Smokingpipes.com for Canadians?

[sparroa]

Have any Canadians used the popular etailer Smokingpipes for their orders lately? I am interested in buying some cheap 1 oz bulk blends for sampling purposes. I don't want much tobacco at a time, just enough to justify my shipping.
Ohin3(Phil) told me a long while back that his last couple orders were opened in Customs and that he was charged for duties. Has this been a recurring problem with packages from Smokingpipes for individuals in the Great White North? I'm talking 200g or less. I don't want to buy cheap tobacco samples and pay more for it than I would with tinned blends.
Thanks.

 

[schmitzbitz]

200g or less shouldn't get stopped at customs, just keep your orders in the low end of the spectrum and you should be ok. I've had a couple of orders make it up from Sterling Tobacco and 4noggins with no troubles. Heck, you can even save yourself a whack of cash on large orders by breaking them down into several 7oz or less packs, and paying shipping multiple times. USPS 1st Class / Canada Post haven't let me down, so far the longest wait was nine days, with the order placed on a Friday afternoon.

Sadly though, even if you do get dinged, you would still save a whack of cash, particularly if you are buying tinned blends, as the tobacco tax doesn't account for all of the 600% markup most B&M's up here (well, in B.C., land of the taxed) seem to run over the etailers.

 

[antipodesman]

I had no problem with my order from SmokingPipes in December. Packages that are stopped by Customs for tax seem to be at random but pretty rare.

 

[sparroa]

4noggins has worked well for me. I was just wondering about SmokingPipes; I will still be getting 90% of my tobacco from 4noggins. That SP.com 1 oz sample is convenient as hell for trying new bulk blends. Or aromatics - I already have way more than I can smoke now and the casing will be gone by the time I get around to finishing them. I kind of want some "throwaway" tobacco; I'm not going to waste anything, just want a variety without costing me a fortune. That was my concern, getting dinged by Customs would negate the benefit of the inexpensive blends.
Thank you for the tips, Schmitzbitz. USPS has worked well for me too. I had no idea about the markup on tins, but I can understand since the lowliest OTC pouches here in Newfoundland still command $35. That's around 600% of an etailer, too.
Antipodesman, thanks for the confirmation, I'm glad to hear some of their orders get through fine. I would hope that Customs has bigger fish to fry than 7-8 ounces of Lane aromatics crossing the border, but I'm sure they'd go to the trouble.

 

[tedswearingen]

Globally, we've had lots of customers that have not had any problems with their customs. However, it happens and it's beyond the control of the etailer. Most times customers aren't reading the fine print regarding what they can actually order without raising an eyebrow from their government.

 

[sparroa]

Ted,
Thanks for your response. I know that caution is key and that the onus is on the customer to order an appropriate amount of tobacco. This thread is not trying to imply that you or any other etailer is to blame for packages being stopped in Customs. So far, I have had no orders held up from another site. Another forum member had several held up from your business and I was wondering if there was any correlation, that's all. You have some nice products, especially pipes, and a wide selection of tobacco; I've heard your customer service is also great. I particularly love your bulk feature for ordering small amounts, as I've previously mentioned. I just go by the very simple philosophy that if it ain't broke, don't fix it - so I've been ordering consistently from 4noggins, which is geographically closer but also has its merits. Still, there are a number of items that you carry that Rich doesn't so I am interested in throwing a little business your way, but I am more concerned about orders from even farther afield - thus my wariness of placing an order without checking in with other Canadians and their experiences. So I hope you understand my motivations and that no disrespect was intended; thanks for your comments. I will be sending you an order down the road to test the waters.
P.S. I have heard many different interpretations of how much pipe tobacco is "allowed" into Canada via mail - Ted, what in your experience is the actual limit? If you don't consider it too confidential, what do most of your Canadian customers order? 200 grams or less? More?

