Alcohol shipping laws in West Virginia

(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of this chapter or any other law to the contrary, any person or winery that is currently licensed and in good standing in its domicile state as a winery, farm winery, supplier or retailer of wine and who obtains a direct shipper's license from the commissioner, as provided in this chapter, may ship up to a maximum of two cases of wine per month directly to adult West Virginia residents who are twenty-one years of age or over, for such adult resident's personal use and consumption and not for resale. Licensed direct shippers must maintain accurate records of all shipments sent to West Virginia residents. All shipments of wine into West Virginia by licensed direct shippers shall be made by a licensed and bonded shipping carrier. Direct shippers and their carriers shall not ship wine to areas of West Virginia where wine may not be lawfully sold by county, local or municipal law. Any holder of a direct shipper's license must collect all taxes, sales taxes, municipal taxes and the liter tax due to West Virginia, remit all sales, municipal taxes and the liter tax to the Tax Commissioner at the close of each month and file a monthly return reflecting the taxes paid for all sales and shipments to residents in West Virginia. The commissioner shall prescribe the forms to be used to file the monthly returns. The shipping container of any wine sent into or out of this state under this subsection shall be clearly and conspicuously labeled to indicate that the package cannot be delivered to: (1) Any person under the age of twenty-one; (2) to an intoxicated person; or (3) to a person physically incapacitated due to the consumption of nonintoxicating beer, wine or alcoholic liquors or the use of drugs; and (4) the carriers are required to obtain a written or electronic signature upon delivery of an adult resident who the carrier verifies is at least twenty-one years of age or older and if the carrier is not able to obtain a signature of a verified adult resident at least twenty-one years of age or older, then the carrier may not complete the delivery of the wine shipment. Failure of any holder of a direct shipper's license or such licensee's carrier to abide by the provisions of this chapter and the commissioner's rules may subject the direct shipper to the penalties available to the commissioner under section eighteen of this article.

(a) Authorization. — Notwithstanding the provisions of this article or any other law to the contrary, any person that is currently licensed and in good standing in its domicile state as a brewer, resident brewer, other nonintoxicating beer or nonintoxicating craft beer manufacturer, and who also obtains a nonintoxicating beer or nonintoxicating craft beer direct shipper’s license from the commissioner, as provided in this article, may sell and ship nonintoxicating beer or nonintoxicating craft beer brewed by the brewer, resident brewer, other nonintoxicating beer or nonintoxicating craft beer manufacturer by mail to a purchasing person who is 21 years of age or older, for personal use, and not for resale. A nonintoxicating beer or nonintoxicating craft beer direct shipper may ship nonintoxicating beer or nonintoxicating craft beer by mail to a purchasing person who is 21 years of age or older who purchases nonintoxicating beer or nonintoxicating craft beer, subject to the requirements of this article, in and throughout West Virginia. A nonintoxicating beer or nonintoxicating craft beer direct shipper may sell and ship nonintoxicating beer or nonintoxicating craft beer out of this state by mail to a purchasing person who is 21 years of age or older subject to the recipient state’s or country’s requirements, laws, and international laws.
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(8) Attest that the brewer, resident, brewer or other nonintoxicating beer or nonintoxicating craft beer manufacturer brews less than 25,000 barrels of beer per calendar year and provide documentary evidence along with the attestation.
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(1) Not ship more than a maximum of two, 24 bottle or can, cases of nonintoxicating beer or nonintoxicating craft beer based on a 12-fluid ounce bottle or can, however no combination of bottles or cans may exceed a total for the two cases of 576 fluid ounces of nonintoxicating beer residing in West Virginia, for such person’s personal use and consumption, and not for resale.
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(9) First deliver any nonintoxicating beer or nonintoxicating craft beer shipment being shipped in and throughout West Virginia to the nonintoxicating beer or nonintoxicating craft beer brand’s nearest appointed distributor who has the nonintoxicating beer or nonintoxicating craft beer brand’s franchise territory located in the purchasing person’s county of residence in West Virginia: Provided , That, if no distributor has been appointed for the nonintoxicating beer or nonintoxicating craft beer brand, then the brewer of the brand shall appoint a franchise distributor in the franchise territory where the purchasing person of the nonintoxicating beer or nonintoxicating craft beer resides;
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(10) Have the appointed distributor complete any nonintoxicating beer or nonintoxicating craft beer shipment order with an in-person pickup, at the location of appointed distributor’s distributorship, to the purchasing person subject to age and identity verification by the appointed distributor; Provided , That, the appointed distributor is not a retailer, and therefore cannot charge an additional fee for the in-person pickup for the nonintoxicating beer or nonintoxicating craft beer shipment as this would be considered a part of the service provided under the appointed distributor’s franchise agreement.

