Can You Return Alcohol in NJ?
New Jersey's rules on returns are written for businesses: under N.J.A.C. 13:2-39.1(a), a retailer may not return alcohol to a wholesaler for cash, credit or exchange except for listed reasons such as breakage before delivery or a delivery error. We found no state rule on a shopper returning a bottle to a store, so that comes down to the store's own policy.
Free download
Standard Drinks Cheat Sheet (PDF): How many US standard drinks and UK units are in beer, wine, spirits and liqueurs, by can, glass and bottle. 33 rows, each with its source.
Thank you
Your chart is ready
We use your email only for this download.What New Jersey’s rule covers
A January 2010 notice from the NJ Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control quotes N.J.A.C. 13:2-39.1(a). It bars producers and wholesalers from accepting returned alcohol from a retail licensee for cash, credit or exchange, and bars retailers from accepting it, except for:
- defective product or breakage that happened before or at delivery;
- a bona fide error in the product delivered;
- product that can no longer be lawfully sold;
- product on hand when the retailer closes the business;
- a change in product or labeling, or a discontinued product;
- seasonal retailers’ product likely to spoil;
- rotation of malt beverages under the brewer’s policy;
- other good cause approved by the Director.
A wholesaler does not have to accept these returns, and if it does, its policy must apply to all similarly situated retailers.
What about returns by shoppers?
The notice does not address a customer bringing a bottle back to a store, and we found no official New Jersey page that does. Whether a store accepts a return is therefore the store’s own decision. Ask at the register or check the retailer’s posted policy before you go. A notice from 2010 may also have been updated, so confirm with the NJ ABC if you are a licensee.
To work out how much a bottle holds, see how many drinks in a bottle.
People also ask
Can a New Jersey retailer return alcohol to a wholesaler?
Only for listed reasons such as breakage before delivery or a delivery error (N.J.A.C. 13:2-39.1).
Can I return a bottle of alcohol to a store in NJ?
We found no state rule on customer returns; it is the store's policy.
Who enforces NJ alcohol return rules?
The Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, which monitors wholesaler records on returns.
Sources
About · How we verify this · Editorial policy · Corrections
