Home truths don' hurt when it comes to mail order selling.

(From Off Licence News)

Q Can you tell me if you need to get a licence - or have the one you currently have extended - to sell alcohol online for home delivery? A Selling alcohol by mail order - either via the internet, or in a more traditional form such as from a list or catalogue - is a licensable activity.

When applying for a premises licence, it makes good sense to list home delivery as a potential business activity. Many small off-licences and wine merchants are doing reasonable trade in the home delivery arena and few (if any) licensing authorities are likely to object to it being included on your licence.

There are doubtless quite a few retailers selling alcohol online whose licences don' technically allow them to do so. Perhaps they will never get found out, but it seems like a pointless gamble . Talk to your local authority about a variation - but expect to pay a three-figure sum for the privilege of applying . You should quickly recoup that investment.

Note that the location of the stock is required to have a premises licence, not the place from where the transaction is handled. For example, a call centre handling sales enquiries for a large wine merchant would not require a licence, but the warehouse would.

Anyone selling alcohol by mail order should take care not to sell to under-18s. It is, however, legal to deliver to the home of an adult customer and allow a child to sign for the goods.

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