My first trade, and its getting returned to me.

Huh? I must ask: what kind of packing job literally keeps the liquid from moving around in the bottle?

 

The liquid will move but if its well packed you shouldn't be able to hear it. Layers of packing insulates the sound. At least that's what I've noticed with boxes I've packed. I do have pretty shitty hearing though.

 

Yup. Ship from my workplace all the time. You can even mark it as alcohol. FedEx won't f*ck with their corporate accounts.

 

Haha. Interesting point. Honestly, I don't know how I could pack boxes tighter than I do and I always hear sloshing. *shrugs*

 

Yeah, I hear sloshing too. I've read it's considerably less audible at the warehouses or on the trucks due to high levels of ambient noise.

 

hmm. i just switched to UPS to avoid stuff like this

 

If you read through old threads you'll see every carrier has presented issues (of every degree of severity)at some point.
The other thing here is that is it winter holiday time.
It's always riskier to ship during this period due to possible delays, lost packages, and general overload of work.
I work with a guy who has a second job doing inspection for one of the major parcel services (mostly they are looking for drugs and guns he says . seriously.). He says during holidays they actually inspect MORE packages rather than fewer. He knows i ship beer and has been telling me for a long time to avoid December, January if at all possible. He says in addition to an increase in "random" searches and things being flagged, there is a huge increase in likelihood something will get misrouted, mislabeled, damaged,or "mishandled" generally which then could causes its contents to be brought into question.

 

I think the sloshing is much more audible when using shippers. If i lay the bottles down and use shittons of bubble wrap and lots of cardboard and newspapers as filler i don't hear it as much. But it is never totally gone

 

Also i had an experience this summer when i dropped off at a location i dot normally use. They ask the contents and when i replied "olive oil" they advised me they couldn't take the package and i had to bring it to an other location. They had a specific location in mind and gave me the address. I don't know if "olive oil" is overused obvious code for "alcohol" or if they seriously have issues with oils being shipped but everybody at the facility knew the drill.
I didn't take their advice and went to a third location.

 

Maybe with double boxing you can't hear it as much or at all. I've only double boxed a few times and didn't check for sloshing those times. Next time I double box I'll check to see if I hear anything.

 

Please don't tell me these things. I have a box on its way to someone right now. Ha. Just tracked it though and it's doing fine.

 

Ive had 5 boxes in the last month or so go missing, end up in the wrong place, get mis-sorted, get delayed etc due to the increased volume around the holidays. All have ended up where they needed to be but just later than expected.

 

Yeah after I made that post I predictably had an issue with FedEx that I'm still waiting to see how it will be resolved. They damaged the label on the box twice, and the second time it was replaced they somehow messed up the tracking number. Now, the box is somehow in limbo and no one from FedEx can seem to tell me what the story is with it.

 

First and most importantly: DON'T be discouraged! Lots of knowledgeable responses so far. The main thing to remember is that it WILL happen to you eventually regardless of your carrier of choice. Between hero employees and random xray scans, you will eventually get caught, 1 box in or 100 boxes in. At certain point, you'll be bouncing from 1 carrier to the other for a while. It's all a part of the game we need to play.

Secondly, here are a few things I learned having done a few shipping trades myself:

1. Print your label online at home, make up a company name that would likely be shipping liquid (BBQ/condiment supplies, hygiene products, adult lubricants, etc.). By the way, "Olive oil" is possibly the worst answer you can give besides "beer". It's a code name that nearly every shipping employee knows that you're shipping alcohol.

2. Drop the box off at an authorized shipping location like Staples, OfficeMax, or any local mom and pop shop that accept packages. They NEVER ask questions.

3. FedEx is ideal, but always use UPS for VT and Central/North NJ. Like @JavaNoire said though, ASK you trade partner if they have issues with a particular carrier. Generally, if they do, they will tell you about it, but it doesn't hurt to check.

Follow those steps and reship.

 

I use the horizontal shippers, and wrap the bottles in bubble wrap. I don't hear sloshing with bottles. Cans on the other hand.....

 

Personally, I like adding a noisemaker of some type like noodles or a couple coins in an empty Tylenol bottle. Also pack everything as tight and securely as possible. This is really all the advice I've got.

Only issue I've ever had was a box that went missing last Spring, as in it just disappeared in transit. This was with a regular trade partner and strangely the box was routed through North Carolina when it went missing (it never normally gets routed through NC) Was able to get shipping cost refunded as well as the amount of money I claimed when printing the receipt.

 

Had a FedEx box returned, intact, from Williston, VT. It was on the truck for delivery and got sent back.

 

Haven't had a problem yet with my local UPS store. I've been in enough times that they really don't question what I'm shipping. I'm sure they have a history of what you send, because one time I was in there the person at the counter asked me, "Pickles?" to which I answered in the positive.

 

I have not had issues with UPS or FedEx. Was out in Portland and was shipping myself home some Cascade in a 6 pack wine shipper. The very nice women at the counter said..."let me guess, you are sending yourself some yeast samples"! That is what I use now whenever asked.

 

yeah i always double box so maybe that's part of it