Where do tobacconists get their stock?

OldGoat

Every few days there is a post in here asking "Where will I find such-n-such a ciggy" and my stock reply would be "Just ask your local tobacconist and he'll get them for ya". In most cases that works and suddenly your local supplier has the brand you want.
Then I came to realise that I have no idea how tobacconists operate. Where do they source their products? Is there a catalogue available? Do they only stock what the reps show them? Can they order from abroad if they are licensed sellers?
Can they ask the Carrolls rep to supply ciggies from the British American Tobacco (parent company) range such as Lucky Strikes?

Just musing and trying to fill a knowledge gap here, no real panic about getting Luckys.

BeerNut

OldGoat wrote: »

Can they order from abroad if they are licensed sellers?

If the rules are anything like alcohol, they probably can but there's red tape around duties which probably mean setting up a bonded warehouse is the only practical way of doing it. There can't be any restrictions on importing tobacco products (other than snus) from elsewhere in the EU, but that's not to say it's easy to do, and there probably isn't much of a market for it.

OldGoat

I've assumed that there is already a bonded warehouse in existence for imports and that every licence holder has access to that. I'm probably being overly naive in that assumption.

nanook

Old giant, it's like alcohol. It is stored in bonded warehouses.

All vendor/importers have their own storage methods.

CrowdedHouse

AFAIK - out in the sticks anyway - they get the more popular brands direct from the company but slower selling ones are often bought from wholesale 'Cash & Carry'.

The problem with rarer brands is that they have to be packaged for specific countries ie Goverment warnings etc.

I used to smoke Camel without filters but was told at the time they stopped that they sold reletively few here so it wasn't worth their while packing them specially for Ireland.