Selling Alcohol Online UK: Licensing Requirement & Start-Up Guide

Do you know you can sell alcohol online? But you can only do that when you have the right or necessary license to do so. In this post, I will be very optimistic about how you can sell your alcohol online, even with a UK license.

Selling Alcohol Online

When selling alcohol online, you will learn everything you need to know, from understanding your local laws to marketing your products, all in this guide again.

#1. Get the Licences

The most important thing you need to do before you can start selling alcohol online is to get the right licenses. By going to the TTB.gov website and following these steps, you can find out more about selling alcohol online.

1. go to TTB.gov and look at the state alcohol control boards on the home page.

2. You must get a license if you want to make wine, beer, or booze in your state.

3.  Apply for a Shipper’s Licence and ensure it allows you to sell your goods online.

4. Find out if you need an Importer’s Basic Permit if you want to import from outside the country.

People who run things like schools and hospitals may not be able to approve your applications for a while, so make sure you finish them before you start building websites, designing logos, and calling alcohol suppliers. Then, when you’re almost ready to sell, the fun starts!

#2. Find a niche.

Online alcohol sales are growing quickly. Online wine sales in the United States reached $8 billion in 2018. Online liquor sales in the United States reached $6.5 billion, and around the world, online liquor sales reached $5.5 billion.

If you want your business to be found more easily on the internet, you’ll need to find a niche for it. That’s especially true if you’re from New Hampshire, which is the state with the most alcohol consumption per person.

It doesn’t matter whether you want to sell weird-tasting whisky or avant-garde wine: selling a niche product could be a risk that pays off.

You don’t always have to come up with a unique selling point to make your business stand out. You might have to decide if you want to sell wine, gin, brandy, or beer – or all of them! If you’re moving your brick-and-mortar shop to the Internet, why not think about adding more alcohol to your online shelves as well?

#3. Find a company to buy from.

If you don’t make your own beer or grow your own grapes, you’ll need an alcohol wholesaler to ensure your online store doesn’t run out of alcohol. These suppliers can make and ship alcohol if you don’t want to set up your own shipping service. This takes the hassle out of selling alcohol online.

People who work for these companies are like web developers. They keep everything running smoothly in the backend and make changes that customers won’t see. In this case, you, the vendor, are more like a web designer who wants to build your brand and make people happy.

Some of the best places to buy alcohol in the US are:

• Southern Wines and Spirits of California.
• An LLC called Empire Merchants North is run by people who want to sell things in
• LibDib
• Henry Wine Group   
•  Youngs Market Company
• An American company called A. Hardy

Uploading your alcohol licenses to a website is usually the first step in becoming a supplier. You’ll then need to follow the steps to become a partner.

#4. Make Your Brand.

It can be hard to sell alcohol online because there are a lot of other people out there competing for business. Building a brand isn’t a one-size-fits-all process. When you start to build your alcohol brand, there are three things you don’t want to forget:

1. Developing brand values

In brand, values will help customers better understand your business, and if they can relate to your values, they’ll be more likely to buy from you instead of your competitors, which will help your business grow. For example, does your alcohol brand have a strong environmental message? If so, do you think that making people laugh and making fun of them is the best way to market your business?

2. Make a logo that people will love.

As a customer sees it, having an unprofessional logo means having an unprofessional business. Online, your logo is what people will see when they search for your business, so you can’t skimp on it! For money-saving ideas, we’d say you should hire a graphic designer. You can also use the cheap freelance site Fiverr.

3. Inspire trust.

Customers want to be able to trust the brand, according to the 2019 Edelman Brand Trust Report. Eighty per cent of respondents said they “must be able to trust the brand.” In addition, this survey found that 40% of people would never use a brand again if they did something unethical.

#5. Set up an online store

In either case, you’ll need to build an online store. You can start a business from scratch or move your store to the Internet. It’s up to you to decide how you want to build your website.

#6. Sort through the shipping options.

Your website, logo, and products are ready to go. At the center of your online store, your license is the star of the show. But how can your customers go from clicking to sipping, and how can you do that? It’s going to ship.

If you live in the US, you can send all kinds of alcohol through UPS and FedEx. In order to start your shipping journey with one of these two shipping companies, you must do the following things:

• register an account
• Sign the FedEx Shipping Agreement or the UPS Agreement for Approved Wine and Alcoholic Beverage Shippers, depending on your use.
• This means that you can make your own shipping label. You can either use the carrier’s own tool, or one of these other label designers.
• Package your alcohol in accordance with the rules for your specific type of alcohol.
• In this case, choose a service for adults’ signature.
• When you’re done making your products, put your shipping labels on them.
• Please ship it

#7. Make sure the public sees your products.

When you sell alcohol online, you now know how to do it, but the hard work doesn’t end there. Even though your brand is lovely, you still need to promote your website and get your business in front of people to start making money. You must do a great job with your digital marketing to get new customers and make more money.

First, you should connect your online store to social media so people can find you there. People can use this option on Shopify, Wix, and Square Online. It lets people who use social networks click one button and go right to your online store.

