Best shipper for bottled beer?

[okiedog]

Who do you prefer to ship your bottled beer with? I know many people use FedEx, but would like to hear from those of you who ship (or have shipped) bottled beer. Are there any restrictions? Do you use a special shipping container? Do you choose the shortest delivery time? How was the beer when it arrived?

 

[kcmobrewer]

Don't use fedex. I have the worst horror stories from them. Don't want to get into it but save yourself the headache and go ups.


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[brettg20]

I shipped 2 entries to the MCAB via FedEx...supposed to get there today. Guess I should track it


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[Hello]

I ship fedex and so far, everything is great.

 

[bford]

Can anyone link to containers to use and where to get them?

 

[okiedog]

Mr. Box has both styrofoam and pulp shippers that include the box. I have seen another source that had 3 and 6 bottle shippers, but can't seem to find it now.

 

[coyote68]

i use ups and have only ever had one issue, but my package was only 1 day late. I will not use fedex again, more expensive and they lost 1 out of the 2 packages i sent.

 

[Braufessor]

I have sent beer 60-70+ times with UPS..... only had one problem, and it was my fault for shipping over a weekend in REALLY cold weather - frozen/broken bottle.

 

[BigFloyd]

Ups.

 

[Terek]

I used fedex. No problem, and It got there early. I packaged in a regular box. Wrapped bottles 2 layers thick with bubble wrap, then wrapped in 2 sheets of newspaper. Then staggared bottles in box with paper. Like this

PBPBPBPB
BPBPBPBP

 

[okiedog]

I've heard and read that FedEx would rather ship wine than beer. This could be because of the packaging. Wine shippers have been available for a long time. It seems that bottle beer shippers have just started to being available in the past year or so.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

This last time I went with Fedex. Exact same package to, from, size and volume was $6 cheaper than UPS. Seemed like a no brainer.

I have bought wine bottle packaging styrofoam from bevmo and used that for beer. And I have just collected boxes and bubble wrap from shipments too me to reuse. Just takes a little practice and off you go! You'll be a regular shipper in no time!

 

[okiedog]

Guess I'll just have get a beer bottle shipper, ship some beer and find out how it goes. Do you choose Express shipping?

Thanks for the info and encouragement.

 

[reefriot]

Ita hit or miss with Fedex. I have to go down to there location today and pickup a damaged box of beer that was just shipped out and supposed to show up on Friday. So glad they sent me an email or dropped a note letting me know. Only way i found out was it didnt show up when it was supposed to! On the other hand ive had packages from UPS show up with tire tracks accross them and one time had a package stolen by the driver (long story) but i will never use Backside Brown delivery again.

 

[sj3324]

There is no "best" shipper to use. Some people have better luck with UPS, some with FedEx. I prefer FedEx because it is cheaper, especially if you create an account online and print labels off at home.
I would say go with what is convenient to you, because you can ask 100 people what they prefer and you will get 50 saying UPS is better and give reasons why, and the other 50 will say FedEx is better and give the exact same reasons why.

 

[Indytruks138]

There is no "best" shipper to use. Some people have better luck with UPS, some with FedEx. I prefer FedEx because it is cheaper, especially if you create an account online and print labels off at home.
I would say go with what is convenient to you, because you can ask 100 people what they prefer and you will get 50 saying UPS is better and give reasons why, and the other 50 will say FedEx is better and give the exact same reasons why.

QFT.

I like Fedex, they are usually $5-$10 cheaper, as long as you have an online account. They deliver on Saturday to home, but not Monday. Both companies will break your box at some point, its just going to happen, so be prepared that its a possiblity.

 

[pointcity-homebrew]

I have shipped with fed ex for every package, mainly because I have used them for ebay shipments and had the account. I have not had any issues as of yet, albeit I haven't shipped but a few packages that contained glass. I will say I shipped a pint glass to CO and it arrived safely.

My advice is to package it as though it will be mishandled, once you ship it's out of your control but the one thing you can control is how it's packed.

my 2 cents

 

[okiedog]

A lot of good information and advice! When I do ship bottles of beer, I'll pack it like it's an MIT roof drop test. Another option could be to ship in stainless steel beer bottles like those from Deep Woods Brew. But at $34.25 a six pack, that could get expensive if you don't get them back.

 

[skawars1]

Don't use fedex. I have the worst horror stories from them. Don't want to get into it but save yourself the headache and go ups.

I would say the same about UPS. After running an Ebay biz and often shipping beer I will only use FedEx. UPS has been a nightmare of poor package handling and customer service for me too many times.

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[kcmobrewer]

I would say it depends on where you live. When I lived in Kansas City, I had no issued with either of them. Didn't matter to me which way I went.

Now that I live in Maryland, FedEx (along with just about everything out here) sucks. The hub in Halethorpe is abysmal. Worst customer service. EVER. Lost multiple packages of mine. Multiple boxes came in a week or more late. Especially around the holidays.

 

[okiedog]

There are people and businesses here in California that ship wine all the time. I haven't heard any horror stories from them. Any problems with the shipper must be with specific locations or routes as some of you have indicated.