Smoke and vape shop website: useful and on the right side of the rules

People visit a smoke shop's website for a few quick answers. Are you open right now, maybe late at night? Where are you? Do you carry what they're after? What do they need to bring? A good site answers those in seconds.

A smoke shop's site also has rules to follow that most businesses never think about. Tobacco, vapes, CBD and kratom are adults-only and closely regulated, and to federal regulators, a page showing them is advertising. In October 2026 we opened 19 independent shop websites in 10 states, on a phone and on a computer. We found health claims, missing nicotine warnings, vape brands that can't legally be sold, and "dab rig" and "420" wording. Each of these can get a shop in trouble. This guide goes through what to show, what to leave off, and the steps for each.

This isn't legal advice. The rules differ by state and town, and several change at the end of 2026. Check with your state's tobacco and hemp regulators, and a lawyer if you're unsure.

Show your hours, late nights included

People search for smoke shops "open now", "open late" and "24 hours". Most of the shops we looked at stay open until 10 pm or later, but only 3 of 19 showed their hours on a phone's first screen.

• Click Business info in the left menu and set your Regular hours for every day of the week.
• Add Holidays and special hours ahead of time, so nobody drives over at 11 pm to a locked door.
• Put an Open today section near the top of your home page. It says whether you're open right now.

See Business info and hours.

Make calling one tap

Stock changes all the time, so many customers call to ask "do you have…" before they drive over. Only 5 of the 19 sites had a phone number people could tap on a phone's first screen, and 3 had none anywhere.

1. In Business info, check your Phone. Type it the way you'd say it, like (828) 555-0142.
2. Click Menu in the left menu. Under Header button, turn on Call bar on phones.

Put your street address in Business info too, and add an Hours & location section with a map to your contact page. See Add a call bar on phones.

Say plainly that you're 21+ and check ID

Federal law sets 21 as the minimum age for all tobacco and vapes, and requires a photo ID check for anyone under 30. Saying so up front saves wasted trips and shows you run things by the book. The best line we saw was "We sell tobacco, nicotine and hemp products to adults 21+ only. Valid ID required in every store."

• In Business info, add it to your Tagline, like "Smoke shop in West Asheville · 21+ only, ID required". It shows in your footer on every page.
• Make a store rules page: click Pages, then New page, and start from Basic page. Cover age and ID, whether people under 21 may come in, returns and faulty devices, and that you sell in the store only. Under Footer links in Menu, add a link to it.

Some sites show a "Yes, I'm 21" pop-up when the site opens. The law doesn't require one for a site that doesn't sell online, and a click isn't age verification. Your site doesn't have one, and the line above does the job better, because it never hides your hours and phone number.

List what you carry, by category

People ask "do smoke shops sell cigars", "…grinders", "…nicotine pouches", and search for "glass shop", "hookah shop" and "pipe tobacco". Add a Services section titled something like "What we carry", with one card for each category: glass and pipes, cigars, pipe tobacco, hookah and shisha, papers and accessories, vapes and e-liquids. Use a photo of your own shelves, and end each card with "Ask us what's in stock."

Keep it to categories:

• Don't name or show vape brands, flavors or prices. Only a few dozen vape products are authorized by the FDA. The disposables most shops carry aren't, and the FDA has fined retailers for selling them. Three of the sites we looked at named them.
• Don't list nicotine products in Lists › Products. A product with a photo and price is an ad, and it needs the warning below.
• Cigars and glass can name the makers you carry as plain text, like "Arturo Fuente, Oliva and Drew Estate".

Your bigger categories can have their own page, like "Cigars in Asheville". Click Pages, then New page, and start from Service page. See Add a page.

Leave out health claims

This is the rule shops break most. Five of the 19 sites made some kind of health claim. One said "QUIT SMOKING TRADITIONAL CIGARETTES NOW". Another said a CBD product "Helps you sleep", and three talked about CBD "wellness".

• Tobacco and vapes: never say "safer", "healthier", "cleaner", "light", "less harmful" or "helps you quit". Federal law treats any of these as a claim that needs an FDA order first. No vape is approved to help people quit.
• CBD and hemp: describe the form, like "tinctures and topicals", not what it does. Leave out sleep, pain, anxiety, stress and relaxation. Federal regulators have gone after CBD sellers for exactly these claims.

Whenever AI or anyone else drafts text for you, read it for these words before you publish.

The nicotine warning

Federal rules require this warning on ads for vapes, e-liquids, nicotine pouches, pipe and hookah tobacco and other nicotine products, and they name web pages:

WARNING: This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.

The rule also says how it must look: at the top of the ad, in a bordered black-and-white box, taking up at least a fifth of the space. Our editor doesn't have a box like that built in. You have two choices:

• Keep nicotine products off your site, apart from naming the category. This is the simplest choice, and it's what we suggest.
• If you want pages that show nicotine products, ask for a warning box in AI changes, which shows you a price before anything is built. As a minimum until then, put the warning in your Announcement bar (it fits in the 90 characters): in Business info, turn on Show announcement, type the warning in Message and leave the dates empty. See AI changes.

