Frequently asked questions

Every level includes registered lobbying in Annapolis through the legislative session, written and oral testimony on vapor-related bills, compliance alerts when rules change, association voting rights, and access to the members-only newsroom. What varies between levels is how many storefronts you can list in the public directory.

Supporter is $100 a month or $1,200 a year and carries no directory listing. Single Shop Owner is $250 a month or $3,000 a year and includes one listing. Multi Shop Owner is $500 a month or $6,000 a year for two listings. Multi Shop Owner (3+) is $750 a month or $9,000 a year with no listing cap.

Count your storefronts. One shop is Single Shop Owner, two is Multi Shop Owner, three or more is Multi Shop Owner (3+). If you do not operate a storefront — a supplier, distributor, or advocate — Supporter is the right fit. You can move between levels at any time, so this is not a decision to agonise over.

Upgrades take effect immediately. You are charged a prorated amount covering the rest of your current billing period, and any new listing slots open straight away. If a previous downgrade had unpublished one of your listings, upgrading restores it with nothing to re-enter.

Downgrades take effect at your next renewal date, never before. You keep every benefit you have already paid for until that date. If the level you are moving to allows fewer listings than you currently have, you choose which shops stay on the map — the rest are unpublished but kept on file, so moving back up restores them.

Your membership stays active through the end of the period you have already paid for. After that your directory listing is unpublished and advocacy representation ends. Nothing is deleted, and you can rejoin at any time — though the rates in effect on that date will apply rather than the ones you joined at.

Yes. Members keep the rate they joined at for as long as they stay on that level.

Sign in, go to My Listings, and add your shop — name, address, hours, contact details, and a logo. Submit it for review and MVA staff will check it, usually within one business day. You will get an email either way, and if something needs changing it comes back with a note explaining what.

Yes, and most changes go live immediately — hours, phone number, email, website, and your description. Changes to your business name, address, map location, or logo go back through staff review first, because those affect what the public sees about who you are and where. Your listing stays live and unchanged while an edit waits.

Before a listing publishes you confirm three things: that the location holds a current Maryland Other Tobacco Products retail licence, that you verify photo identification for every customer, and that the information you have entered is accurate. Staff review checks the copy; the attestation is your own declaration.

Signed-in members only. Your shop phone number, website, and address are public, because that is how customers reach you — but your email address and the owner or manager name are shown only to other members, so they are not harvested off a public page.

Upgrade to the level that covers the number of storefronts you run, then add the new shop from My Listings. The new slot opens as soon as the upgrade goes through, so you can submit the listing the same day.

No. Every member account came across, including your password. Sign in with the same email address and password you used before and everything will be where you left it — your shops, your membership, and your billing history.

Use the "Forgot your password?" link on the sign-in page. We will email a link to set a new one. For security we do not confirm whether an address belongs to a member account, so the message reads the same either way.

Under Membership & Billing in your member portal. Every invoice is listed with a downloadable PDF.

From Membership & Billing in your member portal. Payments are handled by Stripe — the association never sees or stores your card details.