Ask the Collective
The questions independent drinks founders ask most — answered. Distilled from years of community knowledge so the good stuff never disappears in the feed again.
What licensing do I need to sell alcohol direct-to-consumer through third-party platforms like Amazon?
The licensing requirement depends on where your fulfilment happens. If you're selling D2C through third-party platforms like **Amazon**, you typically need a premises licence because the platform treats it as selling directly to the public. However, members have found workarounds: - **Using a bonded warehouse's premises licence** — Several members use a third-party bonded warehouse for fulfilment and leverage their existing premises licence rather than obtaining their own. This is the most common approach. - **Operating from your own licensed premises** — Some members set up D2C fulfilment from a licensed premise they own (which can have a different trading name from your brand). - **Selling from your own website** — Members report that D2C sales via your own website do not require a premise licence, only third-party platform sales. **Important caveat**: Amazon in particular has been strict about this requirement. Members who initially faced rejection were told to persist with appeals, providing all correct information and requesting escalation to a supervisor—it reportedly took 9–10 messages for some to get approval. Keep emphasising that fulfilment is from a licensed premises (either your own or a bonded warehouse's), and you should eventually get through.
Where should we publish our premises licence application notice and what is the process?
You are required to publish your premises licence application notice in a local newspaper serving your area. Members report that this is a mandatory but frustrating step in the licensing process. **Local newspaper publication:** - **Lewisham Gazette** — used by at least one member in South London; noted as expensive and operating with archaic processes, but necessary for compliance in that area. Members recommend identifying the equivalent local paper for your region (typically the main newspaper circulating in your local authority area) and contacting them directly about their licensing notice fees and timelines. **Caveats:** Members emphasised that the premises licensing system overall is outdated and frustrating. Budget for publication costs, which appear to be substantial. The process is a legal requirement so cannot be skipped.