Northerner shipping directly from Sweden...ONLY...per email and check of the site

[rickcharles606]

Here is my mock order for 2 rolls of Granit.

Granit, 42g, Loose Snus

20

$73.88

Points Spent

$0.00
Points Earned

$0.00
Subtotal

$73.88
Shipping

$39.30

Gift Cards

$0.00

Grand total

$113.18


OK - so now I am at $5.65 a can and I havent even paid federal or state tax yet. In a word, this is INSANE. The shipping charges and the collection of taxes were my primary reasons for using Northerner. I love the speed of the UPS service but I would rather pay less and get my snus order in a week or two. I do have a feeling this is the end of snus in America as we know it. I would not feel good about trying to turn someone on to snus only to have them find out they have to pay their left nut just to get the product delivered. Hopefully, General will gain enough of a foothold here to want to stay. Only then, will snus have even a small chance of making it here.

LOL, now that is crazy high. Again...I don't know what's going on with NOrtherner, but this doesn't have a single thing to do with the success of snus in the US. There are much bigger players involved than Northerner, and they have no bearing on whether or not snus takes off in the us. The small number of people that buy snus from ALL the online vendors, is just a drop in the bucket of what's sold in the US. Snus in the retail channels (brick and mortar) has gained ground every single year that it's been here, and will continue to do so.

Now I'm not saying that the "new" shipping prices aren't bad, just that they don't mean the end of snus in the US. If they outlawed online snus sales in the US tomorrow, where do you suppose you'll go buy your snus? Locally.

[GoVegan]

I agree with you to a point Rick but locally all I can get is General. Not liking mint or wintergreen that leaves me with original portions. The gas station I go to has never heard of los before and the clerk look puzzled when I showed him a can of Ettan. Now don't get me wrong here. I like General and I am glad to be able to get it but I am already getting bored with it. It was the online vendors that offered us variety and a way to add something different to our routine. Those online vendors have been dying a slow death since PACT. High shipping costs will be the final nail in their coffin.

[rickcharles606]

I agree with you to a point Rick but locally all I can get is General. Not liking mint or wintergreen that leaves me with original portions. The gas station I go to has never heard of los before and the clerk look puzzled when I showed him a can of Ettan. Now don't get me wrong here. I like General and I am glad to be able to get it but I am already getting bored with it. It was the online vendors that offered us variety and a way to add something different to our routine. Those online vendors have been dying a slow death since PACT. High shipping costs will be the final nail in their coffin.

I can't stress this enough, keep hounding your local retailers to carry snus. Give them my number 606-625-2295 tell them that I'm the OTP Category Manager for Kretek International/Phillips & King, many of them already buy from us and adding our Thunder, Jakobsson's, Oden's, Offroad and even the Northerner Brands is pretty easy.

For those of you that have already given me your local shop's info...give it to me again, and I'll have my sales guys call them again. Every trade show that passes, and every month that goes by, snus' awareness grows with the retailers. The reason why is almost every market analyst predicts snus to be a massive part of the smokeless tobacco category in the next 5 years and they put it out regularly. You have to remember that these very same retailers continue to lose revenue on smoking products, and are looking for a way to replace that revenue. OTP(Other Tobacco Products) is the fastest growing category in tobacco, and snus is smack dab in the middle of the OTP category ;-)

[UsualSnuspects]

I just got my local B&M tobacconist to order Oden's Extreme Loose -- they showed me their new Kretek catalog with all the brands you mentioned, Rick. I hope the rest of the Odens line will also be available soon!!!

[GoVegan]

I wish it were that easy. No one has ever heard of Kretek here. Most of the stores and gas stations are locked into an exclusive agreement with their distributors and will have to pay more for all of their tobacco products if they order outside of them. The local tobacco shops are only interested in carrying General and their prices would even make Bill Gates blush. Hopefully, that is just the way it is in my area and not nationwide.

[Premium Parrots]

I live in a faily rural area but there is an upscale cigar shop 1 block away from me. I tried getting them to carry any snus but they refuse. I suppose they prefer to sell their $1500 cigar lighters and $3000 humidors instead. The only cigarettes they sell are the really expensive brands that any normal person has ever even heard of. Dip, chew, snus, normal cigs....hell no.

