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Why not just import directly and sell online? There are a few places that do that and seem very successful.

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A lot of ppl are using vingo which can ship to many states. It’s really only cost effective in case quantity but it could be an option. My understanding is that the cost to the shipper is somewhere around 30-40 a case.

Is it a regulatory reason why places use a fulfillment company rather then package it and ship out themselves?

When I look at how other places do it in other countries, they don’t use such a thing and the shipping+handling cost to their consumers ends up being significantly cheaper.

I’m certainly not an expert on this, but in Ohio, for example, i believe that retailers are only allowed to purchase wine from Ohio licensed wholesalers, and there is also a minimum markup in between. While awful, i wouldn’t be surprised if this was a standard model for quite a few states.

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Amazon has tried and failed to figure this out for years.

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For example, its $6000 for Illinois licence

Not practical for any small concern

You also have inspections and warehouse requirements. Forget about New York entirely. You’re required to have a warehouse of some specific square feet if you want to distribute and the people who do direct import do it with an importer. It’s actually more of a pre-order than direct import. CA used to allow people to direct import and sell to customers, but I believe that’s no longer the case.

You can get an import license, that’s federal. They may want to come out and see your operation, but you’ll need to partner with a distributor to hold the wine, or maybe a retailer, and those are regulated by each state, and the laws in each state are different.

Basically you’re heading straight into the storm - the laws are designed specifically to prevent people from doing exactly what you want to do.

Best option may be to work with someone in Europe to hold some wine for you and then ship it over when you have some quantity.

There are a lot of businesses who direct import. K&l and blue Danube are just two examples.

The three-tier system, because of continually paid-off interest groups, has managed to outlive even Soviet communism.

Both CA-based businesses, with direct import licenses. Retailers with these kinds of licenses can direct import, buy from distributors, and sell from the same premises. Some version of the license even allows you to serve/pour/feed as well…the Holy Grail.

So is it the role of the fulfillment company to fill in that 3rd tier when wanting to go Direct to Consumer?

But what about CA businesses that are also using fulfillment companies? That’s just the nature of which license they have?

Email David at Wine Country Connect. Not sure if it would fit your needs, but he’s a good guy.

Thanks for the tip!

As I said before vingo will definitely work for you.

How does garagiste do all this?