You can sell alcohol on Faire if you are based in one of the following countries:
- Austria
- Belgium
- Denmark
- France
- Germany
- Ireland
- Italy
- Luxembourg
- Portugal
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- The UK
- (excluding Crown dependencies: Guernsey, Jersey, The Isle of Man, and the British Virgin Islands, as well as British Overseas Territories such as Gibraltar)
- Additional requirements apply for UK-based brands.
Selling alcohol products on Faire is permitted domestically and cross-border within these countries only.
Any product containing less than 0.5% ABV is considered alcohol-free.
What requirements are there to sell alcohol products?
You can list alcohol products on Faire if you are based in and are shipping from one of the launched countries listed above, and your products meet the following requirements:
- Alcohol content is less than 70% by volume.
- Stored in containers with a capacity of 5 liters or less per individual product.
- The limit of 5 liters is per individual product. We can support shipments that contain multiple products, as long as each product is in a container with a capacity of 5 liters or less.
For brands located in the UK, it is required for you to provide a valid registered AWRS number as part of the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme
For more information, please see Additional requirements for UK brands.
What retailers can I sell alcohol to?
Retailers in the countries listed above can buy your alcohol products. Any retailer who does not have a store in the eligible countries will not be able to purchase alcohol on Faire
We recommend you verify any alcohol order that you receive, to confirm the retailer is located in the eligible countries listed above.
How do excise duties work on Faire?
Alcohol products are subject to excise duties. Faire only supports the sale of duty paid alcohol products on the platform. This means that the price of the product must include any applicable excise duties, and you are responsible for listing the product with the correct price on the platform.
When a retailer in another country purchases alcohol products from you on Faire, they will be responsible for paying any excise duties to the customs authorities in their country.
Faire is not responsible for covering excise duties for either the brand or the retailer in any transaction for alcohol products.
Where can retailers view my alcohol products?
Retailers are able to see your alcohol products under the Food & Drink category: Wine, Beer and Spirits. Within that category there are the following sub-categories: Wine & Champagne, Beer & Cider, Spirits, Pre-Mixed Alcoholic Drinks, and Non-Alcoholic & Low Alcohol Drinks.
How do I package and ship alcohol?
To learn more about packaging and shipping alcohol products, visit Shipping alcohol products with Faire.
What documentation do I need to include when selling alcohol products on Faire?
Brands are responsible for the issuance of valid invoices and required documentation to accompany alcohol product orders. Invoices generated by Faire are not valid for selling alcohol products. Please see below for additional guidance and if you have further questions, please consult your tax advisor.
Selling alcohol within your country
Selling alcohol “duty paid” to a retailer in your country generally is not subject to additional documentation requirements. That said, a “Simplified Accompanying Administrative Document” (SAAD) or Export Accompanying Document (XAB) may be required. To confirm the requirements for your brand, please consult your tax advisor.
Selling alcohol within the EU
When you ship products to a retailer in another EU country, you are required to prepare a “Simplified Accompanying Administrative Document” (SAAD) and include this with the shipment. The SAAD provides proof that excise duties have been paid in the brand’s country. For more information on documentation requirements when shipping alcohol, please see: European Commission. Here is a sample SAAD document.
Retailers located in another country are required to report to their local customs and excise authorities that they are importing alcohol, and will have to pay the applicable excise duties due in the country upon entry.
If you sell and dispatch duty paid alcohol products to a retailer in another EU member state, you may be entitled to a refund of the excise duties. For more details on how refunds work and to determine if you’re eligible, please contact your customs broker or local excise authority.
Selling alcohol products across trade zones
At this time, alcohol products can only be sold to/from two non-EU countries : Switzerland and the UK
- When selling alcohol between EU and non-EU countries, you must include a “Single Administrative Document” (”SAD”), which corresponds to a customs declaration and provides proof that alcohol products are being exported. Brands are required to prepare the SAD and to include it with the shipment of alcohol products.
- When shipping from other countries to the UK, you must include a commercial invoice.
- When shipping from the UK to other countries, you must include a commercial invoice.
- Faire generates a generic commercial invoice for each one of these international shipments. Depending on your products, additional fields might be required on the commercial invoice; or longer tariff codes, in this case, we recommend you create your own commercial invoice. To learn more, visit How do I create a commercial invoice?
Retailers are required to report to their local customs and excise authorities that they are importing alcohol, and therefore will have to pay the applicable excise taxes upon entry.
How is VAT applied to alcohol orders?
VAT (Value added tax) will be applied differently depending on the location the order is shipping from and to. Learn more in How does VAT work for E.U. orders? and How does VAT work for Non-E.U. European orders?
Additional requirements for UK brands
If you are a UK-based brand selling alcohol to retailers outside of the UK, you must meet the same requirements outlined above, as well as the requirements listed below:
- All UK-based brands must have a Unique Reference Number (URN) as part of the Alcohol Wholesaler Registration Scheme (AWRS). This is a legal requirement of wholesalers.
- When accepting an alcohol order, you will be prompted to enter your URN in your account. As the wholesaler, it is your responsibility to ensure that the number you are providing is valid.
To add your URN via your Faire account settings:
- Go to your Account Settings
- Click Export and Taxes
- In Tax information, at the bottom, add your AWRS Unique Reference Number
Alternatively, when you fulfil an alcohol order, if you haven’t added a URN to your account, you will have the option to add your URN in via your order page:
- Click on Add AWRS Number
- Enter your AWRS URN and click Submit
As a brand, it is your responsibility to keep your URN up to date. If you receive an order containing alcohol products (domestic or international) and do not have a URN, you won’t be able to accept the order until you have successfully registered and updated your URN.
Faire Wholesale’s URN is XKAW 000 0011 9088 and can not be used for your Faire account and your Alcohol sales.
Why am I seeing a prohibited product warning when adding my products?
At this time, the sale of alcohol is only available to brands in the countries listed at the top of this resource page.
We look forward to expanding the sale of alcohol to more countries in the future and will keep you in the loop when this comes available.
If you have additional questions about selling alcohol on Faire, please let us know and we'll connect you with a support specialist to help.