Shipping tobacco and vapor to consumers

Federal rules depend on the product

Cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco, smokeless tobacco and vapor products (ENDS) sold remotely to consumers are PACT Act delivery sales: the seller must register with ATF and each state, file monthly reports, prepay state taxes, label packages, keep each shipment at 10 pounds or less, verify age against a database before the sale, and require an adult signature with photo ID at delivery.

Cigars (as defined in 26 U.S.C. 5702) are expressly excluded from the PACT Act's definition of cigarette, and pipe tobacco is not a covered product. The federal PACT Act rules therefore do not apply to a cigar-only or pipe-tobacco-only online seller.

15 U.S.C. 375, 376, 376a Source

USPS: mailing ban and exceptions

Cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and ENDS are nonmailable, with narrow exceptions (intra-Alaska and intra-Hawaii, approved business-to-business or regulatory mailings, small noncommercial mailings by adults, and cigarette consumer testing). None of the exceptions covers routine online consumer sales.

Cigars are expressly excluded from the statutory ban, so USPS can carry them.

18 U.S.C. 1716E; USPS Publication 52, sections 471-473 Source

Private carrier policies

UPS carries tobacco product shipments only for shippers who sign an approved UPS tobacco agreement, and every shipment must use Delivery Confirmation Adult Signature Required, with signature by an adult 21 or older. UPS does not ship cigarettes or little cigars to consumers in any state, and no longer accepts vaping products for US domestic shipment, import or export. Under the UPS tobacco agreement, UPS serves tobacco shipments only to and from certain states and may drop a state without prior notice.

FedEx's US tobacco guidance says it prohibits shipping tobacco and tobacco products, listing cigarettes, cigars, loose tobacco, smokeless tobacco, hookah or shisha, vaporizers and e-cigarettes, even for licensed shippers.

DHL eCommerce (US) lists tobacco products, including cigars, and e-cigarettes as unacceptable shipments. DHL Express's US page lists electronic cigarettes and accessories as prohibited.

• UPS: agreement required, adult signature 21+, no cigarettes, little cigars or vapor to consumers
• FedEx: tobacco and vapor prohibited per its public guidance
• DHL eCommerce: tobacco, including cigars, and e-cigarettes not accepted

UPS, FedEx and DHL published policies Source

State example: California

California applies its own rules to anyone who sells or ships tobacco products, cigars included, directly to California consumers by mail, phone or internet. Before the first sale, the seller must verify the buyer is 21 or older by matching name, address and date of birth against a government-records database (or collect a signed attestation plus a copy of government ID), check that the billing address matches, call to confirm the order, ship only to the verified address and never to a P.O. box, label the box "CONTAINS TOBACCO PRODUCTS: SIGNATURE OF PERSON 21 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER REQUIRED FOR DELIVERY", and obtain a 21-plus signature at delivery.

CDTFA says an out-of-state seller engaged in business in California that sells cigars to California consumers must register as a tobacco products distributor, although it does not need a PACT Act account because the PACT Act does not apply to cigars. Products other than qualifying premium cigars, loose-leaf pipe tobacco and shisha must also appear on the Unflavored Tobacco List before a delivery seller may sell them to California consumers.

Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code 22963; CDTFA Industry Topics; Cal. Health & Safety Code 104559.1(o) Source

State example: New York

New York makes it unlawful for anyone in the business of selling cigarettes to ship them to any person in the state other than licensed dealers, export warehouses and government officials, and applies a parallel ban to nicotine vapor products, allowing shipment only to registered dealers and similar entities. The statute does not address cigars.

N.Y. Public Health Law 1399-ll Source

Age 21 and age verification

Federal law makes it unlawful for any retailer to sell any tobacco product to anyone under 21. This took effect December 20, 2019 and covers cigars, pipe tobacco, e-cigarettes and e-liquids along with cigarettes and smokeless. FDA says it inspects online as well as brick-and-mortar retailers.

FDA regulations require retailers to check photo ID showing date of birth for anyone under 30 (since September 30, 2024). For PACT Act products shipped to consumers, the statute adds a database check before the sale and an adult signature with photo ID at delivery. Many states add their own remote-sale verification rules, as California does.

21 U.S.C. 387f(d)(5); 21 CFR 1140.14; FDA Tobacco 21 Source