US Vape Mail Ban - USPS/FedEx/UPS/DHL

[Myrany]

USPS might not be able to open most packages but US Customs CAN. Last I checked most vape gear comes into the US from outside. Once the vape mail ban comes into effect Customs can detect it and refuse to hand it off to USPS who cannot then deliver it anyway. So keeping orders from outside the US small in value is probably a wise course. If your package is caught in that net then you are not out much.

We do not know when the mail ban will be enforced. It could be tomorrow or next month or next year. Given how long it takes to get an order from China it is entirely possible that the ban is not in effect when you order and enforced when it arrives in the US.

I have other issues with the new legislation. One being the record keeping required. As such I made sure I was done with all my buying long before the effective date. That is me though. Y'all can make your own decisions.

 

[Opinionated]

USPS worker mentioned that they are not allowed to open up any boxes by law.

They don't have to open it to know whether or not the shop who is shipping sells "ends" products.

Element Vape
EightVape
Vapor dna

And the list goes on... they know what is being shipped, no one is so stupid as to think Vapor DNA, for instance, might sell something other than vape gear.

Not only that, but if there happens to be penalties for shipping vape gear, no vape shop is going to chance shipping anyway. You might care to risk penalties for answering "yes" to the question is it legal to ship this, but no self respecting company will.

 

[CloudyFutures]

They don't have to open it to know whether or not the shop who is shipping sells "ends" products.

Element Vape
EightVape
Vapor DNA

And the list goes on... they know what is being shipped, no one is so stupid as to think Vapor DNA, for instance, might sell something other than vape gear.

Not only that, but if there happens to be penalties for shipping vape gear, no vape shop is going to chance shipping anyway. You might care to risk penalties for answering "yes" to the question is it legal to ship this, but no self respecting company will.

They sell face masks and batteries.

 

[MLEJ]

They sell face masks and batteries.

They also don't necessarily use their names on their shipping labels. i recall E-Cig Mafia's saying "Fulfillment Center - ECM" or something like that, for example.
Regardless, @Opinionated is right ... There are penalties and any businessperson would be very unwise to take such risk.
Sellers outside the US, though, would probably only be risking having to re-ship or refund stuff if Customs grabs a package.

 

[CloudyFutures]

They also don't necessarily use their names on their shipping labels. i recall E-Cig Mafia's saying "Fulfillment Center - ECM" or something like that, for example.
Regardless, @Opinionated is right ... There are penalties and any businessperson would be very unwise to take such risk.
Sellers outside the US, though, would probably only be risking having to re-ship or refund stuff if Customs grabs a package.

Right. My packages rarely say who the shipper is.

But what are we even talking about? The OP was saying to break up orders. I was saying, you don't have to do that. In fact, I think it is a horrible idea.

We are not talking about a ....... bust here. All the packages are postmarked with a date. When the hammer finally comes down they are not going to just start confiscating random packages. "Like O Hey. There are 3 packages here. I think I'll keep that one with the cute heart on the box." No, they are going to look at the date if anything and say "Ok, this was shipped after enforcement date xyz"

the only thing you are doing by breaking up the orders is making it harder for everyone else to get their packages before doomsday. These vaping companies are already having a hard enough time keeping up with orders. To the extent that we have shipping delays because they can't fulfill fast enough. Now you want to break your order up into 3x packages. Well, you just multiplied the delay x3. Cause they got to pack and print 3 shipping labels and run around looking for more bubble wrap.

Besides, these vape companies are not going to do anything illegal. As soon as the enforcement comes they will switch your packages over to "X Delivery".

 

[Opinionated]

They sell face masks and batteries.

Even the batteries we use are considered ends products when sold for the purpose of vaping... even our cotton is.

Which means a vape shop can't ship anything without risking penalty after the final rule is given.

 

[YoursTruli]

Sellers outside the US, though, would probably only be risking having to re-ship or refund stuff if Customs grabs a package.

Every seller outside of the US I have seen, bought from, Fasttech included, clearly state they are not responsible for products confiscated, so you order at your own risk of loss product/money.

 

[CloudyFutures]

Even the batteries we use are considered ends products when sold for the purpose of vaping... even our cotton is.

Which means a vape shop can't ship anything without risking penalty after the final rule is given.

This is all irrelevant since we can both agree that these companies are not going to do anything illegal and risk penalties.

Lets also take "X Delivery" out of the equation because it also makes this irrelvent.

Lets say u are 100% correct. These vape businesses are about to go out of business because they are only online. I think they are more likely to rebrand and sell their remaining stock as a crafting shop. Selling batteries, facemasks, needles, syringes, organic cotton yarn. etc...

 

[Opinionated]

This is all irrelevant since we can both agree that these companies are not going to do anything illegal and risk penalties.

Lets also take "X Delivery" out of the equation because it also makes this irrelvent.

Lets say u are 100% correct. These vape businesses are about to go out of business because they are only online. I think they are more likely to rebrand and sell their remaining stock as a crafting shop. Selling batteries, facemasks, needles, syringes, organic cotton yarn. etc...

