Many times, when tourists travel internationally and visit the beautiful wine vineyards of France or Italy, they want to purchase a case of their favorite wine and have it sent back home to the states. Unfortunately, it isn’t as simple as placing the wine in a box and shipping it back home. 

Shipping wine internationally is a very complicated process. It can be even more confusing for winemakers who want to send their product to customers in other countries.

Every country has their own rules and regulations when it comes to shipping wine internationally and receiving wine from an overseas sender. In the United States, the postal service has banned shipments of all alcoholic beverages. Third-party shipping providers such as FedEx and UPS can ship wine, as long as the customer purchases it from a licensed wholesaler, dealer, or distributor.

The growth of the wine industry in the U.S. alone has helped many wine enthusiasts try out brand new flavors. Although wine distributors may already have success in the United States, they would have even more if the overseas wine shipping process was more straightforward.

5 Useful Tips for Shipping Wine Internationally

If you are a wine distributor who is interested in selling your product to international customers, here are five valuable tips that can help make shipping wine internationally a much easier process. By taking advantage of these time and money-saving tips, you will have a better experience shipping wine to your customers overseas and earn more profit over the years by expanding your customer base.

1. Find Out What Countries Have the Highest Demand for your Product

You don’t want to offer to ship your product to international countries and go through such a  complicated process for only a handful of sales. Make sure it is worth your effort by finding out which countries have the highest demand for your type of wine or those that have a high demand for wine in general. Offer to ship to those countries first. If you get a significant demand from other locations through customers who want your wine sent to them, you can move forward from there. After you have shipped wine internationally a few times, the process will become much more comfortable. Once learned, the process will streamline and in the future it won’t feel like a useless task if you choose to send to countries that don’t have a high demand for wine.

2. Make Sure Everything is Legal

Always check out the regulations in your state for shipping wine internationally before you agree to the transaction. You don’t want to get halfway through the process only to find out that you can't complete it. While it may be obvious, don’t attempt to do anything illegal. One international wine sale isn’t worth the entire business that you could potentially lose if you get caught.

3. Packaging Counts! Make Sure the Wine is Packaged Correctly

Always make sure that you pack your wine safely and correctly before it is shipped out. Doing this is a critical step that helps ensure that your customer gets their package as soon as possible. And by labeling the box correctly, you can be sure that your expensive wine will not become damaged in transit. Always mark the package as “Fragile” and ask your carrier to do the same. If the wine you are shipping must remain at a specific temperature or you have special packing and shipping requirements, make sure that your carrier can follow through with those needs.

4. Know Who is Receiving the Shipment

Wine is expensive, and shipping wine internationally can make it even more costly. That is why it is so important that you make sure your customers receive their shipment and it doesn’t end up in the wrong hands. Request that the package is signed for either by the person listed as the recipient or by another adult in the household. Make sure that it isn’t just left on their doorstep where it could become damaged or even stolen. You could also ask a local wine dealer if you could have the shipment sent to them for the customer to pick up later at their convenience. Doing this is just another way to make sure that your wine shipment doesn’t become lost, stolen, or damaged before it gets to the customer.

5. Save on Insurance Costs by Using a Third- Party Insurer

You could save money on your shipping insurance costs by using a third-party insurer. While both UPS and FedEx offer their international shipping insurance, it may cost you less if you choose to go with a third-party e-commerce shipping insurance provider for your wine. As you already know, wine is expensive. And you don’t want to end up with an unhappy customer on your first international wine sale. Getting insurance from your carrier may seem less complicated, but a third-party shipping insurance provider can be much more affordable, customizable for your needs, and offer more selections for coverage internationally. 

Don’t waste money on using a common carrier’s overpriced insurance, instead see how much you could save by using a 3rd party wine shipping insurance like Cabrella. They are the provider of the very best shipping insurance software in the industry and can make the international wine shipping process much more straightforward for everyone involved. Benefits such as their easy online claims processing, custom solutions, and international flexibility can help make your first experience shipping wine internationally a pleasant one.

Using Cabrella can save you up to 90% on insurance costs as opposed to other carriers. See your estimated savings by clicking the button below!