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Vapes and nicotine products become explicitly 18+
Retailers must not sell covered vaping or nicotine products to anyone under 18.
UK online vape retailers · 29 October 2026
From 29 October 2026, retailers — including online retailers — must not sell vaping or nicotine products to under-18s. Add privacy-first age assurance to your online store with Checkify.
Official GOV.UK guidance is clear: these age-of-sale rules apply to online retailers too.
Don’t leave age assurance until the final week.
Focus on a clear, demonstrable age-assurance process for online purchases.
New vape and nicotine age-of-sale rules take effect across the UK — including online retail.
New vape and nicotine age-of-sale rules are now in force across the UK — including online retail.
Give yourself time to integrate and test before the rules take effect.
Use a clear age-assurance process to support your online sales controls.
Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026
A clear date. Clear rules for online and physical retail. Official guidance is published on GOV.UK.
Retailers must not sell covered vaping or nicotine products to anyone under 18.
Official guidance states the rules apply to retailers including online retailers — not only physical vape shops.
Before completing a sale, retailers need to be satisfied that the customer is 18 or over.
Selling to someone under 18 is a criminal offence. Enforcement may include a fixed penalty notice or prosecution.
In England, Wales and Scotland, fixed penalty notices for this offence are set at £200. Penalties can differ by nation — see official GOV.UK guidance.
Age assurance in the real world
Online, you don’t have a shop assistant standing in front of the customer. Your store needs another way to establish that the person buying is old enough.
Take a moment to reflect on your current process. This is not legal advice — it is a practical checklist before 29 October.
Take a moment to reflect on your current process. This is not legal advice — it is a practical checklist for stores selling online under the new rules.
If you’re reviewing your age controls before 29 October, Checkify gives you a privacy-first way to add age assurance directly into the customer journey.
If you’re reviewing your age controls under the new rules, Checkify gives you a privacy-first way to add age assurance directly into the customer journey.
Answers, not documents.
Your customer wants to buy. Your store needs an age answer. Keep the journey that simple.
Checkify is invoked at the appropriate point in the customer journey.
The customer completes the appropriate age-assurance process.
You receive the result you need to continue the purchase journey.
Not: Passport number · Date of birth · Home address · Identity document copies
Your store needs to know whether the customer meets the age requirement — not collect more personal information than necessary.
Not their passport. Not their address. Not a copy of their identity.
Add Checkify without rebuilding your store. Start with the platform you already run.
Give yourself time to integrate, test the customer journey and make sure your age controls work before the rules take effect.
Checkify helps you add a clear, demonstrable age-assurance step to the purchasing journey — without claiming a legal guarantee.
Choose your age-assurance approach
Connect Checkify to your store
Test restricted purchases and customer journeys
Be ready for the new rules
Keep controls working in live checkout
Get the answer required without unnecessarily exposing customer identity data.
Make verification part of the purchase flow rather than a manual process.
Where your store configuration allows, customers may reuse a recent verification instead of repeating unnecessary checks.
Designed to integrate with the systems online retailers already use.
29 October 2026
Your age-assurance plan shouldn’t be left until the last minute.
Make sure your online store has a clear age-assurance process.
Start preparing your online store now.
Review how age assurance fits your online purchasing journey.
Privacy-first age assurance. Answers, not documents.
Checkify provides age-assurance technology to support retailers’ compliance processes. It does not guarantee legal compliance or a statutory defence. Businesses remain responsible for understanding and meeting their legal obligations.