Pennsylvania convenience stores and other cigarette retailers are now operating under a higher minimum markup on cigarettes, and the floor will rise again next year. The change comes from Act 57 of 2025, signed in December 2025, which raised the presumed cost of doing business that the state uses to set the lowest legal price a retailer may charge.
The new markup floors
Under Pennsylvania’s cigarette pricing law, retailers may not sell below a minimum price built from the wholesale cost plus a presumed retailer markup. Act 57 raised that presumed markup on the following schedule:
- From 7 percent to 8.5 percent, effective March 1, 2026.
- From 8.5 percent to 9.5 percent, effective March 1, 2027.
In plain terms, the law sets a higher price floor. A store cannot legally price cigarettes below that floor, even to match a competitor or run a loss-leader promotion. The stated goal is to protect small retailers from being undercut and to raise the effective price of cigarettes.
Rebutting the presumed cost
The 8.5 percent figure is a presumption, not a hard cap. A retailer that can document a genuinely lower cost of doing business may petition to use that lower rate. If approved, the adjusted rate holds for 12 months and then reverts to the statutory presumption unless it is renewed. For most independent stores the presumed rate will simply apply.
Do not overlook the vape directory
Act 57 also created a certification directory for electronic nicotine delivery systems, or ENDS. Manufacturers had to certify their products with the Attorney General, and the public directory went live on June 20, 2026. Retailers should stock only listed products, because ENDS items that are not on the directory become subject to seizure after October 18, 2026. Selling unlisted products carries penalties that start at $500 per product and escalate to license suspension or revocation for repeat violations.
What members should do
Two steps matter now. First, make sure your point-of-sale minimum cigarette prices reflect the 8.5 percent markup, and set a reminder to update them again before March 1, 2027. Second, check your vape inventory against the state ENDS directory and drop any products that are not listed before the October seizure date. Buying tobacco only from licensed Pennsylvania wholesalers remains required, and unlicensed product can be seized.