Wine and spirits
Shipping wine and spirits to consumers is a different rulebook in every state
Whether you can ship a bottle to a customer depends on where they live, what is in the bottle, and what licenses you hold. Wine and spirits are often treated differently, and some places do not allow direct shipping at all.
Your checkout needs to know all of that before it takes payment. Most checkouts do not.
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Situations you may recognize
- 01
Wine can ship there, spirits cannot
A mixed cart is headed to a state where you can ship wine and cannot ship spirits. The right answer is to stop the spirits, not the whole order, and tell the shopper which item is the problem.
- 02
You hold a permit for some states, not all
Your list of states you can ship to is your own, based on your permits. It changes when you add or drop a permit, and the checkout has to change the same day.
- 03
A gift goes to a different state than the buyer
The buyer lives where you can ship. The gift address is where you cannot. The check has to follow the shipping address, and run again whenever that address changes.
- 04
The visitor has to be of age
An age gate on the site is a common requirement for alcohol sellers. It should not get in the way of returning visitors more than it has to.
These are examples, not a list of current laws. Laws change, and this page is not legal advice. Check the current rules for your products with a lawyer or the state agency that sets them.
Before and after
Where stores get caught, and what we set up
Where stores usually get caught
- A "we ship to these states" page that the checkout does not enforce.
- Rules set per shipping zone, when the real rule is per product type.
- Promos and bundles advertised to visitors in states you cannot ship to.
- Refunds done by hand when an order to the wrong state is spotted at packing.
What we set up
- Enforce your ship-to states at checkout, per product type, before payment.
- Check every new order again and cancel and refund anything that got through.
- Add an age gate where one is required, remembered for returning visitors.
- Keep promos off products that cannot ship to the visitor.
- Add a "can we ship to you?" lookup page.
See where your checkout lets restricted orders through
We review your shipping policy and checkout and send you a short video of what we find.
BuildPath is run by Ian Mason, a developer with 20 years in ecommerce and search.
- The check is free
- A short video of what we find
- If we find nothing, we tell you that