Following congressional passage of the “vape mail” ban that will end U.S. Postal Service shipping of vaping products to consumers, UPS has joined Fedex in announcing it too will end shipping of vapes. The ban covers shipping to both consumers and businesses.
“Effective April 5, 2021, UPS will not transport vaping products to, from, or within the United States due to the increased complexity to ship those products,” a company spokesperson told Vaping360 by email. The policy, which will soon leave no major shipping service willing to deliver vaping products to homes, has left online vaping retailers scrambling to find a solution.
The announcement followed days of uncertainty, with some vaping businesses being told that their accounts would be closed, and others being reassured that the company’s tobacco and vapor product policy would not change. (The UPS website has still not amended the policy.)
Fedex had already confirmed that it will end vapor product shipping as of March 1. DHL, the other major shipping service, previously banned domestic retail shipments of e-cigarettes and all nicotine-containing products.
The new law, which was inserted into the federal Omnibus Spending Bill, mandates that the U.S. Postal Service create regulations within 120 days banning U.S. Mail delivery of vaping products—whether they contain nicotine or not. The bill was so broad that the wording includes all vaping products, including all cannabis, CBD, and flavor-only liquids and devices.
The Postal Service has not issued its new rules yet. Existing USPS regulations allow manufacturers and distributors to ship cigarettes and smokeless tobacco to each other, but not directly to customers. If those rules carry over to vaping products, vape shops will still be able to receive products, but individual customers will be unable to receive deliveries at home.
In addition to banning USPS deliveries of vaping products, the “Preventing Online Sales of E-Cigarettes to Children Act” forces vape product sellers into the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act, which is part of the larger federal Jenkins Act. The PACT Act imposes a series of stringent requirements on shippers of included products:
Sellers who do not register or don’t comply with the requirements of the PACT Act are subject to severe penalties, including prison. The PACT Act provisions of the law take effect in late March, and apply to all online sales, no matter which carrier ships them.
You can read our previous coverage of the “Preventing Online Sales of E-Cigarettes to Children Act” here:
This is bullshit. This is helping me to get off of cigarettes which are very expensive. I really can not afford them. I have been lowering my niccotine in increments so I won’t be addicted anymore. This makes me very angry. I can not believe that the government can do this . The US government is really becoming a dictator bannana republic style of government and has gotten out of our control. We need to to throw the crazy senators and representives out asap and take back our country back while we still can. This is our country and we… Read more »
I agree frank….especially with this pandemic alot people are afraid to go out and buy what they need. I usually order hemp by mail. So this crap affects me too. SMDH
A lot of people are looking at ways of getting around this. Meanwhile, learn to make your own e-liquid. It’s not hard.
Thats exactly what I plan on doing, I already know how to, it just a matter of procuring the ingredients.
How do you make your own e liquid?
This article will get you started.
I’ll be stocking up. I already have probably 6 months to year’s worth of juice. Time to stock up on salts. More bang for the buck.
Between me and my wife we have about 1000 buck worth of ejuice, so now I just have to stock up on coils and nic. Because where I live the vaoe shops had to get rid of all the flavors, they can only sell tobacco, menthol and flavorless.
Getting nicotine will be though
You have at least two months to buy all the nicotine you can freeze. I’m not saying this is a real solution—most people can’t afford to buy large quantities of nicotine—but it can help many.
So I heard that they won’t be shipping to businesses either? Like my head shop, vape shop won’t be getting shipments in?!?! Is that correct?
UPS and Fedex will not. USPS rules haven’t been issued yet, but they look doubtful for shipments to retail stores too. However, there are people working hard to come up with solutions. We’ll have an article about it in the next few days.
They are trying to shut down the vape industry, which has helped countless people quit smoking, it really it a f—— shame. Sorry for the language but I’m very passionate about this issue and I’m from New York so I think I get a pass.
What I am doing.
Tell me more about freezing nicotine please. I use 100mg/ml base . I had np idea you could freeze it.
First, I’m not an expert. You should really investigate DIY sites and DIY discussion groups in forums like ECF and Reddit.
My understanding is that it never freezes solid, but that extreme cold helps preserve the potency of the nicotine longer (it does decline very slowly over time).
I’ve bought this MTH 480mls of 200mg nicotine base
& I have 3litres of eLiquid
No supplier will sell straight free base to people who are not legal e juice manufacturers, and no mail carrier will ship nic suspended in either pg, vg, or both.
You’re saying this will be the case after shipping restrictions take effect, or now? Because there are lots of online nicotine retailers in full operation now.
Remember theres a pandemic so people cant afford to stock up and “freeze” it. But no lets give drug addict the chance to legally have heroin or whatever crap and free methadone in oregon at least but lord forbid anyone vapes! This puts alot of people in struggling positions. Not being able to be sent any vape product will shut my husbands shop down and that shop is what pays the rent and puts food on the table for my kids. So yea im pissed off.
I understand everyone can’t afford to order a lot of nicotine, but some people can, and I want them to understand that option is available. I don’t blame you for being upset—I am too—but other drug users aren’t to blame for nicotine vapers’ misfortunes.
I just ordered 1 liter of 100mg nic .. was 67 shipped to my door .. 1gallon is 159 plus shipping.. maybe after I use up this I can just wean my self completely off of nic completely .. or start flying to arizona by a 55gal drum and renting a car one way to drive it home lol
Can you list some online retailers that are allowed to ship within NY? It’s hard finding new places to order from, and there are no vape shops by me. Looking to get unflavored high concentration to mix my own. Thanks for this site, btw.
I believe it’s illegal to ship vaping products (at least retail e-liquid; I’m uncertain about plain nicotine) in New York.
You can find DIY nicotine sellers by searching Google for “nicotine base,” and will have to contact them to see how they handle shipping to New York State. You may also find the answers looking at DIY forums on ECF, Reddit or E-Liquid-Recipes.com. Good luck!
I normally order materials to make my e-liquid at home. Will sites that supply VG/PG/Nicotine/flavors be hit by this?
I’d certainly be concerned about nicotine base. PG, VG and flavorings can’t be restricted.
All vape supplies are going to be banned, including the coils that are used in the tank with the e-liquid.I just spoke to the place where I order mine and was told it’s including everything, including 0 nicotine. You need to check, but I’m told nothing that is used in vaping will be sent to businesses or consumers. Luckily they offer DIY kits that are extremely easy to use, will buy a year’s worth and hope lawmakers come to their sense. I have been off cigarettes for 5 years after starting the vape (low nicotine %),am 64 and haven’t felt… Read more »
This bill was passed and signed into law by the Trump administration. So I don’t understand trying to shift the blame to Democrats. It took members from both parties to pass this and Trump had veto power so he had the most influence in the process.
This bill passed the Senate on a voice vote. Not a single Republican opposed it. This isn’t just the Dems.
Well it looks like we’re done then. I can’t see any way forward from here. Contacting congressmen clearly does no good, as I have done so many, many times and they do not care what we want. This is disgusting.
BIG TOBACCO WANTS YOU BACK.
So now their taking our right to chose away from us. Thought this was the US where we have a choice in what we do…. I vape and now there telling me basically I can’t that Bs and shouldn, t be left up to the gov To force people like me to stop. This effects not just online vape shops but local stores too. If they don’t get the shipments then they go down too.
What an absolute crock of s*** these people do not care about our kids or us. So we find a healthier alternative to smoking, and they ban it because they are losing money. Wow what a great country we live in.
Maybe time to run for the border .. buying nic in mexico .. imagine sneaking nic across the border lol