Illegal To Ship Tobacco To Maine

[HawkeyeLinus]

I reside in Maine, and the real pain is that it’s illegal to ship tobacco here. I could make nice with a cigarette shop (the only kind of B&M near me) and see if they’d purchase pipe tobacco for me at a steep markup (not to mention pestering them with ordering dozens of different new blends to try all the time - or to act fast on quick sell outs like FVF)….

Or, I could pay the $150/yr fee and obtain a tobacco retailer license. I’m struggling to see the downside to this, other than not having a clue how to open wholesale accounts with various tobacco companies, and if I actually need to turn any sort of profit on the business to keep the license. I wouldn’t be opposed to opening a part time B&M specializing in pipe tobacco if anyone else in the area would even shop there.

Anyone see any obvious downsides that I don’t, being totally ignorant of all things business?

The 7 words are your answer - it's not a simple or cost effective solution and you don't open a B&M or any store (or pretend to) on basically a whim. Have a good reality check and figure out how to get your tobacco - I'll bet there are plenty of opportunities to get it somewhere in Maine, just may not be convenient.

 

[brian64]

Ask me about all the ways our government discourages entrepreneurship and self-determination.

That's why they call it the free world...and the land of opportunity!

 

[woodsroad]

That's why they call it the free world...and the land of opportunity!

The cognitive dissonance has been turned up to 11

 

[midcentry]

Same story here in Utah. It is a serious pain. I like to support my local shops as much as i can but the taxes make most tins $20+ so i usually find deals on here or in Facebook groups. There are also a few online retailers that either aren't aware, or turn a blind eye... but that is always a crapshoot

 

[Nevaditude]

Thank you all for this conversation! I do hope a solution will be easily accessible for you. I am saddened to think this may likely become a more common issue for all of us in the "land of the free"...
We just want smoke our pipes.

 

[Lumbridge]

As far as I can tell, it’s illegal to ship in state no matter what. I’d love to start a little side business shipping around the state, but it doesn’t look like I could

You might be able to resort to an order online, pick up locally business model, then. Probably plenty of folks who wouldn't mind occasionally putting a big order in and driving across the state to pick up.

 

[Zack Miller]

There is a tobacconist Jenney Station on Maine Street in Brunswick.

 

[anotherbob]

I mean, you’d still need to buy the tobacco from yourself and pay all applicable sales and excise taxes as if it was at a B&M. That’s where most of the mark up comes from at a B&M.

And that's the part the state probably cares the most about.

Where in Maine? If I was in the south part, I’d probably just plan some occasional day trips to watch city cigar or Peretti, etc.

I think that's the main thing is first if the law says you can't ship tobacco or just that you can't buy it and have it shipped.
Oddly the best long term thing might be having experts see if they can find any loopholes, but road trip seems like the best.
I wonder too if something like what we have to do in PA with alcohol would work. We have to have the state stores order it for us and pay their mark up. Could you legally have it sent somewhere official? I guess what I am saying is there are always options some better then others. But worth looking into.

 

[proteus]

I reside in Maine, and the real pain is that it’s illegal to ship tobacco here. I could make nice with a cigarette shop (the only kind of B&M near me) and see if they’d purchase pipe tobacco for me at a steep markup (not to mention pestering them with ordering dozens of different new blends to try all the time - or to act fast on quick sell outs like FVF)….

Or, I could pay the $150/yr fee and obtain a tobacco retailer license. I’m struggling to see the downside to this, other than not having a clue how to open wholesale accounts with various tobacco companies, and if I actually need to turn any sort of profit on the business to keep the license. I wouldn’t be opposed to opening a part time B&M specializing in pipe tobacco if anyone else in the area would even shop there.

Anyone see any obvious downsides that I don’t, being totally ignorant of all things business?

Buy your license. I'm sure you could sell a tin or two to folks here and say you're trying just not very good at sales. I'm sure the gubment doesn't require a level of sales.

 

[AJL67]

Is it illegal consumer to consumer? In Canada shipping tobacco is prohibited but if it's between two consumers or retailers it's ok. But retail to consumer is prohibited. Very confusing

Yes we can ship it all over because no one asks and no one checks.

 

[seaweed]

Buy your license. I'm sure you could sell a tin or two to folks here and say you're trying just not very good at sales. I'm sure the gubment doesn't require a level of sales.

Even with the taxes and other annoyances people are pointing out here, I’m thinking of just going for it. Maybe not tomorrow, but in the next few years.

If I am legally allowed to run a B&M out of my garage, I might do it just to help out whatever pipe smokers might live in the area (or visit, since we get quite a few tourists around here). A lot of ifs still, but I’m not totally dissuaded. Time will tell.

 

[peteguy]

I believe there are now 3 shops within an hour of me that sell tins at double what you pay online. When we go out of town, my wife knows we stop at a B&M to see how there prices are. Friends or family in other states is a great method.

You could maybe send a message to pipestud on here as well. Make sure if you get it all worked out and you start selling tobacco that you don't ship to a state that doesn't allow it.

 

[bullet08]

Yupe. Open a tobacco business and write off everything. And report business lose and write more off. Sock it to the damned tax man!

 

[fireground_piper]

Yupe. Open a tobacco business and write off everything. And report business lose and write more off. Sock it to the damned tax man!

I would wish you luck in those future communications with state and federal tax authorities!

 

[jpberg]

Umm, get a PO Box in NH, and get tobacco from out of state shipped there.
Order twice a year. This ain’t hard.

 

[seaweed]

Umm, get a PO Box in NH, and get tobacco from out of state shipped there.
Order twice a year. This ain’t hard.

Do you know how long they’ll hold things at a PO Box? Many of my favorites are rarely in stock (SG and G&H). Could I pull the trigger whenever they’re in stock, let it sit a few months, then go pick it up? It’s a long round trip for me. It ain’t hard, but I don’t fancy spending a full working day driving to and from a PO Box in NH all the time. A couple times a year is no big deal, but if I regularly need to go down to pick things up (I’m assuming my packages won’t fit in the actual box assigned to me, and will be stored in a back room), it’s too much of a hassle

 

[minerLuke]

I'd be willing to bet 4noggins would ship a package from Connecticut to Maine...

 

[mngslvs]

Tttt

 

[mngslvs]

I live in Maine, near Portland. I occasionally order from watch city or smoking pipes. Watch city will send to me, smoking pipes will not. So I just have the tobacco sent to a relative in Connecticut whom I see occasionally. Yes, I may have to wait a little bit for the tobacco but that’s fine, because I put it up to age anyway.
By the way, anybody who thinks Boston and therefore Cambridge is not a city has apparently not been there for a while. A very long while. Going to Peretti is a big pain in the ass because of parking not to mention the 2+ hour drive from here. Watch city will take almost 3 hours from here.
If you smoke a more or less reasonable amount of tobacco, just let me know, and you can send it to my relative in Connecticut and she can forward it to you. Just an idea.
I think watch city would send direct to you with no questions, maybe because they are renegades, or who knows. And if you know of a place that sells better tobacco be sure to let me know.

 

[mngslvs]

Also, I’ve ordered from Steve Fallon a.k.a. Pipestud, several times. Never had a problem receiving tobacco from him. Although his tobacco is quite expensive.