Snus Golden Age?

[Polluted]

I keep hearing about how magical things were pre pact act. But I just got $85 worth of snus from snus central for around $1.80 a can ��

Is it really dead?

[Burnsey]

I wonder too. There are four vendors with more flavors than I care to try.....ain't as cheap as it once was, but I'm enjoying. I do think Claq Qui would have been would have been one of my favorites.

[Andy105]

I miss when we could order a few different cans, just to try them, and only pay meager Postage rates. Now you have to order several rolls, on sale, to justify the shipping rates.

[pouchface]

Based on what I've heard about the "olden days" it sounds like a difference of variety less than price. I've been buying general for $1/can in a gas station 7 miles from my house for a few months now . Not much variety, but the price and convenience are damn near unbeatable.

[Andy105]

Based on what I've heard about the "olden days" it sounds like a difference of variety less than price. I've been buying general for $1/can in a gas station 7 miles from my house for a few months now . Not much variety, but the price and convenience are damn near unbeatable.

General's good, and I buy that locally,too, but get tired of it. When they didn't sell any snus locally, I had to order from Sweden, trying a few single cans at a time until I found what I liked.

[bpc720]

Things were great before pact act but its still way way cheaper than cigarettes so I'm not too bothered. Some snus has come and gone but there is still plenty of good stuff out there. Even at 5 dollars a can I spend a third of what I did on cigarettes. Things could definently be alot worse.

[squeezyjohn]

I felt sorry for the US when PACT came in and made things more complicated and expensive. But it was nothing as compared with what happened with sales from Sweden to the EU after a combination of events. "anti-cancer charities" sting operations on web-shops and the EU punishing the snus industry for exposing corruption by it's health minister (who was trying to get Swedish Match to bribe him millions of Euros to legalise snus within the EU!) ... if SM had paid the bribe - chances are that snus would be legal by now! As it stands - Swedish Match, JTI and Fiedler & Lundgren have decided to ban export of their snus to the UK as some kind of moral stance - and we can only get Skruf and Jakobssons if it's sent half-way round the world. The only snus we can order from Europe is V2 and Odens who get around it by calling it 'chewing tobacco' - which for some bizarre reason is legal while snus remains illegal.

I think what I'm saying to anyone in the US is ... count your blessings! You are still able to order almost every brand in the world ... your taxes are much lower than Sweden and Norway (a high street shop in Norway sells a can of General at over $10 and a 7/11 in Sweden sells it for over $6 - so if you can get it for $1.80 from a shop then you're doing alright!)

[Snusdog]

I think three things have changed since all the legislation

1) Price means that it is harder to try a tin or two of something new (as others have mentioned)

2) There seems to be far less new snus being introduced (especially in los)

3) The stagnation and hassle of product availability means that traffic on snus sites is more tempered. When 60 minutes released its segment on snus (just before PACT) you had a lot of new folks curious ........ and snus at that time was cheep enough to try a few cans

Over all I think these three observations can be summed up in one word.......Fluidity

The over all snus market has become less fluid.....that said.....it still remains steady (which is a good sign for the future)

[pouchface]

I think the biggest question mark is (obviously) how the MRTP application goes for General. If it goes through I can see the possibility of SM expanding their US snus lineups, but I can also see the price of General going up in the Us if they could market it more directly as a much safer product.

[whalen]

Stll the good old days in the lower third of the pact act freezer!

[Andy105]

Stll the good old days in the lower third of the pact act freezer!

Great foresight! I should have filled my freezer, but I had too many pizzas at the time.
I smoked then too, and was making my cigarettes for $1.00 per pack with great Daughters & Ryan tobacco.
Better than any factory smokes. PACT raised the tax on my loose tobacco 2,000 percent and took that away, too. Scoundrels.

[resnor]

General is retailing for around $6 a tin at had stations around me in the U.S. It's only $1a tin of you find a shop that just started carrying it, and they have that promotional going on.

I loved when shops around me had that deal.

[dquinn104]

I missed the pre-PACT snus days...however I did enjoy getting cartons of Dunhills for $15 and free shipping for a good 2 years before Philip Morris had that party shut down.

[pouchface]

General is retailing for around $6 a tin at had stations around me in the U.S. It's only $1a tin of you find a shop that just started carrying it, and they have that promotional going on.

I loved when shops around me had that deal.

Around here, even without the promotional it's still about $3 a tin, $2 with the coupon. But I live in Appalachia, so snuff's pretty cheap.

[mattzq8sonoma]

I think the biggest question mark is (obviously) how the MRTP application goes for General. If it goes through I can see the possibility of SM expanding their US snus lineups, but I can also see the price of General going up in the Us if they could market it more directly as a much safer product.

Expand: yes, probably slow but dramatic...also depends highly on the FDA
Price going up: No, because taxes will hopefully be less, and education/advertisement will allow for growth so lower pricing should remain for awhile.

General is retailing for around $6 a tin at had stations around me in the U.S. It's only $1a tin of you find a shop that just started carrying it, and they have that promotional going on.

I loved when shops around me had that deal.

Selling price is very regional and dependent upon State taxes. A can of Copenhagen in KY is about $3.49- $4. TX or FL they're $6.50 - $9. Cigs are the same way. General should average out to around $4 a tin in the US which is still drastically cheaper than Sweden or Norway.