Its obviously written for public consumption, but it is all still true, so here is the announcement of the new site(s) going live. That is all four sites upgraded now, and for those following since I joined here, you will know this is the culmination of a few long standing ambitions - we have finally reached the starting line.
[cross posted from reddit]
Mr Snuff is now back online
We’re back! With a new and improved experience and lower prices, this update marks the beginning of a new era in Mr Snuff’s journey. Starting today, we are offering better prices, an ever-increasing selection of products, and continuously improving levels of convenience.
While the primary goal of this update was to establish a solid technological foundation for this new style of continuous improvement, we have also introduced some exciting enhancements to kick things off. Here are the highlights:
Key Enhancements
Blazing Speed: Faster loading times and smoother navigation.
Redesigned Menus: A more intuitive browsing experience.
Consolidated Product Pages: All sizes for a product are now conveniently located on a single product page.
Improved Product Grouping: Products can now be filtered by both brand and product type for easier searching.
More Bargain Bundles: Even more value with our expanded selection of bundles.
Permanent Overstock Sale Section: A rotating selection of heavily discounted products.
‘Notify Me When Back in Stock’ Feature: Stay informed about product availability.
Dynamic Pricing: We guarantee competitive pricing on all products we share with our competitors—rest assured, we won’t be beaten on price!
And that’s just the beginning!
What’s Next?
Looking ahead, we plan to introduce AI-generated product descriptions synthesized from our growing library of expert reviews, snuff specifications, consumer feedback, and extensive historical data. It’s time to eliminate inaccuracies and fluff. If this update was about bringing Mr Snuff into the present decade, our goal now is to propel it into the next.
Our mission is to provide you with the lowest prices, the largest product selection, and the most accurate independently sourced expert information available anywhere. We want you to choose your products with confidence - free from marketing nonsense - and have some fun doing it!
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask. I’m here to help!
One concern I have is product descriptions. Old descriptions had become woeful and often seemed unrelated to the products, but I’m not convinced these new descriptions are ideal as many seem to be an obvious AI mish mash of text gathered from less than accurate sources. I’m sure this will improve in time, but can’t help wondering to what degree, given the wealth of poor sources on the web.
I can’t remember if I invited you to join our working group that is putting together the snuff specifications. I know I reached out to all the gurus here. If you want to join, we would love to have you. That way, you could see what we are up to and help ensure what we produce is good enough.
All it involves is receiving free snuff in return for your honest opinion and the chance to make a real difference in the community.
I’ve had a good look through all the nooks and crannies . Here’s my thoughts
Pricing looks great . Even premium marques like SWS and Mullins and Wesley are in reach for the average shopper . I do still think you grossly undervalue your bulk sizes . Still way too cheap in my opinion .
I love the stock levels on display .
I miss the bulk section .
I like the tin selection , love the tapboxes . Some nice accessories building up . Will have to try a couple of tin sizes down the road . Something big enough to dump 20g Sharrow tins into .
I love the look of that new bundle but I do think it’s a bit misnamed . A toast , two dark plains and a fullbore schmalzer seems a bit adventurous for a beginners bundle . Maybe more an ‘intermediate’ level or the ‘managers special’ . It’s a lovely selection though .
10g Wilsons Bee M
5g Top Mill no 1
25g Poschl DoppelD
20g FnT HDT
25g Silky Dark
20g FnT Santo Domingo
10g Gletshurprise
Hanky
Empty tin
I wouldn’t throw that lot out of bed
I appreciate the offer, but time works against me and my contributions might not be particularly valuable. My previous comment should be considered on the basis that I post as I see and not as a comprehensive critique.
Here is what is involved: Take a pinch of snuff, open our standard snuff specification form on your phone, and fill it in. It takes maybe 10 minutes.
For that, you will receive one example of every snuff in our inventory, delivered for free in easy-to-manage batches.
