Who we host Cigar stores
Hosting for cigar stores
USPS's own cigarette definition excludes cigars from the tobacco mail ban that reaches vapes and cigarettes. Platform policy rarely draws that line as plainly, which leaves a cigar-only store guessing. Here is what the mail rule and the platforms actually say.
- Sources linked, dated
- 0% of sales, ever
Who this is for
A cigar store, premium or everyday, with no vaping or nicotine e-liquid in the catalogue. For a cigar line, the processor and the gateway fee are usually the real friction, not the mail carrier; USPS's own rule already lets cigars through.
What platform rules do to a cigar store
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USPS mails cigars
USPS Publication 52, section 471, defines a “covered product” for its tobacco mailing restriction as a cigarette, smokeless tobacco or an electronic nicotine delivery system, and its own cigarette definition excludes cigars (pe.usps.com, Publication 52 §471). Cigars are not swept into the rule that stopped vapes and cigarettes.
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Shopify's public language doesn't name cigars either way
Shopify Payments' eligibility page prohibits “tobacco and related products” without naming cigars specifically, and says the list “isn't exhaustive” and varies by region (help.shopify.com, read 7 Oct 2026). The June 2026 ENDS notice that reached vape and e-cigarette sellers (documented on our Shopify notice page) was about electronic nicotine delivery systems specifically; we found no evidence it named cigars.
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Square's rule covers “age restricted products (e.g., tobacco)”
Square's Payment Terms, last updated 30 July 2026, restrict “internet/mail order/telephone order of age restricted products (e.g., tobacco)” (squareup.com). “Tobacco” as an example, not cigars specifically; read narrowly or broadly depending on the underwriter.
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Wix and WooPayments name tobacco broadly too
Wix Payments prohibits “Tobacco, e-cigarettes, e-liquids” (support.wix.com); WooPayments prohibits “Tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and vapes” (woocommerce.com). “Tobacco products” read plainly would include cigars; neither page carves out an exception the way USPS's mail rule does.
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BigCommerce leaves it to the merchant
BigCommerce's AUP names no product categories; its “Highly Regulated Products” clause puts the legality determination on the merchant and disclaims BigCommerce's own responsibility for it (read from commerce.com/legal-archives, 7 Oct 2026).
PACT Act filings are not something we or any platform handle for you
If your cigar line involves delivery sales that trigger PACT Act registration or reporting duties, that is between you and your counsel; we do not handle PACT Act filings for any store, and no platform listed on this page does it for you either.
What we host
Our hosting policy says it plainly: “Cigars. The USPS mailing restrictions on tobacco cover cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and vaping products, and USPS's own definition of a cigarette excludes cigars, so cigars still go in the mail. For a cigar store the processor and the gateway fee are the problem, not the host.” A cigar catalogue is hosted the way ordinary retail is; the gateway application is where the real underwriting happens.
What moving looks like
Export your products CSV
Including any age-restriction flags you already track.
Send it to the free dry run
A row-by-row answer, immediately for most catalogues. Start the dry run.
Start your gateway application early
A high-risk merchant account for tobacco commonly takes weeks to approve; the community advice other guides on this site repeat is correct here too.
Go live
Days, not months, once the dry run clears and your gateway is approved.
Honest limits
Billing is not switched on yet. No merchant is charged a cent today. Own-domain hosting is built into every paid plan but has not yet been proven end-to-end on an outside merchant's domain; ask, and we will tell you in writing where that stands. An age check that runs before payment, rather than after the order, is also not built yet; the hosting policy says so directly.
Questions
Are cigars banned the way Shopify banned vapes?
We found no evidence of that. Shopify's June 2026 notice addressed electronic nicotine delivery systems specifically. USPS's own cigarette definition excludes cigars from the mail restriction that reaches vapes and cigarettes.
Do I need a tobacco license to sell here?
That is a question for your counsel, not for us or for any platform. Whether PACT Act registration or reporting reaches your cigar line depends on how you sell and ship; we do not handle PACT Act filings for any store.
Which payment gateway works for a cigar store?
Your own Authorize.net account. A high-risk merchant account for tobacco is common and typically takes weeks to approve, so starting that application early matters more than anything on the platform side.
Can you block minors at checkout?
An age gate at checkout is available; an ID check that runs before payment rather than after the order is not built yet. We say this plainly rather than promise a control that doesn't exist.
What does moving actually look like?
Export your CSV, run the free dry run, start your gateway application early, and go live once both clear: days, not months.
Sources
- USPS Publication 52, section 471 (covered products; cigarette definition excludes cigars): pe.usps.com
- The PACT Act, registration and reporting duties we do not handle for any store: 15 U.S.C. 376, law.cornell.edu
- Shopify Payments eligibility, “tobacco and related products”: help.shopify.com (read 7 Oct 2026)
- Square Payment Terms, last updated 30 July 2026, restriction (24): squareup.com
- Wix Payments, prohibited products and services: support.wix.com (read 7 Oct 2026)
- WooPayments, prohibited and restricted products: woocommerce.com (read 7 Oct 2026)
- BigCommerce Acceptable Use Policy, Date of Last Revision 1 January 2025: linked from commerce.com/legal-archives (read 7 Oct 2026)
- Our own hosting policy, section 1
We are not affiliated with Shopify, Square, Wix, WooCommerce or BigCommerce. Their names are used only to describe their own public policies, each linked above.