Can you mail eye drops to someone?

Usually yes, but the simplest way is not to mail it yourself: order Quell on quelldrop.com and enter their US address at checkout. If you do mail a bottle, carriers set their own rules for liquids, so check with the one you use. Send it unopened if you can, and pack it upright in a sealed plastic bag with cushioning around it.

The easier route: order it to their address

Checkout works as a guest. Enter the recipient’s name and shipping address, and your own email, so the confirmation and shipping emails come to you. The bottle leaves Brentwood, Tennessee sealed, in its carton, with nothing for you to wrap, weigh or drop off. Shipping is $10.00 per order and free on 3 or more bottles.

The guides to ordering eye drops for someone else and sending Quell as a gift go through the details, including whose name goes on the package. Quell orders ship only to US addresses, so this works for anyone in the country, but not for someone abroad.

Can you send eye drops in the mail yourself?

Generally, a small bottle of over-the-counter eye drops is an ordinary item to mail within the US, but each carrier has its own rules for liquids: how they must be packed, how much you can send, and whether anything is restricted. Those rules change, so look them up on your carrier’s site or ask at the counter before you pack. Mailing outside the US adds the destination country’s customs rules on top, and those differ from country to country.

How to pack eye drops for mailing

• Leave the bottle in its carton if you have it. The carton protects the bottle and carries the Drug Facts label.
• Make sure the cap is screwed on tight.
• Put the bottle or carton upright in a zip-top plastic bag and seal it, so any leak stays in the bag.
• Use a small box rather than a padded envelope. A box resists crushing.
• Fill the space around it with bubble wrap or crumpled paper so the bottle can’t slide or roll.
• Mark which way is up on the outside if you like, and write the address clearly, with any apartment or suite number.

Opened or unopened?

Send an unopened bottle if you can. A sealed bottle arrives with its tamper seal intact, so the recipient knows nobody has used it. An opened bottle has had its tip near someone’s eye, and the label’s rule about the tip is there for a reason: Do not touch tip of bottle to any surface to avoid contamination. If what you have on hand is an opened bottle, ordering a fresh one to their address is usually the better gift.

Temperature in transit

A box spends time in trucks, sorting facilities and on a doorstep, and you can’t control any of it. Quell’s storage line reads: Store between 15° to 30°C (59° to 86°F). During a heat wave or a hard freeze, it may make sense to wait a few days, or to tell the recipient when to expect it so they can bring it in promptly. The guide to eye drops shipped in hot or cold weather covers what to check when it arrives.

Make sure the label goes with it

Whoever receives eye drops should be able to read the label, because some of it is about them, not the product. Quell’s warnings include: Caution should be used in those with egg or bird allergies — For use in the eyes only. The directions are Apply 1 drop 3 times per day in each eye. If the carton is lost, send a printout of the Drug Facts page with the bottle so they have the full panel.

The label also says If swallowed, get medical help or contact a Poison Control Center immediately, so if the recipient lives with small children, a note to keep the package somewhere out of reach is worth adding.

Mailing to a dorm or a care facility

College mailrooms and senior living communities each have their own way of receiving packages, and some have rules about medicines residents keep in their rooms. Ask the building or the facility before you send anything, and address the box exactly as they tell you, often with a room or box number. The guide to eye drops in a college care package covers the student side, and the same advice about a sealed bottle in its carton applies.

Can you ship eye drops to another country?

Not through quelldrop.com, which ships to US addresses only. Mailing a bottle abroad yourself means meeting both your carrier’s international rules and the destination’s customs rules on medicines. Check the destination country’s official customs site before you send anything.