If HU Tobacco Was Available At Smokingpipes.com, Would You Order It?

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If HU tobacco was available at Smokingpipes.com, would you order it?


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BROBS

Lifer
Nov 13, 2019
11,765
40,026
IA
9207a941df403c171a4b.jpg
I wonder if it would be possible for them to import this brand of tobacco?
It seems widely popular, and loved or at least well-regarded by most.
Maybe it's very difficult to import tobaccos, new or otherwise.
Maybe it's not possible at all for one reason or another.. no idea.
This thread isn't for wild speculation about the legalities and intricacies of importing the tobacco, developing a working relationship with HU, etc.

This thread is about finding out one thing:
I'm just curious if you would order it from smokingpipes if it was available there.
Yes or No question.

maybe @swilford can chime in and/or see the response to this thread.....
and if it's not possible at all, I'm sure he would be the best person to explain.
 

olkofri

Lifer
Sep 9, 2017
8,033
14,644
The Arm of Orion
The $40 shipping fee sux, but that's the cost to ship from Europe, tobacco or no tobacco. I just checked on a knife on a European site and shipping is almost as expensive as the knife itself: $77 USPS or $56 CanadaPost (the knife is $85). It's just what it is; not everyone is Amazon.

I don't think importing is easy. Used as we are to the click-click-click-Place_Order process we might find it incomprehensible why the suppliers can't just take payment, slap a shipping label on and dispatch it. Apparently, there's more to it than that. Also to-day, I have received a reply from a German supplier regarding shipping to Canada: no, they do not offer it because "they do not have a forwarder to ship outside Europe".

More to it than meets the eye, it seems.
 
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swilford

Starting to Get Obsessed
May 30, 2010
208
730
Longs, SC
corporate.laudisi.com
I wonder if it would be possible for them to import this brand of tobacco?
It seems widely popular, and loved or at least well-regarded by most.
Maybe it's very difficult to import tobaccos, new or otherwise.
Maybe it's not possible at all for one reason or another.. no idea.
This thread isn't for wild speculation about the legalities and intricacies of importing the tobacco, developing a working relationship with HU, etc.

This thread is about finding out one thing:
I'm just curious if you would order it from smokingpipes if it was available there.
Yes or No question.

maybe @swilford can chime in and/or see the response to this thread.....
and if it's not possible at all, I'm sure he would be the best person to explain.

The short answer is that it is not possible to bring in HU because it wasn't on the market in the US prior to the summer of 2016. It would require an SE which would require pre-approval from FDA.

If it weren't for that impediment, it's exactly the sort of project we seek out. So, it's not us; we just don't think it's legally possible as things stand with FDA.

Sykes
 

BROBS

Lifer
Nov 13, 2019
11,765
40,026
IA
The short answer is that it is not possible to bring in HU because it wasn't on the market in the US prior to the summer of 2016. It would require an SE which would require pre-approval from FDA.

If it weren't for that impediment, it's exactly the sort of project we seek out. So, it's not us; we just don't think it's legally possible as things stand with FDA.

Sykes
Dang! :cry:
not what I was hoping to hear.
Thank you for the quick response and taking the time to explain the reasons why.
Makes sense!
-Brian
 

rushx9

Lifer
Jul 10, 2019
2,299
17,244
42
Shelby, NC
^^^Answers from the horses mouth are one of my favorite things about this forum!!! Really wish I could order up HU with ease, though. Fayyum and Zulu (really almost anything from the African Line) are near the top of my "need to try" list?
 
Jan 28, 2018
12,952
134,596
66
Sarasota, FL
If you want to order a couple of tins, it's probably not worth it as you won't be able to amortize the cost of shipping across enough volume to make it cost justified. However, when you consider that many tins of HU sell for $7 to $8 per tin, if you order 2 to 3 KG, the shipping cost is easily offset by the cost savings. Same is true for some other nice tobacco blends you can order in bulk at a discounted price such as Capstan. You can order a pound of Capstan Gold or Blue Flake for $54 per 450 gr (= 1 lb). A 50 gr tin costs $14 plus at one of the US online retailers or well over $125 per pound!

You ask about HU Virginias, which are quite good. Haymaker sells for $6.47 per 50 gr tin. Order 10 tins with $35 shipping tacked on and that's equivalent to purchasing 10 tins of a Virginia blend here at $10 per tin with free shipping. You can order a 250 gr bag of HU Directors Cut, which is a favorite HU blend for many, for $36.61! That's slightly over 1/2 pound. It's not much more difficult to order from Estervals than it is from Smoking Pipes or any of the others. You may have to finagle to first time to get your browser to convert from German to English and to convert to $ but it really isn't that big of a deal.
 

paulfg

Lifer
Feb 21, 2016
1,565
2,929
Corfu Greece
If you really want it you in the US can order it from Germany.
Ok I realise the postal cost are high but.Unlike us pipe smokers over in Europe where inter country shipping is banned at least you can get it.
And yes I would and did buy several of the blends before the shipping became a problem
 

olkofri

Lifer
Sep 9, 2017
8,033
14,644
The Arm of Orion
The main trouble would be customs. They'd have a field day charging exorbitant duties on parcels containing more than 4 tins. Kilos? They'd love it! I can see duties invoices for $600.
 
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