The goal is to provide a range of truthful opinions to our AI, whose job will be to synthesize them into a single specification for each product. Armed with this distilled knowledge, it will then be able to differentiate good sources from bad and continue to learn effectively.
For what it’s worth, I have been a programmer for 40 years and have been involved in multi-objective optimization research as a sideline for much of that time. I am a published author of an evolutionary algorithm that represents some early steps in AI research. I have been a torch-carrying, glassy-eyed prophet of the coming technological singularity for decades.
I mention all this to heighten the impact of the following statement: I have been left slack-jawed in utter, stupefied amazement at what the latest engines are capable of. They are not just cut-and-paste machines; each week that goes by, they become appreciably more capable; therefore, if you can spot our descriptions—except by their accuracy and quality—then we will have failed.
The point remains, though: in order for our agent to get started on its journey to becoming a snuff expert, it needs human knowledge to bootstrap itself. Without this, it has little chance of self-reinforcing along the correct paths.
So we need independently sourced specifications from experts. The more we have per product, the better equipped our agent will be at producing genuinely accurate and useful results.
Anyway, the offer is an open one. Just let me know if you change your mind.
Thanks for the site check and comments. Also, are you really complaining the prices are too low? I want to hug you.
You miss the bulk buy section? That is interesting. It would be easy to get it back, and might give another nice permanent member for the bargain basement. Good idea.
I reckon the bulk containers are the rare jewels of your inventory …and you should be getting jewel money for them .
The way I see it , you sell them off too cheap and you’ re taking future custom away from yourself . There’s no point having a few deliriously happy customers who don’t need to spend any more money with you .
Get them on the the hook with cheapie small pots , then get paid a fair profit when they come back with serious strong money .
While I can bash out lengthy forum posts, I’m a straight to the chase type when it comes to product descriptions and firmly believe the average consumer has limited capacity for unnecessary information where purchases are concerned. To be fair, there will be many to whom broader pictures appeal, but I want scents, grind and moisture, without conjured images of the setting sun in Marrakesh or Middlesbrough.
While I can pinch snuff and give a reasonable assessment of those essential qualities, I’ve never been certain that my olfactory system is as keenly developed as that of many who post opinions about snuff.
I also disagree with @Pikey on pricing If you want to concentrate on the North American market those prices could go up, but if the aim is to not be beaten on price across the board I can see the logic in current pricing.
Also wanted to mention one thing I noticed when browsing. It is likely intentional that Dr. Rumney’s is grouped with Fribourg & Treyer, but I can’t help thinking that such grouping means smaller brands are likely to be overlooked by anyone not actively seeking them. Same with Singleton’s, Hedges and J&H Wilson with WoS.
Some times the captcha check ( i’m human ) doesn’t appear at checkout so processing fails. you need to back button until you get to select, i’m human then it goes through. Been like this for a year or two.
I guess much depends on whether you want to continue the policy of not being beaten on price.
Your bulk is now considerably lower priced than the majority of online retailers, but just under the next cheapest.
I also get Pikey’s point as you can sell many smaller tins for every bulk purchase. The flip side is that bulk prices may be the determining factor in who gets an order, if bulk constitutes the majority of an order in terms of money spent.
Direct from Wilsons ( uk only )
WOS & Viking 500g £38.40 including free postage
F&T 500g £47.95 including free postage
However as Nisam has stated your lower pricing does probably increase your sales. I know it has in my case. Also the one stop shop for many varities does have appeal.
Iv’e always wondered why snuff manufactures don’t set RRP for resellers ?
Current seemingly ridiculously low bulk prices on Mr Snuff aren’t unheard of. They used to happen every now and then in the past, “accidentally”.
I have ordered some Indian and South African products in bulk amounts on the aforementioned occasions and found them… not very fresh, putting it politely.
. Here’s my thoughts 
Will have to try a couple of tin sizes down the road . Something big enough to dump 20g Sharrow tins into .
.
If you want to concentrate on the North American market those prices could go up, but if the aim is to not be beaten on price across the board I can see the logic in current pricing.