I went to UPS store and they told me they can’t do it which is a bunch of bullshit. I’m pretty sure is they don’t WANT to do it. Websites selling pepper sprays use USPS, UPS and Fedex to ship to customers. But I can’t do it? Bullshit!
As for the state I’m sending to - it’s fine by their regulations regarding size, etc. - so it can be mailed into the state.
Have you tried a different UPS Store? Hint: To save time and trouble, call and ask before going to the store. UPS Stores are independently owned and not all stores provide all services.
The USPS allows 8 oz or smaller containers to be be mailed. Pepper spray is a Division 6.1 toxic material. The instructions for packing and mailing are here. Sending via ground-only service will involve less hassle.
They don’t want to ship it because they are afraid of incurring liability if something goes wrong. They don’t want to risk losing their shipping license or being fined for the pittance you would pay them. If the pressurized canister is punctured in transit it could discomfort someone and spark a lawsuit.
Options:
Lie: Tell them you are sending something else. Or bend the truth. Tell them you are sending (non-perishable) hot pepper. By lying you shift liability over to you.
USPS: Shipping something that small costs less to ship with the US post office than with UPS. You did say you want least expensive.
Don’t send it: Send the recipient the money and let them buy their own pepper spray.
Businesses that sell pepper spray and other materials have special licenses and permits that allow them to ship those items legally.
And I’ll add that a stun gun is a much better self defense item than pepper spray. I speak from personal experience. You want to protect your friend right? Then forget the pepper spray and send them a stun gun or a knife.
Has the spray been removed from it’s original packaging?
If so, UPS any not want the risk of improper packing leaving the trigger exposed.
Buy it online and have it sent to your friend’s address.
I don’t understand the OP at all.
Others ship it but he/she can’t? Umm. Of course they can. They make arrangements, use special packaging, have appropriate labeling applied, proper handling is arranged and, most important of all, pay a lot more money to ship it.
Sure, you could go thru all that. But you will find it very time consuming and expensive.
Mrs. FtG used to ship “hazardous” stuff (medical things) all the time. If everything wasn’t done exactly right, big problems ensued.
I don’t see why anyone would bother shipping something so common given the costs and headaches involved. Just send money to the other end and have them buy it. Without question the “least expense and hassle” way.
People [stores] also ship wine all the time, but try walking into UPS with a bottle and telling them you want to ship it and they’ll send you right back out the door. The stores the sell it have licenses to sell it, special contracts with UPS and there’s a very specific set of to/from states.
Just because it happens doesn’t mean anyone off the street can do it too.
I own a gun store and we sell OC online all the time. Shipping it is no big deal. The OP either made to big of a deal when trying to ship it or just ran into a total dick behind the counter.
Do you tell them what you’re sending or just give them a closed box?
It’s illegal and dangerous to ship regulated stuff without accurately declaring what it really is.
Don’t go down that road. Those of us in the transportation industry have a special circle of hell reserved for the people who pull crap like that.
Of course. And it’s no buggy. But is the OP opts not to they need to realize that aerosol, regardless of what’s in it, should only be shipped via certain ways. Meaning not by air. OC is basically weaponized food. The pepper is bad enough but It’s the spray part that can f things up in transport. I once opened a box from a distributor where one of the cans had leaked out. OC poofed out of the box all over the room. What a nightmare.
Where we sometimes get a hassle is shipping handguns via USPS. Sometimes we’ll run into a newbie who will insist we can’t do it. We have the regulations printed on the back of the forms we turn in for the rare time there is a problem. The look on the new guys face is priceless when he realizes we can in fact mail a pistol.