Some Movement From Paypal

I placed an order last night with no issues, but...

Notice--PayPal payment method will be suspended for most e-cigarettes items: FastTech Forums

Notice--PayPal payment method will be suspended for most e-cigarettes items

Dear valued customers,

We're very sorry to inform you that PayPal officially revised the Acceptable Use Policy regarding e-cigarette related products, transactions involving most of the e-cigarette products will be prohibited from now. Other payment methods such as cryptocurrencies and gift cards are not affected. Non-e-cigarette products on our website are also not affected.

Paypal claims that e-cigarettes belong to activities requiring approval. But the fact is there is no way we can get the pre-approval after confirming with Paypal.

We are currently connecting with new credit card payment processors and will try to get them online asap.

At the same time, we will keep communicating with PayPal at all times. Once there are any further updates of this policy, we will make an announcement.

We apologize for any inconvenience that this change may cause, and thank you all for your understanding and continued support.

Please do not hesitate to contact our customer service if you have any questions, as we will be very happy to assist you with anything you need.

Best regards,

FastTech Team  

Got this email from Sourcemore at 2:01 this morning and thought I'd post it for those who aren't subscribed to their newsletter emails.

"Important Notice About Payment Methods - Sourcemore"​

"You should have heard of the ban of PayPal towards all vape-related payments.
Unfortunately, our PayPal account was just restricted. We are unable to use PayPal to make or accept payment any more. Our balance is frozen for up to 180 days.
We have to remove PayPal from our website.

New payment methods such as Credit Card will be added ASAP.
Please check us back in a few days for further information.
You may also write to us if you want to get the latest update: service@sourcemore.com.
We will make sure to contact you once the new payment methods are online.

If you have any suggestions or questions, please let us know.

Thank you so much for you trust and support all the time.
We believe we will overcome this together!"  

Just last Saturday I placed an order on Health Cabin and was able to pay via PayPal. However, last night I placed another order for items that were out of stock on Saturday. I placed my order, received the email confirmation, and info. that my order was pending payment, which has been usual since probably January. (There had always been instructions given then...about how to sort of "get around" PayPal's vape policy and still pay that way). I went back to HC to pull up my order and pay for it that same way, but found only Western Union as a payment option now. So, I contacted Support at HC. I just got the following email from them about paying for my order.

"Thank you for you big supports to HealthCabin.
Unfortunately, out of PayPal new policy to vaping related websites, we have to remove PayPal from our site now. You can see many vaping sites have removed PayPal about 1-3 months ago.

Now, we are sourcing new payment options and we will put them online in coming 2-3 weeks.

Right now, there are 2 options to process the payment:
1. Pay with Western Union, you can pay online or visit WU banks locally.
Check their website for more info: https://www.westernunion.com/us/en/home.html

2. Pay with deposit. For this option, you may send us money via bank wire transfer. We require minimum $200USD per transaction. Once payment received, we will add them to your account deposit, and you can use them to pay for future orders. We will show all detailed info about your deposit updates and happy to send you a receipt with our company official seal.

Let me know your thoughts, thank you."

I responded and definitely let him/her know my thoughts about it.

So, our options are steadily dwindling even more.  

PayPal responds to Internet fury over its new terms of service

PayPal User Agreement: New TOS lets company call and text you anytime | BGR

Well, if I cannot opt out, I will be closing my account. This will interfere with some transactions for me, such as possible classifieds here. I may just close it even if they do let us opt out. When they tried similar Bill Me Later terms of service conditions, I closed my account, and told them why. Just the fact they think they can get away with this, ticks me off to no end.  

Well...it looks like US buyers' chances to buy vaping products from Chinese vendors and pay with PP...is likely coming to an end. I was just browsing Heaven Gifts again and the following jumped out at me. They have none of the major CC options listed for payment either. Glad I got in an order earlier last week and it was shipped already.

I now wonder how long before other Chinese vape products vendors will post something similar.

https://www.heavengifts.com/article/Suspension-paypal.html  

Because of items in my cart I can’t use PayPal or use a credit card. How do I make a payment?  

Copied from another group.
With permission

I am the owner of Sapphyre Nicotine. I have been in the e-cig and vape business since 2009. This post is a little long but hopefully it is informative for some.

In 2009 the FDA started seizing shipments of electronic cigarettes under the claim that they were drug delivery devices and therefore need to pass FDA approval prior to being marketed and sold in the USA. The industry was just starting out and this was a big blow. Shipments of product were not allowed to enter the USA. Credit card companies were not allowing ecig companies to work with them. It was not looking good for ecigs. A company called Smoking Everywhere sued the FDA and made the argument that ecigs should be regulated as a tobacco product since they contained nicotine which is derived from Tobacco. Njoy joined the litigation and eventually took over when Smoking Everywhere went out of business. In 2010 Njoy won the litigation and ecigs ended up being regulated as tobacco products. This was the best outcome of two evils. The FDA appealed the decision and lost that as well. That’s when the ecig industry really started taking off. Bigger players got into the market and eventually RJR, Altria/Philip Morris, BAT and other big tobacco companies came out with ecig products. They quickly became the dominant sellers in c-stores. The tobacco companies were happy selling tobacco and menthol flavors only. That’s what they knew and that’s what they were good at.

A few years later eliquids and open systems started getting popular. These products were not very popular in c-stores. That is when vape stores started opening up. They were mainly concentrating on open system (eliquids, mods and great tasting flavors). For a short time c-stores tried to sell eliquids, but they didn’t have the know how or the time to educate customers. C-stores were good at selling closed systems and vape stores were good at open systems.

