Lost DTC Sales from Over-Cautious or Inaccurate State-by-State Shipping Rules

$50,000–$500,000+ per year in missed DTC revenue • Canceled or converted-to-pickup club shipments from misclassified states can add up to $20,000–$150,000 per year in unrealized shipped revenue and associated LTV, plus thousands in wasted labor handling and storage costs. • For a mid-sized winery, conservative blocking of multiple partially legal states (e.g., Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama plus mis-coded ZIPs in other states) can easily forfeit $50,000–$300,000 per year in lost tasting room and wine club signups, plus long-term LTV from club members who never join because they were told shipping isn’t allowed.

Cellar staff coordinate with DTC/ compliance teams to re‑run address lists, manually reclassify certain members as 'pickup only', split shipments by state into different batches, or hold product indefinitely while someone confirms if the state/county is actually legal. • Manually override blocks or check rules in spreadsheets during checkout. • Tasting room staff override or bypass system rules by manually checking shipping legality and county wet/dry status, then forcing orders through alternate channels such as phone orders, back-office compliance checks, or asking the guest to ship to a different address in another state.