Snus Profiteering

[wa3zrm]

OK... I can't be the only one to have given some thought about this...

Since it looks like PACT is going to become a reality; and, since Northerner has already announced that they won't be stocking certain products in their US warehouse; and, once PACT passes, US Customs may crack down on shipments from Sweden marked Snus... Has anyone begun to stockpile brands that may be difficult to get here in the US?

I developed a taste for LS Whites. Then they were banned here in the US. Now... whenever I'm able to get them, I have to pay a premium price because they are considered "contraband."

Does anyone plan on stocking up on brands that won't be very available in the US market? I've already read in threads here that some folks are stocking up on Oomph. Is anyone else stocking up on brands that may not be easy to get in the US market?

Finally, if you stock up on a brand that won't be available, are you going to dump them at a premium... for example, in order for me to get my LS Whites, I either have to pay cash (original cost plus a premium) via PayPal or do a 2/3 for 1 trade.

[lxskllr]

I'd stock up on snus I want, but not to sell at a premium. If I were to get rid of any of my harder to come by snus, I'd sell/trade it at normal counter value. In other words, Lucky Strike would be worth the same amount as Ettan to me.

[olderthandirt]

I'd hope the snus community as a whole would shun anyone attempting blatant profiteering.

[texasmade]

couldnt you just order from buysnus.....

[Monkey]

Profiteering off of snus like this is something I would never do. I don't have enough money or freezer space.

Plus I think it's wrong.

Mike

[Toque Snuff]

US Customs can't crack down on tobacco imports as long as they have the proper Customs declaration.

Shipping snuff to the USA is completely legal, based on the Universal Postal Convention of September 15, 1999 and revised by the UPC in 2004 and 2009. This was ratified by all members (The USA is a leading member) of the UPC and all tobacco products were listed as permitted products. Blocking these shipments into the USA and not delivering them would be violating this international Agreement.

[daruckis]

im definitely stocking up on ld and gustavus, and possibly bla. i doubt id sell any though. theyre too crucial to my snus diet.

[LHB]

What is "profiteering?" If it's just buying low and selling high, then every business in the world is guilty of that.

But what If someone wants part of my stash, and offers me what I paid for it, and I decline the sale? I'm not guilty of anything, I presume. So what if he really wants the stuff, and offers me twice what I paid for it? If I decline, he doesn't get anything, and is an unhappy camper. If I accept, I'm guilty of "profiteering".

Or am I?

Usually, when somebody has something that you want, the way that you get it is by making it too costly for them to not give it to you. The cost to someone of keeping something is what they otherwise would make if they sold it.

[f. bandersnatch]

If people want to do this, I say have at.

Personally, I am pretty sure that PACT will be neutered in one way or another, and, even if it isn't, I can still get SM products from the dealers, so paying a premium for some gotlands that has been sitting in some guys chest freezer for a year or so just doesn't make sense. I just can't really see this type of venture as being too lucrative in the long run.

I can empathize with people that see this as "wrong"; I think that there is a universally negative reaction to the idea of people profiting off of addiction, but that's pretty much the nature of this particular beast, regardless of who is selling what and for how much.

[DrSnus]

is Odens going?

[WickedKitchen]

Well if I bought a trailer full of generators, and by that I mean several hundred it would cost me let's say $50k. That's a hell of a lot of money to me and I'd presume to most people. Let's say I was planning on selling them but for one reason or another I was unsuccessful. Perhaps I had poor work ethic, bad business decisions, economy, bad luck what have you it doesn't matter. If I lost money on the venture nobody would really feel that badly for me. After all I took a risk and lost. I knew what I was in for.

Now, if there just so happened to be a natural disaster...and I had that trailer full of generators. Hmm, they could be of some use there. I get in my truck and drive to wherever and sell those suckers for as much as I could get for them. Why should people have a problem with me maximizing my return on my risk? To ANY capacity?

There's nothing stopping anyone from making a go at it. For me I don't have the money nor time to do it, but weather you participate or not (on either side of the issue) I don't think anyone has the right to tell you that you can't do it. For the reason the same people would most likely not just give you money of you received a spoiled/damaged case of suns on the last possible day...nor should they.