Many have already gone out of business, others are in the process of it, and others either never were geared to vaping or adjusted so they weren't already.

There's a lot of stuff we use that we don't buy from vape shops - batteries, cotton and more... some people may try for one stop shopping, but they've never had to, and many of us never did (I dont trust batteries from a vape shop, for instance)

but within the U.S. if you stocked up on dedicated gear, you'll never have to order from a vape shop again.

 

[Shadav]

This is all irrelevant since we can both agree that these companies are not going to do anything illegal and risk penalties.

Lets also take "X Delivery" out of the equation because it also makes this irrelvent.

Lets say u are 100% correct. These vape businesses are about to go out of business because they are only online. I think they are more likely to rebrand and sell their remaining stock as a crafting shop. Selling batteries, facemasks, needles, syringes, organic cotton yarn. etc...

that may or may not work, really just all depends....if they've already marked you as an ends seller....even "rebranding" isn't going to help as they already know what you are selling....

case in point recently some of us ordered flavorings from river supply co, now they are no longer a nicotine supplier...however when charged the name on their account is NR Tobacco Product
so they've already been deemed as a tobacco product (granted that's more than likely the name they opened their business account with, but nonetheless they are already deemed a tobacco product seller)
so in the upcoming mail ban, anything shipped from them would probably be flagged, even though they changed their name and there's no nicotine or tobacco products, it's only flavorings but in the past they did sell nicotine, and their parent company still sells nicotine b2b.

 

[SlowTalker]

Anyone know is there is a logjam at the LA port? I've had 2 packages sitting there for mote than 10 days - one from Health Cabin and one from FT - and am getting nervous.

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

Anyone know is there is a logjam at the LA port? I've had 2 packages sitting there for mote than 10 days - one from Health Cabin and one from FT - and am getting nervous.

My 2 FT orders (DHL Ecommerce) that were delivered recently lingered 10 and 12 days in LA once tracking showed released from customs.

 

[Str8vision]

Anyone know is there is a logjam at the LA port? I've had 2 packages sitting there for mote than 10 days - one from Health Cabin and one from FT - and am getting nervous.

Yes, cargo ships have been backed up waiting in queue at the port. This has been going on for a very long time with ships experiencing a wait time of a week or two. "Pandemic buying" and the fact we manufacture very little so import nearly everything have contributed to the backlog. Last I heard the L.A. port was offloading just shy of 900K containers per month. This represents a -massive- increase in imports supposedly caused by people staying at home and buying more stuff on-line. Looks like China is receiving a sizable portion of those stimulus checks...

 

[CloudyFutures]

Yes, cargo ships have been backed up waiting in queue at the port. This has been going on for a very long time with ships experiencing a wait time of a week or two. "Pandemic buying" and the fact we manufacture very little so import nearly everything have contributed to the backlog. Last I heard the L.A. port was offloading just shy of 900K containers per month. This represents a -massive- increase in imports supposedly caused by people staying at home and buying more stuff on-line. Looks like China is receiving a sizable portion of those stimulus checks...

The Bill was actually a present to China.

 

[Z-Lee]

Anyone know is there is a logjam at the LA port? I've had 2 packages sitting there for mote than 10 days - one from Health Cabin and one from FT - and am getting nervous.

I've had packages sit at both LA and IL for close to 2 weeks, sit tight. Also, many of the ones from IL didn't show a release from customs until it was "out for delivery" and sitting on my doorstep. All of the tracking sites have been quite poor at updating the package locations (USPS, Aftership, 17track). I update them daily and there'll be no update for like a week or two, and then it'll show all of the activity between from the last update to where it currently is all at once.

 

[SlowTalker]

Thanks guys. All tracking for these two says is that they have arrived. I'd feel a lot better if they were through customs, but I suppose everyone is playing a waiting game.

 

[CloudyFutures]

Thanks guys. All tracking for these two says is that they have arrived. I'd feel a lot better if they were through customs, but I suppose everyone is playing a waiting game.

Waiting for what?

 

[Shadav]

saw this on fb

 

[SlowTalker]

Looks like it's the tracking that's backed up. Shows both still sitting in LA but one of them hit my mailbox today. It had a new label that had it coming from LA with a USPS tracking number (original number in small print). Perfectly legal as common drop-shipper practice, but in this case it threw tracking for a loop.

BTW - USPS CAN open packages. I was standing in line at the PO one day and watched them open a package that was shipped media mail but was suspiciously crunchy, so they opened it up. It was a blank VHS tape packed in what looked like dried mushrooms.

 

[Territoo]

Looks like it's the tracking that's backed up. Shows both still sitting in LA but one of them hit my mailbox today. It had a new label that had it coming from LA with a USPS tracking number (original number in small print). Perfectly legal as common drop-shipper practice, but in this case it threw tracking for a loop.

BTW - USPS CAN open packages. I was standing in line at the PO one day and watched them open a package that was shipped media mail but was suspiciously crunchy, so they opened it up. It was a blank VHS tape packed in what looked like dried mushrooms.

Media mail is the exception about USPS opening packages. You send it by media mail, they can open it to see if it qualifies.