Tips for newbie on trading

Great place to start:

http://alewatcher.blogspot.com/2010/11/new-trader-tips.html

 

I just made my first trade last week and it was fairly easy, with being new expect to ship first, In my case my partner even though I was new sent his first.

And once you make a trade, welcome to your new addiction!

 

My best advice: Treat others the way you want to be treated.

 

Best way to gain trust is to ship first. Make sure you offer that straight away.
As far as your one bottle question. I've done this several times. If you don't want to spend extra money on extras just make sure each party knows.

 

Welcome to the new addiction. The Ale Watcher Blog is a great starting point.

I'll answer the bit about packing and shipping in details below, but will say first that

1) No, it usually not worth it to trade just 1 bottle unless you don't mind the shipping cost. Try to center a trade around 1 bottle, but expand the trade for others to make the best of shipping cost for both sides.

2) Don't ship low ABV beers when it's extremely cold, but I'm personally not too concerned about shipping in hot weather unless it's extreme. There's are several threads on shipping beer in cold weather, including this one: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/shipping-beer-in-winter.136681/ . Likewise about shipping in hot weather: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/shipping-beer-in-hot-weather-what-do-you-think.33418/

Anyway, here's what I sent to my recent trade partner who traded for the first time regarding packing and shipping:

Packing:
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1. If it's a growler or corked bottle, always tape the cap/cork well.

2. Put each bottle into individual Ziploc bag (Sam's club sells bulk Ziploc for cheap, pick up a bunch of packing tapes from them while you're at it), seal partially, roll up and let all the air out, then seal completely. You will need gallon size Ziploc for most bottles. Short bottles and cans will fit in quart size bag.

3. Wrap each Ziploc'ed up bottle into bubble wrap, tape the side and each top and bottom. Don't tape the heck out of it, just enough tape to hold the wrap in place. Some people actually use rubber bands. As long as the bubble wraps stay on the bottle, that's what matters. Make sure there are enough paddings (you should be able to judge this).

4. Use a sturdy box. Home Depot sell moving boxes that work well if you don't have boxes at home already. You don't need a huge box for your shipment.

5. Put some padding on the bottom of the box. Some people use packing peanuts, others use crumbled/balled up newspaper (pretty effective).

6. Line the box with a large trash bag (I used contractor grade, but any heavy duty trash bag will do).

7. Put the wrapped up bottles inside the trash bag vertically (to minimize sloshing noise), most valuable bottles in the center, and space the bottles out with crumbled up newspaper or packing peanut.

8. Close the trash bag up and add padding where there are spaces around the closed up trash bag.

9. Tape the bottom of the box well. Also tape the flap edges (imagine if liquid leaks, where would it come out and tape that part).

OK, I know it's a lot, but that's pretty bomb proof. The Ziploc is the first breakage/leakage defender. The trash bag is the second. And a well-taped box acts as the last resort. One of my shipments containing a Cherry Rye was saved because of this. An extra in that shipment broke, but the leak was contained. Leaked boxes can result in discarding or return to sender. UPS will discard, FedEx usually return, but sometimes send to "government warehouse" (confiscated).


Shipping:
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FedEx is best for both dealing with cost and dealing with discovered shipments. Create an online account with FedEx. They give you shipping discounts when you print your own label. It's really easy. When you print your own label at home, you don't have to wait in line at FedEx or answer what's in the box. Simply drop off or pay extra to schedule pickup.

You can measure the box dimensions and estimate the weight (or if you have a scale, that's even better). They usually re-measure and weight the box anyway for an accurate charge to your account.

Make up a company name and use it when you print the label. I use a BBQ company name in case they hear sloshing sound. If anyone ever asks, it's BBQ sauce and marinades or something of that nature.

When attaching the label, I use glue and then tape over the label enough so that it doesn't fall off easily (I know, I know, I'm just being anal about the details that you probably knew already). Also, if you use bottle shippers, tape over anything that indicate you're shipping alcohol such as "6 Bottles".

Good luck!

 

The above instructions should just be pinned to the top of this forum. After 20 trades had my first bottlecap come off, thankfully since I bagged and then plastic wrapped the bottle spillage was contained and kept enough in the guy could still drink what stayed in the bottle. No more not taping the tops for this guy

 

Weight is the biggest enemy when it comes to shipping along with location. An 18 pd box from central WI to CA will run me 18 to 20 bucks in shipping compared to shipping to central FL only runs me 15 bucks. Make sure you get the fedex account, saves a lot in the long run

 

Yup, the weight impact the cost. At the moment, to a certain point (someone can chime in what "oversize" means to FedEx) dimensions make no difference. Last night I did created a label and was lazy and punched in 24x24x18 for 25lbs to Chicago from Philly. Estimate was $36! I knew it was off so I measured the box. Actual dimensions were 21x16x15 (yeah, I know, I don't estimate size very well) and cost dropped to $26. Next year, FedEx will go with dimensional weight which may impact some packing habits: http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/will-new-fedex-policy-affect-us.177840/

 

@mythaeus offers up excellent tips for shipping your first trade safely. I place my box inside a slightly larger box, with packing peanuts surrounding the inner box. This acts as a cushion/bumper/crumple zone for the inner box of bottles. It also acts as insulation and might help to deaden any sloshing that might occur. I prefer this over adding noise maker such as a pill bottle with coins, beans, or even a box of macaroni. I feel those things might actually bring unwanted attention to your box. Enjoy your new found passion/addiction! Cheers!

http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/can-you-over-wrap-a-shipment.113093/

 

This is an amazing post, and I will probably follow your detailed instructions PLUS the double box idea. But I have a few follow ups...

