For the purpose of handling tobacco bags (10) made of sheet material, a plurality of unfilled bags (10) are fed to a transfer station (29) and transferred simultaneously, by a transfer subassembly (31), to a further-processing subassembly, namely to a bag turret (30) arranged above a bag conveyor (28). During transfer, the bags (10) are transported along an upwardly directed movement path and turned through 180° in the process.