Describe pipes and glass for tobacco

Federal law treats a pipe as drug paraphernalia, or not, partly by how the seller describes and advertises it. "420", "710", "dab rig", "weed", a cannabis leaf or a discount for medical card holders all point the wrong way. That's true even in states where cannabis is legal. Nine of the 19 sites used words like these. Describe your glass as glass art, water pipes and pipes, and say "for tobacco use".

Say what you don't sell, too. Lots of people search "smoke shop that sells weed". A line in your FAQ like "We don't sell marijuana" saves you the calls.

Hemp THC, delta-8 and kratom: wait before featuring them

The rules for these are changing right now:

• Hemp THC: on December 11, 2026, a new federal definition of hemp takes effect. Products with more than 0.4 mg of THC per container, which covers most delta-8, THCA and THC gummies, will no longer count as hemp. Products with lab-made cannabinoids are out from November 12, 2026.
• Kratom: the DEA has temporarily scheduled some kratom-related compounds and proposed doing the same for 7-OH. State rules vary.

One site we saw led its home page with "Blue Razz" 7-OH tablets under a "SALE" sign. Don't feature these products on your site without checking your state's rules first, and take them down if the rules change.

Nothing that appeals to kids, and no smoking photos

Regulators act against tobacco marketing that looks like it's aimed at kids. Texas made it a crime in 2025 to advertise vapes whose packaging shows cartoons, candy, juice or celebrities, or vapes made in China, which is most disposables. Keep these off your site:

• cartoons and mascots
• candy colors and flavor names like "Blue Razz" or "Cotton Candy"
• young-looking models
• people smoking, vaping or blowing smoke. Three of the 19 sites had someone exhaling a cloud in the opening banner.

Don't sell online through your site

The online store can't be used for tobacco, vapes, CBD or pipes. Stripe, which runs it, restricts tobacco and vapes and doesn't allow pipes and other items for using drugs. Selling nicotine online also needs an ID check when ordering and an adult's ID and signature at the door, and some states ban it outright. See Sell products with the online store.

Say "In-store only" plainly in your FAQ. One shop's site said "We do not ship or deliver vapor products" in one place and promised "nationwide shipping" in another, so read your text for leftovers like that.

Deals, rewards and events

• Rewards: customers search for "smoke shop rewards". Add a Photo + text section that explains how to join and what members get. If you have a sign-up link, add it as the section's Button.
• Deals: deals on glass and accessories are fine. Some cities ban coupons and multi-buy deals on tobacco, so check yours first. Free samples of tobacco products are banned federally, so skip vape giveaways. If you post a deal as a news post, take it down when it ends. See News posts.
• Events: cigar nights, glass shows and artist visits go in your Events list, and they drop off by themselves when they're over. See Events.

Show your reviews

Almost everyone reads reviews before picking a local business, and most want reviews from the last few months.

1. Add your best recent Google reviews to your Reviews list, with the date and where they came from.
2. Add a Reviews section to your home page, and a Highlights section with your rating and count, like "4.8★ · 340 Google reviews".
3. Paste your Google review link into Leave-a-review link in Business info, and turn on Show a "Leave us a review" button.

Pick reviews about your staff and selection. A review that talks about what someone smoked, or says you didn't card them, becomes your own advertising once it's on your site. See Reviews.

Photos

Your own photos do more than stock photos, and they keep you clear of trouble. With your phone, take:

1. The front of the shop with the sign, in daylight, and at night with the open sign lit if you're open late
2. Your glass cases, lit and tidy, from a few steps back
3. Your humidor or cigar shelves
4. Your team at the counter, with nobody smoking or vaping
5. The 21+ and "We Card" signs at your door
6. Where to park and the entrance

Until you have your own, Free photos has good ones for "cigars wooden box close up", "open sign shop window night" and "dried tobacco leaves". Skip searches like "vape shop" and "rolling papers": the results show people vaping, brand names and cannabis. See Free photos.

Answer the questions customers ask

Add an FAQ section. Questions smoke shop customers ask most:

• Do I need to bring ID? Can someone under 21 come in with me?
• Do you carry a certain brand or product?
• Can you hold an item for me?
• Do you ship or deliver?
• Do you have a rewards program?
• Do you have a humidor? Do you carry local glass artists?
• What if my device stops working, and can I return something?
• Do you take old vapes and batteries?

In Lists › FAQs, Suggest questions drafts more from your own site. See Use suggested questions.

On Google

Keep your hours and categories the same on your site and your Google Business Profile. Use Smoke shop, Tobacco shop or Vaporizer store as your main category, plus Cigar shop or Hookah store if they fit. Google's rules don't allow tobacco prices, deals or a way to buy in your profile's posts and photos, so post about hours, events and new glass instead. Google doesn't allow ads for tobacco, vapes, pipes or papers either, so your profile and your site are what bring people in.

Tips

• Your first phone screen should hold today's hours, your phone number, your town and "21+ only, ID required". Logos and slogans can come after.
• Read your site every few months for anything out of date, like a giveaway that ended, a product your state no longer allows or a brand you stopped carrying. One shop still had its April giveaway "active now" in October.
• Check your old web address too. Of 31 smoke shop addresses we found in directories, 12 were dead, parked or for sale, and one now shows a gambling site. Make sure your Google profile links to your current site.