(k) Criminal Penalties . — A shipment of nonintoxicating beer or nonintoxicating craft beer directly to citizens in West Virginia from persons who do not possess a valid nonintoxicating beer or nonintoxicating craft beer direct shipper’s license is prohibited. Any person who knowingly makes, participates in, transports, imports, or receives such an unlicensed and unauthorized direct shipment of nonintoxicating beer or nonintoxicating craft beer is guilty of a felony and, shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined in an amount not to exceed $10,000 per violation. Without limitation on any punishment or remedy, criminal or civil, any person who knowingly makes, participates in, transports, imports, or receives such a direct shipment constitutes an act that is an unfair trade practice.

(a) Authorization. — Except for the commissioner, no person may offer for sale liquor, sell liquor, or offer liquor for shipment in this state, except for a licensed private direct shipper. A distillery, mini-distillery, or micro-distillery, whose licensed premises is located in this state or whose licensed premises is located and licensed out of this state, who desires to engage in the sale and shipment of liquor produced by the distillery, mini-distillery, or micro-distillery on its licensed premises, shall ship directly from the licensee’s primary place of distilling by mail, using a mail shipping carrier to a purchasing person who is 21 years of age or older, for personal use, and not for resale under this article. The distillery, mini-distillery, or micro distillery shall obtain a private direct shipper license. Shipments to a purchasing person shall only be to a retail liquor outlet in the market zone in which the purchasing person resides. A private direct shipper may ship liquor subject to the requirements in this chapter in and throughout West Virginia, except for those local option areas designated as “dry” areas under §60-5-1 et seq. of this code. A private direct shipper may also sell, and ship liquor out of this state directly from its primary place of distilling by mail, using a mail shipping carrier to a purchasing person who is 21 years of age or older subject to the recipient state’s or country’s requirements, laws, and international laws.
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(8) Attest that the distillery, mini-distillery, or micro-distillery distills less than 50,000 gallons of liquor each calendar year and provide documentary evidence along with the attestation; and
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(1) Not ship more than two bottles of liquor per month to a retail liquor outlet for pickup by a purchasing person who is 21 years of age or older for his or her personal use and consumption, and not for resale. The combined fluid volume of both bottles shall not exceed three liters;
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(5) Ensure that all containers of liquor shipped to a retail liquor outlet for pickup by a purchasing person who is 21 years of age or older, are clearly and conspicuously labeled with the words “CONTAINS ALCOHOL: SIGNATURE OF PERSON 21 OR OLDER REQUIRED FOR DELIVERY”;

(k) Criminal Penalties . — A shipment of liquor directly to citizens in West Virginia from persons who do not possess a valid private direct shipper’s license is prohibited. Any person who knowingly makes, participates in, transports, imports, or receives such an unlicensed and unauthorized direct shipment is guilty of a felony and, shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined in an amount not to exceed $10,000 per violation. Without limitation on any punishment or remedy, criminal or civil, any person who knowingly makes, participates in, transports, imports, or receives such a direct shipment constitutes an act that is an unfair trade practice.

