Buying for Someone Else: The New Proxy Purchase Rules

From 29 October 2026 it becomes a criminal offence for an adult to buy nicotine pouches on behalf of anyone under 18. This is known as proxy purchasing, and it carries the same penalties as selling to an under-18 directly — a fixed penalty of £200 in England, Wales and Scotland, £250 in Northern Ireland, and up to £2,500 on summary conviction.

Most coverage of the 29 October changes has focused on what retailers must do. This one applies to ordinary adults, which is why it is worth setting out plainly.

Key takeaways

• From 29 October 2026, buying nicotine pouches for an under-18 is a criminal offence
• The penalty is a £200 fixed penalty notice in England, Wales and Scotland
• In Northern Ireland the fixed penalty is £250
• Summary conviction can mean a fine of up to £2,500, or £5,000 in Northern Ireland
• The offence applies to the adult making the purchase, not only the retailer
• It applies to all consumer nicotine products, including zero-nicotine vapes
• Retail staff are expected to be alert to suspicious purchase patterns
  

What is proxy purchasing?

Proxy purchasing is when someone legally old enough to buy an age-restricted product buys it on behalf of someone who is not. It already applies to alcohol and tobacco. From 29 October it applies to nicotine pouches.

The rule covers the transaction regardless of how it is framed. Buying a can for a 17-year-old friend, a younger sibling, or a colleague's child is the same offence whether money changes hands or not. Our guide to what changes for buyers on 29 October covers the wider set of measures.

What are the penalties?

The same scale applies to a retailer who sells to an under-18 and to an adult who buys on their behalf. There is no lesser tier for the proxy purchaser.

Why is this being introduced?

Because without it, an age of sale is straightforward to circumvent. The experience with alcohol and tobacco is that age restrictions only work when both sides of the transaction carry a consequence.

Until 29 October, nicotine pouches had no statutory minimum age of sale at all in the UK. They contain no tobacco leaf and no e-liquid, so they fell outside both tobacco and vaping legislation and were covered instead by general product safety rules. The Tobacco and Vapes Act closes that gap, and the proxy purchase offence closes it properly rather than partially. Our legal guide sets out the full framework.

What does this mean in a shop?

Government guidance tells retail staff to be alert to proxy purchasing and to watch for patterns that suggest it — an adult buying immediately after a refused sale, for instance, or buying while a younger person waits nearby.

In practice that means you may be asked a question you were not asked before, or a sale may be declined even though you are visibly over 18. That is the retailer protecting themselves against a £2,500 fine, not an accusation. Expect Challenge 25 to be applied more consistently from October onward.

Does it apply to online orders?

Yes. Age restrictions apply equally to online retailers, and the proxy purchase offence applies to the person placing the order regardless of channel.

Ordering to your own address and passing the product to someone under 18 is the same offence as buying it in a shop for them. Age verification at checkout confirms the buyer's age; it cannot confirm who ultimately receives the product, which is where the offence sits. Our age verification page explains how the checkout check works.

What about adults buying for other adults?

Entirely lawful. The offence is specific to purchasing on behalf of someone under 18. Buying for a partner, a housemate or a colleague who is over 18 is unaffected, and nothing in the Act restricts how much an adult may buy for their own use.

If you order regularly for a household, there is nothing to change. Our guide to where to buy nicotine pouches in the UK covers the channels, and the combo range lists multi-can options.

What else changes on the same day?

Three measures take effect together on 29 October 2026.

1.       A minimum age of sale of 18 for all consumer nicotine products, including pouches.

2.       A ban on free distribution — no free samples, giveaways or promotional handouts.

3.       A ban on vending machines dispensing nicotine products, with narrow exceptions.

A separate consultation on packaging, flavour names and retail display closed on 2 October 2026, with no decision yet published. Our guide to the consultation covers what was proposed.

Where CLEW stands

CLEW sells nicotine pouches only to adults aged 18 and over and applies age checks as part of the purchasing process. That has been the position since before the law required it, and nothing about it changes on 29 October.

The eight flavours and four strengths in the CLEW range are unaffected by any of these measures.

CLEW sells only to adults aged 18 and over. View the range.

Nicotine is highly addictive. CLEW Pouches UK products are intended for adult users (18+) only. They are not suitable for non-smokers, those under 18, pregnant or breastfeeding women, or anyone with a medical condition that could be affected by nicotine. Do not chew or swallow the pouch. If in doubt, please consult a healthcare professional.