I bought a few of these -- small boxes (12x12x16) and medium boxes (18x18x16) -- does anyone know if I am better off shipping 3 small vs. 2 medium boxes? And are they OK for both Fedex and UPS, even though they have a ton of writing on the boxes? (I know any prior labels have to be removed, I didn't know if they cared about all the other stuff).

I signed up for accounts with both and was thinking of shipping some each way to compare cost and transit time. But this is a big plus for Fedex. Besides, they will immediately let me order supplies (free boxes) while UPS won't do that until I have more sending history. The only UPS advantage is that I would have guessed Fedex costs more, but maybe not?

I was thinking this is a plus of the Home Depot moving boxes. They have big checkboxes on the sides of the box so movers know where to put them; I was going to check "Kitchen" and write "Pantry" or something similar next to it.

 

I don't ever tape bubble wrap. It can be re-used by the next trader. If it's taped you'll have to carefully peel it off and in most cases it doesn't come off nicely plus it can just take too much time. Just use rubber bands. One at the top and one at the bottom and with the same rubber band just double tighten it. Works like a charm.

Also-my biggest pet peeve is when you respond to a trade offer and the person never bothers to say anything. Even letting someone know "closed" in a reply takes 5 seconds. This has been happening a lot lately. Mostly with newer traders but even some veterans. Kind of annoying

 

Actually I was going to use that stretchy-wrap stuff instead of tape. I misspoke when I said I was gonna follow the direcions exactly.

 

I've seen in all with incoming shipments: taped the heck out of, rubber bands, no tapes, Saran wrap around bubble wraps, etc. , but I decided to stay with minimal taping as described. I use packing tape, which come off the wrapping pretty easily. Worst case, you can use a scissor to cut or fold the 1/2 peeled off tape into the bubble wrap to make the wrap even stronger for reuse. I've seen Scotch tape used too, which is fine. My main concern isn't about re-use, it's about the bubble wrap staying on around the bottle in transit and for me taping ensure that. I think rubber bands come the closest to tape. The last thing I want is for the bubble wrap to slide off the bottle during transit. It's unlikely if the box is well padded, but I won't take that chance.

Whichever method each person preferred, if you're thinking to this level of details, you're definitely good to go with your packing. Cheers!

 

Growlers are the only I haven't traded yet. It seems to me they would be a little more nerve wracking to pack/ship. What say you, @mythaeus ? How much difference in the packing of those big boys? Pretty much the same, but on a bigger scale?

 

I have received 64oz growlers that are well wrapped with out any problems, but I choose to ship only 1L growlers for size and the fact that they have rubberized swing top caps that tend to hold carb better. Other than taping the cap well to prevent the swing top cap from accidentally pop out, they are the similar to shipping 750ml bottles, just a little larger in diameter. That means you can either use bottle shippers, cardboard Spirited Shipper, or just the normal bubble wrap/ziploc way.

 

Look into wine shipper boxes. I've been using those with great success. U-Haul sells them through their site. I'll still bubble wrap each bottle, fill with packing material, and enclose styrofoam shipper with a trash bag, but the added 1-2" of styrofoam between your bottles and the box will help you sleep at night.

 

Anyone ever had an issue with FedEx insisting on opening the box when you drop it off to "guarantee proper packaging for a safe shipment"?

Had a friend call me after this happened to him today. He says the box was prepaid and was a clean container otherwise (no distinguishable markings). When asked what he was shipping he said olive oils back to a friend that was visiting recently.

He got freaked out and left with the box before they scanned it in. He is going to try another drop off point later.

My first advise was to tell him to politely decline the packaging advise and that he is confident in the packing job he performed.

Anyone else have this happen or have other advise?

 

I was curious about "dimensional weight" so, I asked the lady at the parcel service I use. Forgive me if this has been posted before, but this is the formula as it was explained to me (I thought I would share this with everyone) :

5184 is the standard dimension for FedEx/UPS (3 cu.ft.)
The box I shipped yesterday was 17x16x16.
Multiply the 3 numbers together; always starting with the largest number 17x16x16 = 4352. Since it is not larger than 5184, it goes by it's actual weight, which was 27 lbs.
If my box would have been, say, 30x16x16 = 7680. (over standard dimension of 5184)
Take 7680 and divide by their "universal number" (whatever that means) of 166 = 46.26
Since both companies round up, the new weight of the package is 47 lbs.

I hope this helps.