Yesmoke... those were the days!
Marlboro smokes for $10 a carton... (when I started buying them)
Place your order and wait for the mailman. You could almost hear a choir of angels singing as he walked to your door.
Then those nice folks, who are so concerned about my health, got involved.
Seems they weren't seeing as much revenue with online purchases.
So they passed a law that carried a $5000 fine and a year in prison, if you rudely cut them out of your tobacco purchase, AND they confiscated your smokes!
I remember hearing something about an infringement issue with big tobacco, but by that time I had been forced into submission.
I used to run a marginally successful web site selling foreign cigs in the US. Big Tobacco, BT, was going after a couple foreign wholesalers and they were also going after US resellers in the form of nasty lawyer threats.
The real hit for me came when customer orders were seized at US Customs. That was during the time when "online sales" was making the news. People were buying 10, 15 and 20 cartons a pop. That's a big no-no according the Cigarette Compliance Act of 2000 and you are subject to all kinds of fines, penalties and jail time (as you mentioned).
During the height of all this even some customers who ordered two or less cartons were getting their orders stalled at Customs, sometimes weeks before being released, if ever.
Some wholesalers started reclassifying their shipments as "books" and other items to get around this. Then there was talk of resellers being forced to disclose customer information. That coupled with the BT lawyer threats and refund requests (because of orders not recieved). It was all getting a bit too shady for me so I got out while the gettin' was good.
Being a stickler for good customer service I held to my policies and refunded my clients. My supplier didn't have the same level of integrity and a lot of us "in the middle" got shafted. With that, I decided to close shop. But only after all my customers were taken care of. I think I was still giving refunds 12 months out after closing.
In case anyone is wondering... No, I do not sell ecigs or any related physical products. I am more into advocacy and activism these days. I love my ecigs and do not want to see them taken away. Though the thought of selling has crossed my mind. I think I've learned my lesson, at least for the time being
To the OP - yoshistr,
Since I stopped selling cigs online I haven't purchased them online either. My local convenience store has loved me ever since, lol. Well, that is until I found ecigs
I'm not up on all the current laws but I know some states are billing some of their residents for back taxes for on online out-of-state purchases. A friend of mine in AZ got a tax/penalty bill this past December for the years 2005 - 2007. The bill was $2,160 at $20 per carton. Apparently his supplier reports the order details or was more likely required to do so via a court action. A lot sellers don't report voluntarily but they're supposed to if they want to cover their own ....
My advice is to stay away from online cig sales as it can be risky. But... There are groups out there that list "safe sites" that do not report - yet. If that's the way you want to go - Google is your friend.
All I can say is be careful in whatever you do. Mr. Fed and Mr. State love those tax dollars enough to make examples out of just about anyone.
