Hiding the sound of beer when shipping

Everything you need to know is in here:

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

 

Don't bother, it's just as likely they will think something is broken and open the box for that reason. You can always claim you are shipping bbq sauce or something.

 

I want to reiterate this and add that I've shipped over a hundred boxes and not ONCE been asked what was in there. If you are asked, say it's homemade (something that sloshes). My buddy said he ships pickles and then brought some homemade pickles in for the fedex employees.

Also, I used to worry about this until I noticed that I can't hear any sloshing whatsoever if I'm outside, there's just too much ambient noise. I figure it's loud enough at every point in the process except the dropoff office that as long as they take it without question you're fine, because no one else will hear sloshing.

Finally, generally speaking, it doesn't seem like anyone cares at all, except the random "THIS IS MY CASTLE" asshole employee. If you find one of those just ship somewhere else, or have the driver pick it up. It's a few bucks more but you can pretty much guarantee that they give 0 fucks.

 

+1 to everything stupac2 said. My local UPS store is like 95% college kids with part-time jobs and they couldn't care less. And even some of the older folks don't care: one of my friends was shipping bottles of homebrew for a competition, wrote "beer samples" under the item description, and the employee pointed at it, shook his head, handed over a new form, and told him to write something else.

Of course, you should always print your own pre-paid labels, then you can just drop the box off and have them scan it in.

 

Spot on. The audible noise of sloshing in your garage is much higher than just about anywhere else. The FedEx store is always loud due to copiers, people, and ambient noise. The one I drop off at is always busy. I've had the clerk turn several boxes completely horizontal and couldn't hear a thing. I also use shipping labels that make it look like I'm sending liquid samples to customers. Never been asked a thing. I also frequently use the pickup option, but I've been out and about lately so dropoff saved a couple bucks.

I don't know if my method muffles sound well at all, either. I encase a trashbag in fresh bubble wrap and drop that in the box first. I do the same thing if I'm using a bottle shipper. I also make sure to put a few layers of fresh packing paper tightly around the top of the trashbag. Double boxing will also greatly decrease sloshing sounds.

 

Very good point. Double boxing is a great idea regardless, but it provides significant sound dampening.

 

How many air holes do I need?

 

he didn't say "live stray cat"