(a) Alcoholic liquors and nonintoxicating beer as defined in section three, article sixteen, chapter eleven of this code shall not be sold to a person who is:
(1) Less than twenty-one years of age;

§1716. Injurious articles as nonmailable
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(f) All spirituous, vinous, malted, fermented, or other intoxicating liquors of any kind are nonmailable and shall not be deposited in or carried through the mails.
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(June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 781; May 8, 1952, ch. 246, 66 Stat. 67; June 29, 1955, ch. 224, 69 Stat. 191; Pub. L. 85–268, Sept. 2, 1957, 71 Stat. 594; Pub. L. 85–623, §5, Aug. 12, 1958, 72 Stat. 562; Pub. L. 91–375, §6(j)(25), Aug. 12, 1970, 84 Stat. 779; Pub. L. 92–191, §1, Dec. 15, 1971, 85 Stat. 647; Pub. L. 99–570, title X, §10003, Oct. 27, 1986, 100 Stat. 3207–167; Pub. L. 103–322, title VI, §60003(a)(7), title XXXIII, §330016(1)(H), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 1969, 2147; Pub. L. 104–294, title VI, §607(g), Oct. 11, 1996, 110 Stat. 3511; Pub. L. 107–273, div. B, title IV, §4002(b)(2), (6), Nov. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 1807; Pub. L. 109–435, title X, §1008(d), Dec. 20, 2006, 120 Stat. 3261.)

Only FedEx-approved, licensed alcohol shippers that have entered into a FedEx Alcohol Shipping Agreement may ship alcohol via FedEx services. Consumers may not ship alcohol of any type via FedEx services.
For all alcohol shipments, you’ll need to sign a FedEx Alcohol Shipping agreement. Contact your FedEx account executive for details and assistance and if you don't have an assigned account executive, call FedEx Customer Services at 1.800.463.3339.
Adult signature service option. State law, as well as FedEx policy, requires an adult signature at the time of delivery for every U.S. package containing alcohol. It is your responsibility to ensure the adult signature requirement service option is selected so that FedEx requests and obtains the required adult signature. A $5.75 fee per shipment applies for this service.

FedEx currently only permits wine shipments under licensee-to-consumer agreements; beer and spirits require licensee-to- licensee.
Licensee-to-consumer
FedEx only transports wine licensee-to-consumer.

UPS only accepts packages containing wine from shippers who are licensed under applicable law and who have signed and entered into a contract with UPS for the transportation of wine.
All wine shippers must enter into a UPS Agreement for Approved Wine Shippers.
All alcohol shippers must schedule a consultation call or speak to their Account Manager to review UPS alcohol shipping policies, submit copies of your state licenses, and complete a shipping agreement.
The ability to ship wine depends upon the nature of the shipper's license to sell wine, and the laws of the destination states. UPS permits the following types of wine shipments:
Shipments of wine from licensed shippers may be shipped to licensed consignees, where permitted by applicable law. For example, a licensed manufacturer may ship to a licensed distributor, or a licensed distributor may ship to a licensed retailer, so long as the shipments are made in accordance with applicable law. "Licensed to Licensed" shipments cannot be made to consumers.
All wine shipments must be made using the UPS Delivery Confirmation Adult Signature Required service, requiring the signature of an adult 21 years of age or older upon delivery.
Some states also allow shipments of wine from out-of-state licensed wine retailers to consumers. These states are known as "Retailer Direct Shipment States." Shipments of wine from licensed out-of-state retailers may be made to consignees in "Retailer Direct Shipment States" subject to all of the conditions applicable to Winery Direct Shipment States, except that the purchase is made from a licensed out-of-state retailer rather than a winery. Refer to Addendum A for approved Retailer Direct Shipment States.
All shippers who wish to ship wine must enter into either the UPS Agreement for Approved Wine Shippers, or the UPS Wine Industry Fulfillment House Agreement For Approved Wine Shippers. UPS DOES NOT ACCEPT SHIPMENTS OF WINE FROM SHIPPERS WHO HAVE NOT ENTERED INTO ONE OF THESE AGREEMENTS.