The Cost of Shipping Wine

Free or flat rate shipping is used as an incentive to get people to buy a full case of wine directly from a winery or retailer. It's gotten to where many consumers think they're entitled to free shipping. Problem is this isn't sustainable, especially for small businesses.

What's the true cost of shipping? I don't have an exact number, but can make an educated guess.

Shipping a case of wine across the country via UPS or FDX ground is about $60-65. And that's only part of the cost. 

Image from Wine Direct, a shipping company in Napa

 

States have their own unique alcohol shipping requirements. Most have a yearly license fee because why not hit up mostly out-of-state businesses for some "free" money? Many expect you to collect their sales tax and reimburse it to the state. That is just as big of a PITA as it sounds. The shipping box and packing materials costs a few bucks each.

Wine does not like freezing or hot temperatures, so it should ship in a special temp-controlled truck.

The legal requirements aren't just whether you can legally ship, but how much can you ship over a given period of time or can you ship big bottles like magnums? Yes, some states have these kinds of laws.

It's gotten so complicated that many wineries use a shipping fulfillment company that tracks these laws and makes sure their clients are in compliance. The wineries will have inventory with the shipping company and send orders to them daily. The company does the packaging and shipping. Often they run temperature-controlled trucks across the country to local UPS or FDX hubs. They manage each winery's inventory in their warehouse. This all adds costs to your case of wine.

Using these fulfillment companies probably costs somewhere between $75 to $120 to ship to the eastern states when you add in all the costs. It's the shipping distance, the state's laws, and the size of the winery that make for the difference.

Every winery seems to charge a different rate depending on how much they subsidize the shipping cost. That will depend on the size of the company, the standard price of the wines, and any discounts they are offering on the wines. So if you're shipping a case of wines costing about $20 each, there isn't much room for them to eat any of the costs vs. shipping a case of $120/bottle wine.