Rick you know the shop I'm referring to.

[rickcharles606]

I wish it were that easy. No one has ever heard of Kretek here. Most of the stores and gas stations are locked into an exclusive agreement with their distributors and will have to pay more for all of their tobacco products if they order outside of them. The local tobacco shops are only interested in carrying General and their prices would even make Bill Gates blush. Hopefully, that is just the way it is in my area and not nationwide.

Okay, they may not know who Kretek is BUT they know who Phillips and King is, and Kretek owns P&K. Also, all those "other" little distributors that supply your shops, buy product from Kretek. Our company sells to over 1000 other distributors in the country, including all the big boys ;-) Keep pushing and get me the info, and we'll make it happen brother ;-)

[rickcharles606]

I live in a faily rural area but there is an upscale cigar shop 1 block away from me. I tried getting them to carry any snus but they refuse. I suppose they prefer to sell their $1500 cigar lighters and $3000 humidors instead. The only cigarettes they sell are the really expensive brands that any normal person has ever even heard of. Dip, chew, snus, normal cigs....hell no.

Rick you know the shop I'm referring to.

Yep, those people were less than friendly, but they'll come around too. Eventually...everyone will. Resistance is futile ;-)

[GoVegan]

Okay, they may not know who Kretek is BUT they know who Phillips and King is, and Kretek owns P&K. Also, all those "other" little distributors that supply your shops, buy product from Kretek. Our company sells to over 1000 other distributors in the country, including all the big boys ;-) Keep pushing and get me the info, and we'll make it happen brother ;-)

I will work on it. If anything, I will try to see if the Mexican Food Market in town would be willing to carry it. They seem to be receptive to their customers.

Thanks Rick.

Also, looking back on my Northerner mock order, I noticed that I would also receive 7 gold points upon completion of my order. I am not sure what 7 gold points are good for at Northerner but I am guessing at least 2 cents.

[jagmanss]

Yep, those people were less than friendly, but they'll come around too. Eventually...everyone will. Resistance is futile ;-)

Hahahaaa Nice one Rick....Love It!

[Bigblue1]

Hahahaaa Nice one Rick....Love It!

Yeah I'm liking Rick's determination. And I never meant that all Distribution in the US had failed but it seems that Northerner failed at it. That wasn't your fault Rick. I think they just expected shit to be too easy and they would succeed instantly with no precedent. Most business owners will tell you that shit takes time and you better be prepared to lose money before you ever make any, unless of course you have a really good cocaine hook up, that shit sells itself, but I've never met a coke dealer who hadn't or wasn't prepared to do time. So I guess what I was aying is that Northerner shoulda just kept doing what they did. It's never a good thing to be the first one to jump into Murky water. Never Know what's down there....

[GoVegan]

I think the problem is that most people still have no idea what snus is or they think it is dip. I am not sure how they could have marketed snus better. General had sample packs just about everywhere and Northerner was eager to add any store willing to sell their product. You can't really advertise as their are severe restrictions on tobacco ads. If you tried to market snus as an alternative to smoking, I am sure the FDA would have you in court as fast as possible. When I first tried snus, it was easy. For less than $30, I could have a huge package shipped to my house with many different brands to try. If I found something I liked such as Granit mini's, about $50.00 would bring 2 rolls of it right to my mailbox. Snus is already at a disadvantage. It's too bad that the tobacco people could not go in together on a lobbyist and work to get the ban on mailing tobacco through USPS removed. USPS already has an adult signature required option for just a few bucks and their shipping charges are much less than UPS. I also think that things would be much different today if Camel would have at least made Swedish snus an option in the beginning.

[devilock76]

Maybe this site needs to convert itself to a private site dedicated to tobacco horticulture as well as trading.... and processing techniques and tricks....

Ken

[GoVegan]

Maybe this site needs to convert itself to a private site dedicated to tobacco horticulture as well as trading.... and processing techniques and tricks....

Ken

or maybe a site on how to quit using tobacco.

[UsualSnuspects]

or maybe a site on how to quit using tobacco.

or maybe a site on how to quit selling tobacco.

FTFY