# Selling across the USA



## Mayson (Mar 12, 2014)

Greetings fellow beekeepers,
I have been trying to find information about what I need to do to sell my honey across the USA. I am registered as a business in the US now but I haven't found any info on shipping my honey across the US. 

Thanks!


----------



## Jon B (Apr 24, 2013)

I sell all my honey locally. I looked into it a few years ago and found out that each state has different laws and it can get very complicated working with the FDA if you are shipping honey out of your home state. I also found out that there are a lot less regulations if you are selling your honey whole sale to honey packers vs selling your honey directly to the public. If you are still interested I recommend contacting your states department of agriculture/food.


----------



## Mayson (Mar 12, 2014)

Thanks Jon,
It seems rather complicated. We have customers in other states who want to purchase honey but obviously I want to make this process in compliance with all laws and regulations.


----------



## BMAC (Jun 23, 2009)

I too would suggest you contact your local dept of ag and start with them. Other than that you may want to inquire with the state in which you intend to ship to and find out their regs for you selling honey in their state. You may find some states don't care and you may find a lot of red tape in other states.


----------



## JohnK and Sheri (Nov 28, 2004)

We have shipped honey through the postal service and UPS for years, regardless of state, and even into Canada, and it never even occurred to me that there might be regulations. Ooops, have we been scofflaws all these years? 
Many folks sell nationwide, even worldwide, on Ebay and I doubt they worry about state regulations. This is on a producer to consumer level, so if you are talking about large volume wholesale account info that might be a different story. 
We have also sold drums of honey to small packers in other states, shipped by hired semi, with no problem. As previously mentioned, if it is a concern contact the individual states.
Sheri


----------



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

How much honey do you have to sell?


----------



## The Honey Householder (Nov 14, 2008)

I sell honey on Ebay, and the wife has an online store www.adropofhoney.net . On top of that I have buyers (beekeepers) from other states that buy their local honey from me every year. Never thought once about other state or country regulations.:scratch::digging:


----------



## Roland (Dec 14, 2008)

Untill several states wrote honey definitions, there where few worries. Now, with Wisconsin in particular, having taken the advise of some crazy fool, you may have some legal problems if your honey does not meet our definition. The Wis. Ag department has neither the inclination, nor the staff, to pursue any testing on their own. It will boil down to "Icing on the cake" for the procecutor pursing a crook, similiar to Capone being caught for tax evasion, a secondary charge, not the primary one. I hope that made sense.

Crazy Roland


----------



## Mayson (Mar 12, 2014)

sqkcrk said:


> How much honey do you have to sell?


Not that much. It's a couple of bottles per customer. I would say we would be shipping 20 bottles a month to start.


----------



## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

With such a small amount why even mess with out of state orders? Between my wife and I we sell several 100 lbs of honey a year just to co-workers. We don't have to man farmers market booths, don't have to package and ship anything... Just bottle and take it to work, where we would be going anyway. 

Unless you are dealing in the tons there is no need to put any extra effort into being multi-state compliant. It isn't going to earn you any more then just selling by word of mouth locally and with less hassle.


----------



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Mayson said:


> Not that much. It's a couple of bottles per customer. I would say we would be shipping 20 bottles a month to start.


As part of an existing business? Do you have a website? Is that how people know to order honey from you?


----------



## Mayson (Mar 12, 2014)

sqkcrk said:


> As part of an existing business? Do you have a website? Is that how people know to order honey from you?


We just launched. I am a marketer/graphic designer by trade so our social media presence has caught the attention of several potential customers.


----------



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

What does your honey jar label look like? Gotta website?


----------

