Only four months after it began shipping online wine orders to customers in Michigan, Wine.com is exiting that state after Gov. Jennifer Granholm in January signed into law a bill that prohibits out-of-state retailers from shipping alcohol directly to consumers. The law also specifically bans the use of third-party delivery services like UPS and FedEx.
The new law circumvents a federal court ruling in October 2008 that had struck down as unconstitutional previous state laws prohibiting out-of-state retailers from selling wine to Michigan consumers.
"Michigan is missing an opportunity," says Rich Bergsund, CEO of Wine.com. Bergsund says MIchigan is forgoing sales taxes that Wine.com and other retailers would be willing to collect from customers and pass on to the state.
A primary argument against the direct shipment of alcohol is that it more easily allows minors to get their hands on it. Bergsund says that Wine.com addresses this by paying shippers United Parcel Service and FedEx an additional fee to perform an ID check to confirm the package recipient is over 21 years old. The package is not delivered without a signature and ID check.
States have been mixed on the issue of direct shipping of wine to consumers by retailers. While 30 states allow consumers to receive wine shipments from out of state wineries, only 15 states allow the same from out-of-state retailers.
Wine.com is No. 207 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide to Retail Web Sites.
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