Australian Tabacco. Crazy Expensive. Import options?

[Robster]

Hi all,

I WANT to get a pipe and get into the groove of pipe smoking. The thing that's keeping me at bay is the cost of tabacco in Australia.

AVG price of AUD$40 to AUD$50 for 50g is between $800 and $1000 a Kg and that's NOT cheap. I'm not sure of the cost in other countries but I know Germany is about $8 for the same amount of tabacco. That's a HUGE difference.

My question is, does anyone here import into Australia from other countries (privately for private consumption) and if so, is it cheaper etc, or do you have to pay import duties and whatnot?

Any advice really appreciated. Feel free to PM me if you'd prefer, here is also fine of course.

Rob

 

[Commander Quan]

Rich at 4Noggins.com is used by a lot of nonUS guys because of his favorable shipping practices. I have placed an order from him to have shipped to AU and it got there in about 2.5 weeks. I'm told if you keep the contents below 250gr it has a better chance of arriving without being noticed.

 

[the_edski]

Rich at 4Noggins.com is used by a lot of nonUS guys because of his favorable shipping practices. I have placed an order from him to have shipped to AU and it got there in about 2.5 weeks. I'm told if you keep the contents below 250gr it has a better chance of arriving without being noticed.

Rob,this is beyond my depth of knowledge. I would trust Derrick if I was you. He really knows his stuff and hasn't steered anyone wrong!

 

[Robster]

Thank you so much. Looks like great pricing... I'll make contact, much appreciated.

 

[Legion]

There are no cheap importation options. Australian customs will be onto it like white on rice. When they hit you with duty and fees it will be more expensive than buying locally. Trust me on this. Cheap tobacco is not possible in Oz.

Risk it if you like, but... too many here have tried and failed. I feel obliged to warn you.

 

[Mark1966]

See Customs website here or you can download their factsheet from here.

 

[Robster]

Thanks everyone for the great responses. A bit iffy I'd say. I may have to wait for a friend / relative who's traveling to get me some good stuff duty free....

 

[Argonaut]

Move to the states, or the provinces.

 

[Robster]

Move to the states, or the provinces.

...but then... I'd not be living in paradise anymore...

 

[Jeff C]

There are no cheap importation options. Australian customs will be onto it like white on rice. When they hit you with duty and fees it will be more expensive than buying locally. Trust me on this. Cheap tobacco is not possible in Oz.

Risk it if you like, but... too many here have tried and failed. I feel obliged to warn you.

Wow, that is really, really harsh. Most countries I have been to as a tourist have a duty free amount, either based on price or volume (e.g., 200 cigarettes or 1 liter of booze, etc.) but Australia does not. There is a general duty free amount of AUS$ 1000 but that does not apply to alcohol or tobacco. This seems a bit hypocritical and protectionist since the last time my dad was in Australia he had a cart load of Australian wine shipped to him. Just don't try to send something from somewhere else back to Australia. If every country had that mentality, there would not be a market for Australian wine outside Australia.

Oops I meant to quote to the Australian customs links not the previous post.

 

[CptBlueBear]

My question is, does anyone here import into Australia from other countries (privately for private consumption) and if so, is it cheaper etc, or do you have to pay import duties and whatnot?

Any advice really appreciated. Feel free to PM me if you'd prefer, here is also fine of course.

Rob

I do it regularly and it's not difficult.

When it hits customs they will send you a demand for the duty. This will be somewhere around $500 a kilo all up (duty, GST, etc). Pay The Man his money and they send it on to you. Even paying the duty its still marginally cheaper to order from OS. You pay all that tax on what you buy locally, after all.

Besides, since the plain packaging laws came into force I've not even seen any pipe tobacco for sale locally, although people on another forum tell me that Dr Pats is available again. Not that I've looked hard because, well, I order from OS regularly.

 

[Legion]

There was one member (I can't remember whether it was this shaving forum or another) who imported a box of expensive Cuban cigars. In the search for "contraband" customs cut each of the cigars in half to look inside.

 

[spoonman]

Everything already said matches my personal experiences. I've ordered pipe tobacco and cigars from the US and they have got through without a problem, but I have been stung on a few bottles of single malt whisky from the UK - but even after paying the duty, it was still cheaper than buying them here. The other problem with pipe tobacco is that the range available in Australia is very small, so even if you do have to pay duty it might be worth it to get some tobacco you can't get here.

 

[CptBlueBear]

There was one member (I can't remember whether it was this shaving forum or another) who imported a box of expensive Cuban cigars. In the search for "contraband" customs cut each of the cigars in half to look inside.

Yeah, I remember that - it was here and a couple of years ago. That was absolutely gutting. From memory it wasn't Aussie customs that did it and they had photos to prove it. Customs aren't stupid: if they damage your goods they know they will be liable for a claim for replacement.
Making our Feds buy a box of cigars to replace one they damaged would just be too ironic

Cigars are actually a much better deal buying OS than pipe tobacco. I buy Montecristos and Cohibas from some guys in the Canary Islands. They cost about $7 and $12 each respectively plus about $7 a stick in tax. Locally they are $24 and a mind boggling $40+. And the local vendors have the hide to blame it on the tax.

Everything already said matches my personal experiences. I've ordered pipe tobacco and cigars from the US and they have got through without a problem, but I have been stung on a few bottles of single malt whisky from the UK - but even after paying the duty, it was still cheaper than buying them here.

Another customer of The Whisky Exchange? We had a nice little game going for a bit over a year. Every month The Whisky Exchange would ship a great big carton labelled "glassware" to a mate's work address and every month customs would fail to send us a bill for the duty.

Sadly, that game is over (and thus I figure safe to talk about) since the ICAO reclassified anything above 20% ABV as "dangerous goods".

 

[spoonman]

Another customer of The Whisky Exchange? We had a nice little game going for a bit over a year. Every month The Whisky Exchange would ship a great big carton labelled "glassware" to a mate's work address and every month customs would fail to send us a bill for the duty.

Sadly, that game is over (and thus I figure safe to talk about) since the ICAO reclassified anything above 20% ABV as "dangerous goods".

Haha, yep love TWE. That was a fantastic gig you had going, I bet you ended with a nice bar out of that.

 

[john.bradburne]

well canada has pretty crazy tobacco prices as well, i dont reccommend anyone try to sneak tobacco across the border but I will say I order alot of "sports memorabilia" and "candles" from the states