To the uninformed public we are all lumped in as one industry --- electronic cigarettes.

In reality there are 2 different industries that are somewhat related.

A) The ecig/closed system industry: In the USA as of Sep 2019 is a $6.4 billion industry. It is controlled mostly by big tobacco companies. Juul (Altria/PM), Blu (Imperial Tobacco), Vuse (British Tobacco, formerly RJR), Njoy (only independent supplier), Logic (Japan International). 75% of ecigs are sold in C-Stores, drug stores and food stores. As a comparison, regular cigarette sales in the USA are around $80 billion dollars and about 75% comes from c-stores.

While ecigs sales increased at a 40% year over year rate, regular cigarette sales dropped by 7% year over year. That is a large number that is troubling to big tobacco.

The closed system industry sells primarily tobacco and menthol/mint flavors. If flavors were banned it would not impact the industry very much. The companies selling closed systems are not going to join our fight to save flavors. They have no monetary incentive to do so. In addition all of these companies are going to apply for PMTA. They are not going to sue the FDA and risk getting PMTA approval unless it greatly impacts their business.

The vapor/open system industry: In the USA as of sep 2019 is a $2.6 billion industry. It is NOT controlled by a few large companies. There are a lot of hardware and ejuice suppliers. It is mostly sold at adult only vape stores. $1.7 Billion sold at vape stores, $350 million in c-stores and $550 million online. Lots of suppliers, distributors, small businesses are part of this industry. They mostly sell flavored eliquid as opposed to tobacco and menthol flavors.

Having been involved with both the ecig business and the vape business, I can say that they are completely different. The vape industry is getting punished for crimes committed by the ecig industry. Unfortunately we are being lumped in as one. We are the easier one to target. We need to do a much better job getting this message out.

I would also like to make a point regarding zero nicotine flavors being regulated by the FDA. The reason our industry is regulated by the FDA as a tobacco product is because the eliquid contains nicotine. This is the only reason the FDA has authority over these products. Because zero nicotine ejuice does not contain nicotine, it is no longer a tobacco product. While the FDA is going to try and enforce regulation of zero nicotine ejuice as a tobacco product by using the “intent to use” rationale, that argument is simply not valid. The FDA will also not be able to regulate zero nicotine ejuice as a drug/drug device combination either. Ejuice with no nicotine does not cause a change in the body and therefore will not be classified as a drug. This is only my educated opinion. I am not an attorney and am not making any legal claims.

I hope this was somewhat informative to people that have not been involved with ecigs and vapes as long as I have. Feel free to add, correct if you have information that I missed.

Feel free to share  

Ok, so here is an article from the Health governor.. (what documentation do i need exactly to prove its not harmful so i can get a permit to get my stuff)
Spoiler- I had my subtank & mvp 3.0 in my hand and thought im free from the sticky sticks, then disaster struck

KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Ministry of Health today announced that there is no ban on e-cigarettes contrary to earlier reports.
On Monday the Jamaica Customs Agency said that it had halted the clearance of electronic cigarettes from the wharf under instructions from the health ministry.
However the Ministry is advising that the product, which contains nicotine, is not banned but requires registration and a permit to be imported into the island.
Acting Permanent Secretary, Dr Kevin Harvey said that under the Food and Drugs Act the regulation of the e-cigarette which contains a liquid, nicotine-filled replaceable cartridge is in keeping with the requirements for other nicotine products.
“Nicotine products such as gums and patches have always been registered in Jamaica and a permit issued before they can be imported.
“The Ministry does not presently have any requests or submission of information from any individual or company to register any e-cigarette product. It therefore means that there is currently no approval for importation of these products in the island,” he said.
Dr Harvey explained that over the past three years approximately four formal requests were made for permission to import e-cigarettes. However, the applicants failed to follow up their requests with the documentation required to process the applications.
“As the Minister of Health indicated, we are willing to have dialogue and work with any supplier which now has products at Customs or in the process of shipment to have the requisite registration completed and permit issued,” Dr Harvey said.
He assured that the Ministry of Health stands ready to register e-cigarettes once the appropriate documents are presented in keeping with standard practice and the requirements of the Food and Drugs Act.  

And so it begins......

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration said Wednesday it plans to ban the sale of non-tobacco-flavored electronic cigarettes amid a vaping crisis.

“The Trump Administration is making it clear that we intend to clear the market of flavored e-cigarettes to reverse the deeply concerning epidemic of youth e-cigarette use that is impacting children, families, schools and communities,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement. “We will not stand idly by as these products become an on-ramp to combustible cigarettes or nicotine addiction for a generation of youth.”

Michigan became the first state to prohibit sales of most flavored e-cigarettes last week in a bold move to curb the underage vaping epidemic. The ban, which will take effect in a few weeks, will cover both online and in-store sales of all e-cigarette flavors except tobacco.

Trump administration plans to ban sale of flavored electronic cigarettes  

Vaping companies are required by the FDA to provide a Premarket Tobacco Product Application (PMTA), which will include scientific data to show a product is appropriate for public consumption. Manufacturers have until Sept. 9 to submit their application, failing which their products will be pulled from the market. Once an application is submitted, companies can keep selling their products for a year from the date of deadline, without official approval, or until a negative action is taken by the FDA.

It seems juul has applied, any other brands？