exploring. I am pretty close to New York, so I could register a business there and personally transport product easily enough. That being said, I'm not sure about the legality of transporting beer across state lines or the potentiality of making amends with the brewer of Heady Topper (The Alchemist Brewery). That being said, there is a major online beer seller:http://www.halftimebeverage.com/browse.cfm/long-trail-ale-12oz/4,383.html http://www.halftimebeverage.com/browse.cfm/long-trail-ale-12... That does sell a Vermon-based beer online... To be honest I'm pretty scared now of trying to sell any kind of beer online. It just seems so risky after having been threatened with legal action. On the other hand, I do have Jen's direct email address and could easily inquire to her about selling Heady Topper in New York...

defen 13y ago

Note: I'm not a lawyer, so don't take this as legal advice if you're planning on selling alcohol online :) The 21st amendment lets each state set the rules for the transportation of and importation of intoxicating liquors into that state. So the problem is not so much that it's prima facie illegal, as that each state has its own set of rules/taxes/requirements that you must comply with. I suppose a state could make it illegal to sell alcohol online.

tptacek 13y ago

* There are states such as Utah that forbid shipping alcohol directly to their residents. * There are states such as Texas that forbid the unlicensed shipping of alcohol from outside the state to residents. * There are states (I think IL is one of them) for which large classes of alcoholic beverages are controlled by distributorships, which are licensed monopolies for shipping. * Both UPS and FedEx require a special license to ship alcohol through them. * It's illegal to ship alcohol using the USPS. A lot of these issues are in flux (and are tending to be resolved the "right" way), but there is still a lot of prohibition baggage in our liquor laws.

twilde 13y ago
distributorships arent a state based thing. It's all legally encoded into ATF regs; there are different classes of licensing; Manufacturer, Farm/Small Manufacturer (less than 10,000 gallons per year), Distributor/Wholsale Sales; and Retail Sales. None of these licenses are allowed to overlap. The problem with startup breweries/wineries is that they have to make thier sales exclusively to distributors, then market to retailers (get demand for the distros to carry). However, as a retailer, you're only allowed to purchase from the distributors. If the distro doesnt carry a product you want to sell, you legally cannot sell it.

thaumaturgy 13y ago

I did some work a few years back for a company whose entire business model was managing the rules, licensing, payments, and paperwork for interstate alcoholic beverage distributors. It was an eye-opener. The code itself was a horrifying pile of special cases, largely because each state had its own form, which required its own set of information, and its own rules regarding shipments, and its own license fees ... I wouldn't be surprised if 20% of the retail cost of alcoholic beverages is due to the headaches associated with moving them across state lines.