Pfeifendepot Question

[TheWhale13]

I live in Sweden, which has high prices on tobacco, and as such I order tobacco from Germany whose prices are lower.

I'm looking at buying from pfeifendepot right now since they have HU tobacco's.

My question is: do they label the contents of the package as tobacco? Because if they do this I might get struck by customs.

Anyone have some thoughts? I have emailed him about it, but his answer was cryptic.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Why don't you email them and ask? I would guess they do since they're a legitimate business.

 

[TheWhale13]

Why don't you email them and ask? I would guess they do since they're a legitimate business.

I did email him about it. He said that they do ship to Sweden, and that fees and taxes may occur and are the customer's responsibility. I'm asking this because everybody says that, and because a lot of places that I have ordered from before, have not declared it, and I have not needed to pay taxes on it.

 

[hoosierpipeguy]

Were I planning my budget, I'd count on him declaring it properly. Perhaps you'll get lucky.

 

[DanWil84]

I don't know what rules Sweden uses, but there is free traffic of goods and persons in the EU, so you should be good. I order also in Germany and have never been billed for taxes. Most countries it is prohibited to import tobacco, but only from outside the EU.

 

[TheWhale13]

I don't know what rules Sweden uses, but there is free traffic of goods and persons in the EU, so you should be good. I order also in Germany and have never been billed for taxes. Most countries it is prohibited to import tobacco, but only from outside the EU.

Sweden unfortunately has it's own tax regulations, I think it's about 200 euros per kg, so it's about 10 per 50g tin. If I've done my math right

But I've not yet been caught by these taxes so that's why I'm wondering.

 

[DanWil84]

Sweden unfortunately has it's own tax regulations, I think it's about 200 euros per kg, so it's about 10 per 50g tin. If I've done my math right

But I've not yet been caught by these taxes so that's why I'm wondering.

I dove into this as my tobacco buying habits are also only in Germany. Every country has, but it's illegal to tax the consumer extra after sale because of the free traffic of goods. Excluded are imports from travels, but if you buy a duty product (alcohol, tobacco) in Germany from Sweden online they should tax you like they tax you in Sweden. Afterwards the tobacco store can request their IRS to refund the to much paid duties.

Source: Accijns betalen | Belastingen in de EU - https://europa.eu/youreurope/business/taxation/excise-duties-eu/paying-excise-duties/index_nl.htm#consumer

 

[karam]

I don't know what rules Sweden uses, but there is free traffic of goods and persons in the EU, so you should be good. I order also in Germany and have never been billed for taxes. Most countries it is prohibited to import tobacco, but only from outside the EU.

Free traffic of goods and no double taxation are two different things. When I lived in Greece I ordered many times from estervals and Motzek, as well as a Czech shop without issue. Pfeifendepot and hacico wouldn't send to Greece though. I can't recall the labelling of the packages but I do not think they described the contents at all, as they don't need to within the EU - which makes me think that unless there is a VERY unlucky spot check the package should go through fine.

The one time I ordered whole leaf (labeled as non-smokeable agricultural sample...) from the US it was confiscated by Greek customs. I was given a call, told that my shipment would be destroyed, offered to pay whatever taxes they wanted and was told that unless I one is a tobacco shop owner the ordering of any type of tobacco product from anywhere abroad is prohibited (in Greece). Dunno if Sweden is anything like that, different countries can do however they please, for example the Danish Pipe Shop (and UK shops) stopped sending tobacco abroad (anywhere, EU or not) since at least 2018, Italian/Spanish shops the same - but they do still send pipes.

 

[goldenmole]

Yeah, different rules for tobacco products, and Estervals not delivering to other European countries anymore. I started to order in Germany and get parcels send to family in Germany for later pick-up. Even then, the limit to travel with is an amount for personal use (1kg), but not enforced much. I have a great B&M (Danish Pipe Shop) 15min from work, with a great tobacco selection, but prices up to 30-40% over those in Germany. Will check out some of their "My own blend" tobaccos though, which are only available in DK (made by STG), and some have legendary status (e.g. my own blend 800 ø). Prices up to around 50 Euro/100g though..

 

[marconi]

Estervals does deliver to other European countries outside of the EU.

The UK not being in the EU is now seen as an export market. So prices are the same as what N/Americans pay.Prices are now 20-50% cheaper came as a bit of a shock.
My last order took four days to arrive from ordering.
The big disadvantage as far as I see it, is that it is now far to easy to order a shed load of tobacco.

 

[Simmerdown☕️]

I did email him about it. He said that they do ship to Sweden, and that fees and taxes may occur and are the customer's responsibility. I'm asking this because everybody says that, and because a lot of places that I have ordered from before, have not declared it, and I have not needed to pay taxes on it.

I’d plan on it being labeled as tobacco. And if that is too much of a concern then don’t order from them. ?️

 

[karam]

Estervals does deliver to other European countries outside of the EU.

Interesting, when did this happen? I remember about 9 months ago they stopped shipping to the EU but then resumed after a month.

The site doesn't tell me anything but then again I am logging from a Swiss IP which is not EU.

 

[marconi]

When Brexit came in fully in January 21 Estervals stopped shipping to the UK.This only lasted a short time before deliveries resumed
When I go on to the main Estervals site it shows EU prices as soon as I have logged in it switches to the export site where for example Capstan Blue shows a 50% discount on the EU price.
Thinking about it this started at the same time as Germany stopped tobacco shipments within the EU.Overnight the UK became an export market.

 

[jravenwood]

I live in Sweden, which has high prices on tobacco, and as such I order tobacco from Germany whose prices are lower.

I'm looking at buying from pfeifendepot right now since they have HU tobacco's.

My question is: do they label the contents of the package as tobacco? Because if they do this I might get struck by customs.

Anyone have some thoughts? I have emailed him about it, but his answer was cryptic.

Yes, they will label it with Tobacco as the contents, so will Estervals

 

[TheWhale13]

Yes, they will label it with Tobacco as the contents, so will Estervals

Are you sure? Someone else on a different website said they don't.

 

[PaulTheScandinavian]

I don't know what rules Sweden uses, but there is free traffic of goods and persons in the EU, so you should be good. I order also in Germany and have never been billed for taxes. Most countries it is prohibited to import tobacco, but only from outside the EU.

Absolutely true, within the EU commercial zone Postage nor Customs regulations do not obligate vendors to declare contents of them shipments , the decision to describe or not the nature of the merchandise is fully up to these vendor,whereas each and every parcel coming from England has to be inspected and added sales tax levied