Hey all! Hope this is okay to post here in The Pub, I’m a newer member here & wasn’t sure if I should put the topic here or in Health & Advocacy… Loving the ELR community so far
I have seen a lot of talk regarding this upcoming USPS Vape Mail ban, incoming March 2021, and what exactly it may entail, who & how it will affect individual consumers, businesses, DIY, etc. Figured it would be worth dedicating a thread to this awful, stressful situation. All we really know thus far for individuals & consumers is that:
- we have less than 120 days until potentially being unable to get our vape gear & supplies shipped to us via USPS from stateside companies
(China has it’s workarounds lol)
- the bill is written to include NO NIC vape juice! basically anything that could even be considered for use in or for vaping, even CBD vaping, is going to be included (stock coils, mods, pods, tanks, no nic & nic ejuice; IIRC this means that nicotine base for DIY use is also included)
- Costs will inevitably soar to receive gear & products as companies will be forced to abandon USPS shipping options in favor of UPS, DHL, etc
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FedEx has already stated that they will also be banning vape mail starting in March 2021.
- The worst part about this is that UPS, DHL, etc generally contract out shipments to USPS for rural areas or “last mile” deliveries they just don’t want to or can’t make, so what could this possibly mean for us? Will they hang us out to dry? Will USPS still deliver last mile packages? Will we have to pay extra for signature collected 21+ deliveries, as some states require?
- we will still be able to order from overseas, as long as they have ways for us to pay them
- as the PMTA scare taught us, it would seem that VG, PG, flavor concentrates, wire for coil building, cotton, rayon, batteries/ chargers & similar, related rebuildable & DIY gear will be spared from the shipping regulations, as all aforementioned items have more uses than vaping
Here’s what I’ve gathered so far regarding the USPS ban & how it may affect businesses/ brick & mortar stores (not individual consumers): Vaping360.com has laid out a basic interpretation of what March 2021 may hold…it seems like any vape online sellers also need to comply with the tobacco based PACT act. Businesses would be required to:
- Register with the U.S. Attorney General
- Verify age of customers using a commercially available database
- Use private shipping services that collect an adult signature at the point of delivery
- If selling in states that tax vaping products, sellers must register with the federal government & with the tobacco tax administrators of the states.
- Collect all applicable local and state taxes; affix any required tax stamps to the products sold
- Send each taxing state’s tax admin a list of all transactions with customers in their state, including names and addresses of each customer sold to, the quantities & type of each product sold
- Maintain records for 5 years of any “delivery interrupted because the carrier or service determines or has reason to believe that the person ordering the delivery is in violation of the PACT Act”
- the above requirements have the potential to wipe out even more vape businesses, just like we saw the PMTAs accomplish. the PACT Act will cost businesses in time, labor, resources etc. Not to mention the threat of hefty fines & even jail time for violating may result in some closing shop
I’ve started this thread to give us all a place to vent our frustrations, link articles & information, discuss any info we can find & even come together to find any solutions (or loopholes) to this. If any updates, links or new information regarding the 2021 USPS Vape Mail ban is uncovered, please update us all here. How does this make you guys feel? Are you worried about small businesses & vape shops? What does the future of DIY look like? Does our govt even care that they’re forcing our $$ overseas?
Would now be a bad time to wish you & yours a Happy New Year?
I hope this wasn’t too long & that the emojis weren’t too annoying (they help break up big text walls imo)
EDIT 1/11: What can we do?? As per @muth, here are some great starting suggestions:
Please answer to the Calls for Action that CASAA sends out. Just sign up with them, it’s free. You can all be emailing and or calling your state reps. Everything gets spelled out for you, it’s not hard. I find it hard to make a phone call but they even provide a script for you and the reps never pick up the phone, lol. You leave a voicemail. Edited original comment slightly for this post. Also, start stocking up on things you use, buy some RDAs/RTAs/RDTAs (even if you don’t build), prob some nic base too.
EDIT 1/16: The USPS ban that was bundled in with the recent spending/ stimulus package was officially signed into law on 12/27/20 meaning the ban will be imparted on (or before) March 28, 2021
EDIT 1/24: A few days ago (around Jan 20, 2021) I received an email back from Heartland Vapes reassuring me that as of now they’re aware of the upcoming ban & will just remain using UPS. I asked them to keep their newsletter subscribers informed of any changes if possible, they said they would. I can imagine that many companies will just switch to UPS, if they don’t use UPS already (many do).