Legal
Age policy
Nicotine pouches are for adults. This is how we apply that.
Who we sell to
Pouch Empire sells tobacco-free nicotine pouches to adults only. Nicotine is an addictive substance. These products are intended for adults who already use nicotine. They are not for sale to anyone below the legal age for nicotine products where they live, and they are not for use by non-users of nicotine, or by anyone who is pregnant or breastfeeding.
Why we do not simply say “18+”
The minimum legal age for buying nicotine products is not the same everywhere we ship. Saying “18+” would be wrong in the markets where it is higher, so what we ask you to confirm is that you are of legal age in your own location. We hold the minimum age for each destination we ship to, and we limit the shop to destinations we are able to sell into; the confirmation itself is yours to make, and the judgement about an order is made by a person before it is dispatched.
The three checks
- At entry. The first time you visit, the shop asks you to confirm you are of legal age to buy nicotine products where you live. The answer is stored in a cookie set by our server for 30 days. Declining leaves the shop closed: the notice stays over every page, and our server refuses the requests that add to a basket or start a checkout from a browser that has not confirmed. The cookie holds nothing but the fact that the question was answered — no date of birth, no identity, no age.
- At checkout. You confirm again, as a required tick, immediately before the order is placed — the server rejects the order without it, with or without JavaScript. Checkout also refuses any destination we do not ship to, which is the list on our shipping page.
- Before dispatch. Every order is reviewed by a member of our team before it leaves us, and an order cannot be marked dispatched until that check is recorded against it. Where an order cannot be verified we cancel it and refund in full.
What we do not do
The first two checks are declarations you make, not verifications we perform. A tick is not proof of age and we do not describe it as one anywhere on this site. We run no automated identity or document verification, we ask no third party to confirm who you are, and we do not store dates of birth. The third check is a person reading the order before it leaves us, and it is recorded against the order so that it can be audited.
If the law that applies to a destination requires stronger verification than the checks above, we will not ship there until we can carry it out — the destination list is enforced in our checkout and can be changed per country.
Buying for someone under age
Buying nicotine products on behalf of someone under the legal age is an offence in many of the places we ship to. Do not order for anyone who is not old enough to buy for themselves. We will cancel any order we believe is being placed for a minor.
Reporting a concern
If you believe an order has been placed by or for someone under age, tell us and we will stop it. Email info@pouchesempire.com.
See also Terms, Privacy and Shipping, which lists the destinations we ship to.