Shipping Standards

Live animals may only be shipped using overnight (next-day) service. Multi-day or standard ground shipping is not permitted for live shipments on Garage Farmers.

Sellers are responsible for choosing a carrier and service level that reliably delivers overnight to the buyer’s location, accounting for cutoff times and delivery-day restrictions.

Live shipments must use insulated packaging (such as a foam cooler) sized and prepared for the season, route, and species, with heat or cold packs as conditions require.

Bags should be properly filled, sealed, and boxed to survive transit handling; packaging that is inadequate for the distance or weather is a seller responsibility, not a carrier or platform one.

Sellers must hold a shipment rather than ship into forecast conditions likely to cause DOA or serious stress — extreme heat, extreme cold, or severe weather along the shipping route or at the destination.

A weather hold means shipping the animal on a later date once conditions are safe, communicated to the buyer in advance.

Shipments must be labeled with both the common name and scientific name of the livestock inside, consistent with federal wildlife-labeling requirements under the Lacey Act.

Accurate labeling protects buyers, sellers, and carriers, and helps demonstrate that a shipment is lawfully identified if it is ever inspected.

Sellers are responsible for knowing and following all local, state, and federal law that applies to the species they ship, including any destination-state import, possession, or permit restrictions.

Garage Farmers does not verify destination-state restrictions on a seller’s behalf. If you are unsure whether a species can legally be shipped to a buyer’s state, confirm before you ship.

These shipping requirements are a non-overridable platform-wide floor. A seller’s own exchange, guarantee, or claim-window terms may vary — but no seller policy can lower or waive the requirements on this page.

A shipment that does not meet this floor is a policy violation regardless of what the seller’s own listing says.

We may update these Shipping Standards as carrier requirements, species knowledge, or legal requirements change. The “Last updated” date on this page identifies the current version.

Continuing to sell live animals on Garage Farmers after a change takes effect means the updated standards apply to your shipments.