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Packing and shipping for competitions

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Displaced Hick

Displaced Hick

NewBee
Registered Member
Apr 12, 2009
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Arlington, WA
Now that I have found that I can enter my mead in the Mazer Cup, I was wondering how everyone ships in their mead (that way I can figure out how to do it;D)

Everything I have found on the forums just points out to avoid USPS and not to mention what the contents are (or label it as yeast cultures or vinegar, etc.), but what about packing it so it doesn't break. I am only entering one so I need to figure out packing for 3 bottles.:confused:
 
Line box with trash bag, wrap each bottle in bubble wrap. For the sake of the poor folks who unwrap, do not tape bubble wrap on. Use bubble wrap to line the box, place wrapped bottles in center, cover with more bubble wrap, close outer plastic box, seal cardboard and ship. While peanuts work well in shipping, they make a mess at the unpacking station. Good luck this year!
 
I used UPS all the time, when I shipped, and I only had one problem with them. What are the other alternatives? It's illegal to ship through the USPS and Fedex is pretty expensive.

Something else you can do is wrap the bottle in a little bubblewrap and then seal it in a ziplock bag. Wrap it some more in bubblewrap. This way, if a bottle breaks, then it's contained. My one bad incident with UPS involved a single broken bottle. The whole package (about a dozen bottles) was returned to me.

If you can double-box everything, and add packing between the boxes, all the better.


Phil
 
DaleP said:
Line box with trash bag, wrap each bottle in bubble wrap. For the sake of the poor folks who unwrap, do not tape bubble wrap on. Use bubble wrap to line the box, place wrapped bottles in center, cover with more bubble wrap, close outer plastic box, seal cardboard and ship. While peanuts work well in shipping, they make a mess at the unpacking station. Good luck this year!
Click to expand...

It is OK to secure the bubble wrap around each bottle with a small piece of tape, but multiple wraps of packing tape around the bubble-wrap encased bottle is very much a hassle to remove! Additionally since we'll be unpacking these in a room with a concrete floor, if we have to wrestle each bottle out of its bubble cocoon, there is actually more risk of loss.

Lining each box with bubble wrap instead of packing peanuts is also a very good idea. Not only are the peanuts a PITA to dispose of, but they migrate around during transit, and we've seen bottles broken because they moved to the outer edge of a box that had been filled with peanuts. Bubble wrap generally stays where you put it.

Neither UPS nor FedEx will transport homemade alcohol if it is called to their attention ("Don't ask, don't tell") but FedEx generally doesn't subject you to the third degree when you ship a pre-packed box. UPS, depending on the location, can be very insistent about finding out what exactly is in your package. And as noted, the Postal Service is prohibited by federal regulation from shipping any homebrew alcohol.
 
Displaced Hick said:
...snip...

Everything I have found on the forums just points out to avoid USPS and not to mention what the contents are ...snip...
Click to expand...

Looks like he was talking about United States Postal Service rather than UPS. I personally use FedEX as I've had bad experiences with both UPS and USPS in both theft and breakage (and I use the wine shippers).
 
Theft?!? Yikes. I've heard people tell stories about missing bottles of liquor after coming back from the Caribbean. Did they open the box or just "misplace" the whole thing?
 
It was a blatent theft. One of my boxes was obviously opened and then resealed with USPS "Inspection" tape and two missing bottles of wine. No explanation or tag or anything.

On another occasion I purchased a set of DVD's from Amazon and it arrived opened and resealed as above. Inside the entire set of DVD's had been removed from the showcase packaging and it was left inside absent the actual DVD's and cases. I called Amazon and the reshipped another via FedEX immediately. I also took the opportunity to ream the local postmaster since both thefts had occured within a span of two weeks.

UPS has broken so many things that I have shipped or received, then the strike the pulled at Christmas-time a few years back was the last straw so I don't use them for anything any longer.

Cheers,

Oskaar
 
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