Illegal To Ship Tobacco To Maine

[lraisch]

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.

Pipestud had to get a commercial building because the state doesn't allow sales out of a private house.

 

[lraisch]

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?

Start a new religion with tobacco consumption as a sacrament (hey, there's even a precedent). You'll probably get busted and have to pay for lawyers but if you take it to the Supreme Court you might get a religious rights decision.

 

[finnian3]

Reach out to people in other states. I for one believe it is my duty to make sure our community has access to tobacco:]

 

[vosBghos]

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?

If you acquired the license you could go to Laudisi , Smoking Pipes parent company and get wholesale from there of all kinds of things. If it's illegal to ship to Maine you can bet there are other pipesmokers who will want what you got .You could be open very limited hours or even on a "by appointment only" basis. You would get really good deals for your personal stash also, I say go for it ,been thinking about doing the same thing.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Pipestud had to get a commercial building because the state doesn't allow sales out of a private house.

Maine and/or his local regs likely won’t allow it either - need a store which probably cannot be OP’s house. OP should just call the office that oversees the retail licenses and ask what would be easy questions to answer. The whole “may go for it someday” is naive musing and everything involved in being a legit business and selling tobacco means it’s not a casual save “x” on tins solution by being a faux retailer.

 

[RookieGuy80]

There is a lot to look at for this idea. I don't want to discouraged anyone from opening a business, especially one dealing in fine tobaccos. But seriously look at what it takes to get that license. I'm not from (or in) Maine at all, but Maryland is almost as progressive (moreso in some areas). There's things like you have to be far enough away from schools, districting issues (commercial vs residential or however your local community does it). And then, don't forget, you've invited the government from local up to feds to come check out your house whenever they want without a warrant.

Again, I'm not saying don't. I'm adding make sure it's an informed decision.

 

[woodsroad]

you've invited the government from local up to feds to come check out your house whenever they want without a warrant.

That's sheer speculation, and most likely incorrect.

There are things that the bureaucrats will claim they can/will do, and there are what the regulations say that they actually can do, and there's laws that state what they really can do, and there's the the state and federal Constitution that limits and delineates the powers that the lawmakers can weild, and there's the state/federal Supreme Court that ultimately decides what that Constitution is saying about the limits of their power at any given point in time.

Start at the bottom, and see what the facts are. Then decide what you are willing to put up with and what you are willing to push the envelope on, if needed. You may well find out the entire process of getting a tobacco sales license is quite easy, and that you can run the business from your residence,

I have Pennsylvania sales tax permit. it is in my name, not an LLC or DBA. It is good for whatever I want to use it for, provided I remit the taxes. That means that I have to remit taxes on items bought sales-tax free that I am not using/reusing/selling for business purposes. That said, I don't use my sales tax cert for purchases, only to remit taxes that I am compelled to collect from clients for my services. Anything else is a slippery slope that I don't intend to slide down.

 

[vosBghos]

Maine and/or his local regs likely won’t allow it either - need a store which probably cannot be OP’s house. OP should just call the office that oversees the retail licenses and ask what would be easy questions to answer. The whole “may go for it someday” is naive musing and everything involved in being a legit business and selling tobacco means it’s not a casual save “x” on tins solution by being a faux retailer.

Yeah, I was really into Skateboards and opened a shop to get wholesale to supplement my habit I was only open 4 hours on weekends since there was no local skate shop it did really well actually. I'm sure tobacco would be harder and you would have to have some legitimate storefront and all zoning and permits and the like. The initial investment would not be worth it unless you could cover costs and actually enjoy running a business.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Had a Dr. friend really into biking that wanted to buy a local bike shop but of course he would have had to hire a person to run it (was self-owned, self run) and the owner wanted a pretty penny for it. His CPA advised him he’d be better off to buy a bunch of bikes and give them away if it meant that much to him!

 

[mso489]

Starting a small business on paper sounds like too long a reach for good results. Many situation comedy episodes are based on someone trying to live up to an inconsequential lie, but the moral of the story is, lies breed trouble. Even if you did "real business," it would intrude on your life unless this is an ambition of yours, which your post indicates it isn't.

I think the suggestion that you make day trips to the nearest adjoining state with a real pipe shop sounds reasonable. You might find something else nearby -- a fishing spot, a botanical garden or state park, or something else, to complete the trip so it wouldn't be all errand.

If that is really not geographically possible, you could make it a three-day weekend to a further destination, and shop twice a year. It amounts to an additional Maine state tax on your pipe smoking. I think that's wrong. You could point this out to your state legislators. who might ignore it, or might have reason to take up your cause.

Good luck. I'm sorry to hear Maine has taken that tack. It's such a beautiful state to be excessively regulated in an unreasonable way. Full of good intentions, i'm sure, but bullying none the less.

 

[Doctor Chopper]

I know that this is a ways away, but I am planning a motorcycle trip to Maine next summer. If you remind me in May / June we could arrange a delivery for a small price. Perhaps a tin or even free if you are along my route. I can fit quite a bit of tobacco in my tour pack.

 

[proteus]

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

I suppose you could get a PO box out of state and then setup a NCOA and have them mailman forward it to you ... just like when you move. Its up to a year I think they'll do that. Then do it all over again next year.

 

[EvertonFC]

Can you ship it to an out of state friend and have them ship it to you?

 

[bluegrassbrian]

I know that this is a ways away, but I am planning a motorcycle trip to Maine next summer. If you remind me in May / June we could arrange a delivery for a small price. Perhaps a tin or even free if you are along my route. I can fit quite a bit of tobacco in my tour pack.

This is why pipe smoking is the best.

 

[Terry Lennox]

I agree with the suggestion to rent a mailbox in a neighboring state and drive to pick it up. You could limit it to just 3 or 4 times a year since you want to be over the free shipping number anyway--so these would be large orders.

 

[Searock Fan]

If Maine is like other states, with a dealer license you might have to submit monthly or quarterly reports to the state and do a lot of other paper work. Perhaps you know someone out of state who is sympathetic to your problem?.... if you catch my drift.