 

[tedswearingen]

Sparroa,
Glad you like what you see on our site. Honestly, no hard feelings if you choose to do your business elsewhere. I still can't get my best friend to order from us!
I only got involved in the conversation because you raise a very good question.
Stick with 200 grams or less. I've heard 250 can clear but it's risky.
And be thankful you don't live in Russia. They hate tobacco imports!

 

[puffintuff]

I don't live in Canada, but I'd just like to say, I prefer buying from

smokingpipes.com. They don't sell pipes and tobacco they don't have in stock.

Fast shipping, they do not sit on your order for days and they have reasonable

prices. Good job, Ted.

 

[unclearthur]

I have to agree that smokingpipes.com is a very superior seller of fine tobacco and related products. Now if they could just find someone who would import St Bruno they would be perfect! LOL!!

 

[ohin3]

I have never had anything less than a positive experience when dealing with smokingpipes.com. The majority of my pipes and tobacco are from them. I place no blame on them for customs nabbing my package and charging me duties. I knew it was a possibility when I placed the order. I find that when you keep your orders small they don't bother you at all. Get it just a little too close to or slightly over the 200gm mark and they nab you. It is still cheaper, even with duties, than paying retarded Canadian tobacco prices. Here's to Smokingpipes.
Cheers
P.

 

[sparroa]

Phil,

I'm sorry if it seems like I implicated you in this - I shouldn't have named names, I just didn't think it was a big deal. There was no intention to imply that SmokingPipes is why you or anyone else gets bilked by the feds at the border. I apologize to you and SmokingPipes if anyone got that message from my initial post; I think I've clarified my meaning a little better since.
I look forward to ordering from you later, Ted.

 

[julesholling]

I ordered a small amount of tobacco from Smokingpipes the other day and this arrived very quickly (within 5 days) here at the UK with no problems.
As has been said elsewhere, just keep the order relativley small and it should get though customs no problem.

 

[tedswearingen]

Sparroa,
No apology necessary. I certainly didn't get from your original post any negative implications, honestly.
As far as I'm concerned we're all in this together.

 

[schmitzbitz]

Hey Sparroa, you can find information on importing tobacco into Canada on the CBSA website. Although the link is actually guidelines for returning from south of the line (hence the Duty Free info), the same laws are in effect for importation.

 

[sparroa]

Thank you schmitzbitz, I've seen that before but I wasn't sure if those were the exact guidelines used in our situation. It's bookmarked now.
I must say it's not too fair that you can bring in 50 cigars and only up to 4 tins of pipe tobacco; that's quite a disparity, in my opinion. Not begrudging the cigar smokers out there, but it wouldn't hurt to push up the pipe tobacco number a bit. Depending upon what you smoke, the price of an expensive cigar purchase would be much greater in dollar value than pipe tobacco unless all you ship in is four tins of Balkan Sobranie from eBay! Someone with a love for Carter Hall would be out of luck in comparison.
Also:

"In addition, Excise Act, 2001 limits the amount of tobacco products that may be imported (or possessed) by an individual for personal use if the tobacco product is not packaged and stamped “CANADA DUTY PAID • DROIT ACQUITTÉ.” The limit is currently five units of tobacco products"
So it sounds like a hypothetical rich man, unconcerned with duties and taxes and additional costs, can import up to 20 tins at one time. After he surpasses 1 kg, he is subject to seizure? Has anyone ever had a package seized for a comparatively small amount?

 

[unclearthur]

They fear you might roll a *GASP* cigarette from the pipe tobacco and poison every living thing in Canada!

 

[schmitzbitz]

Sadly, Unclearthur, thats not even it; to CBSA, one unit of tobacco consists of 50 cigars, 200 grams of loose tobacco, or 200 cigarettes, so technically, one could bring them in by the carton. Its just the Canadian governments way of ensuring that we all continue to barely scrape by, whilst paying through the teeth for anything that gives us a modicum of enjoyment.

 

[unclearthur]

1984 was a tale meant to warn NOT a manual of government!