Selling Alcohol Online in the UK

There are a lot of rules and regulations about the sale of alcohol, and they can be hard to understand at first. If you want to sell alcohol online, you might be wondering how you can do it and what legal rules you need to follow. So, how many licenses do you need to sell alcohol online in the UK? To help you, we’re here to help. 

When I want to sell alcohol online, what licenses do I need? 

You’ll need a Personal Licence and a Premises Licence to sell alcohol online. A person who has a Personal Licence must be the person who is in charge of the Premises Licence or the person who is in charge of the Premises Licence. So, this is where we’ll start. 

To get my Personal Licence, how do I do it? 

You must take a class and pass an exam to get your Personal Licence. You can now do these things from the comfort of your own home with the online APLH (Award for Personal Licence Holders) course or the SCPLH (State Certificate of Professional Licence Holders) course (Scottish Certificate for Personal Licence Holders). Then, after you have been given your award, you send your application for a personal license to your local authority or council. This is the same thing that needs to be done if alcohol is sold in person. We can help you with this part of the process as part of our service so that you can get your Personal Licence as soon as possible. 

To get my Premises Licence, how do I go about it? 

Your local council will need to give you a Premises Licence for the commercial property in your area where alcohol is being handled and sent. In most cases, this will be the same place where alcohol is sold in person. For breweries and distilleries, for example, this may be the place where you make and store alcohol. You will need to make sure that your Premises Licence allows you to sell alcohol for people to drink outside of your business. For some businesses, this might mean applying for a new license or a change allowing alcohol delivery. 

You must send your Premises Licence to your local authority or council to do this. Our team can also help you apply for a Premises Licence and make changes to an existing one. If you need help with this, get in touch with us. 

How do you make sure your customers can legally buy alcohol? 

Ensure that your business is in compliance with the laws that say you can’t sell alcohol to kids. 

On your website, you’ll need to say that you’re over 18, and customers will need to show that they’re over 18 when they buy something. But you may also have to think about delivery and the fact that customers may have to show ID on delivery. Licensing authorities will want people who deliver things to get the training they need and, if possible, a delivery log and a log of people who say no.

The process of beginning 

We’ve put together a package for current and new clients who want to start selling alcohol on the Internet. The package will be made to fit your needs, but it could include any of the following: 

• Taking an online course and taking a test for APLH or SCPLH
• Taking an online course and taking a test for APLH or SCPLH
• Premises Licence-Managed Application or variation
• Online course: “Prevention of Underage Sales.”

Selling Alcohol Online Licence UK

When you want to sell alcohol legally over the Internet, you’ll need both personal and business licenses. Getting a personal license lets you sell alcohol while getting a premises license lets your business be where alcohol can legally be sent. You will need both to run your business.

Getting a personal licence

You can legally sell alcohol for any business with a premises license as long as it has a Personal Licence. However, this doesn’t apply to some members’ clubs or community places.

Because the person who owns a personal license must give permission to anyone who works in the business without a license to sell alcohol, both online and in-person, they must be able to do this.

The process of getting a personal license consists of two steps:

Training

Applying for and obtaining the license

1. Take a short training course and get an award for personal license holders, like the Award for Personal License Holders. Then, you’ll need to get your own personal license.
2. The next step is to apply for a personal license through the licensing department of your local authority/council by filling out this form. If you’re under the age of 18 or have a relevant criminal record, you won’t be able to get one.

Getting a premises license

In the next step, you’ll need to apply for a premises licence from your local authority or council in order to follow the Licensing Act 2003. In order to get a premises license, you need to have a commercial property where alcohol is handled and shipped. This includes warehouses or storage facilities, shop floors, and more.

There must be a person named as a Designated Premises Supervisor (DPS) for all businesses that sell alcohol, except for some members’ clubs and community places. This includes businesses that sell alcohol online, too.

As a result, it’s not likely that you’ll be able to run an online alcohol business from your home because local authorities don’t usually give licenses to people who live in their own homes. There are four licensing objectives that your business must meet. You have to explain how your business will meet them in your application. The following are:

• Preventing crime and trouble
• Keeping people from being a nuisance
• Children are protected from harm by adults
• The safety of the public

This is a big deal when it comes to point three. You’ll need to be extra careful because it’s your job to make sure that you don’t sell alcohol to people who aren’t old enough to drink.

To become a Designated Premises Supervisor, you’ll need to get a premises license. As the personal license holder, you’ll be in charge of making sure that all alcohol is handled, held, and sold legally at your place of business. You’ll be the first person that authorities like the police will talk to. The more your business grows, the more people who work for you may need to get their own licenses and share the work with them.

Licence fees

People who want licenses will have to pay fees when they apply. These fees will be based on the rateable value of their business.

It’s also a good idea to make sure you’re ready for annual licensing fees, which your local government will charge each year so you can keep your licenses and not lose them. 

Complying with UK law

When you sell alcohol online, having the right licenses is not enough. You also need to make sure your business is always operating in compliance with the law. The most important law you’ll need to keep an eye on is making sure you don’t sell to people under 18.

First, you’ll need to have an “over 18” statement on your website and ask the customer to prove their age when they buy something. You may also have to make your delivery drivers ask for ID when they bring the package to them.