How Mr. Snuff Became a Leader in Online Tobacco Sales

In late winter, the chilly Kansas weather had kindly snowed me in. I woke up early one morning to talk to someone rather big in the industry. The snuff industry in particular.

A company based in the Isle of Man, Mr. Snuff.

I sat down on a voice call to speak with the owner, Mr. Snuff. His wife–and business partner–Mrs. Snuff also joined the conversation. I learned a great deal about what it takes to be a major online snuff vendor. The information provided insight into the complexities involved in being one of the largest in the world.

Madison: Who founded Mr. Snuff, and how did you get in the game?

Jonny: In 2008, my older brother originally founded the company in Canada. Mr. Snuff was eventually moved to the Isle of Man. My brother was tired and wanted to move on to his next adventure. So, two years ago, I took the reins as Mr. Snuff.

Jonny, having only a limited experience in snuff, only have tried stronger snuff his brother had him try. “My first snuffs felt like they were stabbing me in the face. It was painful!” So, he was limited in snuff experience. Kay recounts the story of that time period. Originally, they had been vaping. Until one day she had spotted a tin of Gletscher Prise, and, when they tried it, it was game changing.

Getting rid of the vapes, and replacing it with the fine, delicious smelling nasal snuff.
Johnny and Kay both, came up with an idea to build trust in their consumers. They got a series of snuff experts together on Reddit. And they sent them tins of every, single variety of snuff.

Have them sample it. Note how it was ground, its scent, and the experience. Include the nicotine strength. Then, have all of them fill out a form and compare their findings. So they can make sure to put in a correct product description. So what you read, is the common agreements across several experts, and not just “printed on the tin.”

Jonny was very excited to tell me that he really likes seeing people’s collections of tins. He especially loves when someone sees the warehouse and that he joyfully says, “This is MY snuff collection!” I could almost see the big grin on his face as he said this. He feels proud of the choices available. He jokes about how he’d be a terrible cartel empire. He often grabs a tin from inventory for himself. Sometimes, he also takes one for Mrs. Snuff.

He had his work ahead of him in taking over Mr. Snuff. There were thousands of SKUs, a warehouse full of snuff, and pouches. Additionally, there was no real system in place. He faced significant tasks: Revamping the site, building up the catalog and creating a more streamlined look. He needed to make sure the user interface was visually appealing. He also had to develop several sister sites for those looking for their dedicated fix. For those on the Isle: Oden’s pouches are available from the UK shop. White Fox and Mr. Snuff are ideal for the international markets.

Madison: “What has been the biggest challenge you faced you didn’t expect.”

Kay (sighing): “UGH. Customs! Customs and shipping are a headache, and
things (as well as the solutions for them) are constantly changing. A lot of shipping companies will not even deal with snuff or any tobacco, for that matter.“

They are kept on their toes. One day can start perfectly nice. Then, a package comes back to them. They have to enter crisis mode, jumping through paperwork hoops and the red tape that goes with it. They do this just to make sure goodies arrive to their intended destinations.

Shipping worldwide is no easy feat.

Madison: What’s your long-term goal with snuff?

“I don’t think it’s gonna die, our goal is to reverse the trend for bringing back snuff. We will never go to just pouches. We have a community to serve. We are business people. Yet, we want to be there for our people. We strive to do the best we can for them.”
The team wants to feed the info from the testers to an AI interface. This will give recommendations to people. Becoming an online, 27/7/365 tobacconist, tailoring to each customer.


Final Takeaways:

Mr. Snuff is the go-to brand I’d recommend any day of the week for your snuff or pouches needs. I feel this will be a brand everyone in the community will know for a long time to come.

If you look through Reddit, you’ll find many loyal customers. And Mr. Snuff has a very wide variety of snuff to choose from. The largest assortment out of any other online retailer. Pricing was their “Achilles heel” for a while, according to Jonny. But he has put in the work to offer the widest variety of snuff available at competitive prices. Now, it is the least expensive market to get snuff from online.

Jonny also interacts with people on Reddit, and the other social networks in which he takes part. He takes the time to get to know the community. The product, and the manufacturers.

Mr. Snuff has proven to be a merchant who cares about his customers, and the tobacciana community.

Their care is illustrated when a package takes longer to arrive due to a country’s customs. Jonny and Kay get frustrated. The reason for their frustration is because their customer has to wait for their order. They offer free shipping. They do this no matter how many times they have to send it. To them, their customer is more important than their bottom line.

Gratefully Mr. Snuff has generously supplied me with various types of snuff, as well. This was done in consideration for providing 100% unbiased reviews on this blog.

Editor’s note: Some portions of this interview have been edited for clarity. Madison. You owe your editor some coffee...and a donut.