4 NOGGINS & CANADIANS

[peckinpahhombre]

Better to just order online and take your chances with customs. Always be prepared to pay. You are allowed to bring back 200g if you have been out for 48 hours, but you are also allowed 50 cigars, and I prefer to use my exemption when I am traveling for cigars.

 

[olkofri]

Apparently, the current rate in SK is 27 cents.
When I came back from Europe, I brought 250 grams and over 50 cigars/cigarellos. I told the agent on the spot that I had more than the duty-free-allowed amount of alcohol (I had 1.75 L) and more than 200 grams of pipe tobacco. He just waved me through.

 

[pruss]

This thread needs to be closed. Most of the content should have been reserved to private messaging.

I don’t see why it should be closed. This is a reasoned and reasonable discussion. It’s not like publicly listing tobacco for sale in an open forum. That could land someone in a whole heap of hot water with the Canadian government.
As to the original topic. I’ve ordered twice from the new vendor, and at this point would rather do business with SPC.

— Pat

 

[mikethompson]

So....have any Canadians here ever had their car searched while returning from the US?

Just once, but I was too young to really pay attention to what was going on. You are just asked to pull over to the side lot and they poke around the car.

 

[shikano53]

I have ordered from the new owners and the order went smooth and hassle free. Over the three and a half years that I have been pipe smoking I have only been tagged once by CBSA. It was a large order and it cost me $363.00 in tax. It was still cheaper paying the tax than buying the tobacco in Canada.

I now keep my orders to 200gr or below and have had no problems.

You are correct; Alberta has the highest provincial tax rate for bringing in tobacco. Higher even than BC.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

Actually it looks like as of April the BC rate is now the same as Alberta. Crazy expensive.

 

[peckinpahhombre]

I would also point out that even if the duty is assessed properly, as many have pointed out, it is still cheaper than buying the tobacco at a B&M in Canada. Why is this? Well, imagine you are a B&M here. When you bring in the tobacco to your store, you have to pay the federal and provincial tobacco tax at that time, even before you sell it. That means during the period of time that it takes to sell the tobacco (which may take months or longer) you have to finance a very large upfront tax payment. That means you have to have a higher margin (ROI) to cover that upfront cost.

 

[olkofri]

^^

True dat. A tin at my local B&M would be around fifty bux. Still cheaper to bring it in from the US, besides the selection here is extremely limited. Most of the blends I've been interested in aren't available. When I asked the tobacconist about other blends he said that Canada is such a small market that it's not worth it for the manufacturers to go through the hassle of printing out the special labels that the regulations here require. Similar for pipes: I can order any of the Brigham models, even if he doesn't have them in stock, as it's a Canadian company (even if the pipes are made in Europe) and they'll ship it in a week or so, but ordering a given Savinelli would be difficult. Frankly, it's easier to shop online.

 

[canadianpuffer]

And then just to screw us, they will ban online tobacco sales - then we are stuck with nothing. The future is bright north of the 49!

 

[brian64]

The future is bright north of the 49!

We're headed to the same destination...it's just taking us a little longer to get there.