Importing Shisha To Sweden

[Kapten Kanel]

I'm about to order some shisha from mnhookahs and are wondering some stuff, i MUST avoid being hit by tobacco taxes or else i will have to torture myself or something, or i could just send the order back

1. Does it matter how much shisha i order? As if they check packages that weigh much more often?

2. Does it matter if i order some coals and a hose at the same time or would that be stupid? Like the package gets bigger = checked by customs?

3. Should i avoid express mail? Does express packages get checked more often?

Argh i have more questions but my brain is melting, anything else i should think of and is worth mentioning?

/Kanel

[mattarios2]

I'm about to order some shisha from mnhookahs and are wondering some stuff, i MUST avoid being hit by tobacco taxes or else i will have to torture myself or something, or i could just send the order back

1. Does it matter how much shisha i order? As if they check packages that weigh much more often?

2. Does it matter if i order some coals and a hose at the same time or would that be stupid? Like the package gets bigger = checked by customs?

3. Should i avoid express mail? Does express packages get checked more often?

Argh i have more questions but my brain is melting, anything else i should think of and is worth mentioning?

/Kanel

Everyone who has bought internationally from mnh and has told them to help them out with customs has never had a problem AFAIK, I am sure if you talk to Tarik and Ramsey they will take care of you.

[Balthazar]

Don't know if you saw it, but I did answer your questions in my Hafa-thread some time ago. I'll paste it here, just in case:

Arent you afraid of getting hit by tobacco taxes? I live in sweden and i think we have similar taxes, the tax for 1 kilo of shisha would be around 350$ or something here. Im gathering the courage to import some shisha myself but i wonder if it would be best to order a big or a small order, does smaller packages have less risk of being checked or something? Sry for going a little OT here but...

Yup, we've got about the same taxes. In Norway there's a tobacco tax of just about 2,5 NOK for every gram of tobacco. So 1 kg would mean roughly 400$ in taxes. Also, you're not allowed to import more than 250g of tobacco in one shipment unless you have special permission. Anyways, this is useless information seing how we don't want it to be identified as tobacco-products. I have probably made between 10 and 20 international orders in the last year, not one of them has been taxed. The amount of shisha in each order has varied between 500g and 4kg. I know some other people from the Norwegian hookah-community (which consists of like four people), and as far as I know not one of them has had their shisha taxed.

I don't know why. My first expectation would be that the packages were not seen as "suspicious" when entering the country, but my last orders have all been stopped for examination. Yet none of them has been taxed. Yet almost every shisha-brand has the word "tobacco" in fairly large letters on their boxes, so it shouldn't be that hard to figure out that it's an ingredient. My only logical answer is that the people working with customs and taxing are a part of some secret hookah-club. Either that or altruism.

Still, to be on the safe side there are some things I always ask the vendors I use when I place my orders.

1. Check the "gift" box
2. Don't set the value any higher than 35$ (This is because of a ridicilous tax we have to pay on any package worth more than 200NOK entering Norway, don't know what the limit is in Sweden)
3. Hand-write the USPS Declaration Dispatch Note (makes the whole "gift" thing seem more likely to be true)
4. Don't mention the words "tobacco", "shisha", "hookah" or similar on the package or the USPS Note (If I order a hookah I usually tell them to use words like "decorative vase" and with shisha "molasses" or "food samples")

Also, I think it's best to use the cheapest and slowest shipping option available.

Oh, and even though my orders has never been taxed I still feel safest when ordering from MNH. Although pretty much any vendor will help you out (and I have nothing but good things to say about goothookahs or nazar, too) they always seem to go the extra mile. They're the only vendor I've dared to order more than 1kg of shisha from. Edited October 14, 2008 by Balthazar

[Kapten Kanel]

mattarios2: Thanks! Man , mnhookah has alot of fans

Balthazar: Thanks alot for the info, i must have missed your first post. Feels alot safer now! Now i just have to decide which shisha and flavour i want, that will take some time
Some tangiers is a must, orange soda and blueberry seems really popular. Hmmm...maybe some fantasia, or some starbuzz, maybe some al fakher..... Edited October 15, 2008 by Kapten Kanel

[mathias1211]

mattarios2: Thanks! Man , mnhookah has alot of fans

Balthazar: Thanks alot for the info, i must have missed your first post. Feels alot safer now! Now i just have to decide which shisha and flavour i want, that will take some time
Some tangiers is a must, orange soda and blueberry seems really popular. Hmmm...maybe some fantasia, or some starbuzz, maybe some al fakher.....

im from norway too, not much active guys on the forum sadly. check out my new page hookah-shisha.piczo.com

[drabin]

1. Check the "gift" box

correct me if I'm wrong but if a vendor does this isn't he/she breaking a law?

[chinamon]

correct me if I'm wrong but if a vendor does this isn't he/she breaking a law?

no. many people buy birthday gifts for people online.... or christmas gifts... or graduation gifts.... or any gift for that matter.

[mushrat]

Please remember you are asking mnh to do soemthing that is technically illegal and could get THEM in a lot of trouble. You may want to reconsider discussing such matters openly as certain companies are already on watch lists in the UK.

Don't want ot kill the goose and all.

[Johnny_D]

Please remember you are asking mnh to do soemthing that is technically illegal and could get THEM in a lot of trouble. You may want to reconsider discussing such matters openly as certain companies are already on watch lists in the UK.

Don't want ot kill the goose and all.

As someone in the uk I can tell you that there is some truth in what MushMeister says.

[drabin]

correct me if I'm wrong but if a vendor does this isn't he/she breaking a law?

no. many people buy birthday gifts for people online.... or christmas gifts... or graduation gifts.... or any gift for that matter.

faking a gift is illegal. lulz

[the_cool]

Please remember you are asking mnh to do soemthing that is technically illegal and could get THEM in a lot of trouble. You may want to reconsider discussing such matters openly as certain companies are already on watch lists in the UK.

Don't want ot kill the goose and all.

As someone in the uk I can tell you that there is some truth in what MushMeister says.

Are there any companies to avoid for international/UK shipping?