Idea?

[Wigwam_Motel]

Not sure if I am making any sense this late at night. I am sitting here looking on the internet to find the best deal on a box of cigars or two. WHY are we not getting our smokes at retail manufacturer pricing? Why do we need to go to a retailer (middle man), we are a huge community , I am sure we smoke allot, but I guess getting a resale tobacco license in a very low tobacco tax state. ex. La Riqueza no 2 by tatuaje about $213, but my BM showed me the invoice his cost was $85 plus California tax 14, coming out at $100. Anyone feeling me.

 

[sportsmedjosh]

You want to start like a costco type thing for our community?

 

[Wigwam_Motel]

Invoicing everything for our community. I understand, retailers have to eat etc. But, I am tired of getting pounded in the front and in the back for smokes.

 

[sportsmedjosh]

What an amazing deal at $85.

 

[amgracing]

hey bro im with you!

 

[Halon]

I am the middle man (well, I work for him at least!)! We need the support!
I understand the need for lower-priced cigars. Very much so.
What you're paying for at a B&M, tho, is the atmosphere, the experience, the education you receive, the company, etc...
There's just something to be said for going into a store and selecting, from thousands of different cigars, the one which you will sit down and light up.
I totally agree with you that cigars are expensive, and you probably could get them cheaper, but without B&Ms, this industry is D-E-A-D. 99.5% of cigar smokers start out at B&Ms. B&Ms are many times the reason people even smoke cigars. Now I'm not saying don't go and get a license and obtain cigars cheaper -- if you can do it, more power to you! Shit, get me some at those prices!!! I just think that the price you pay for a cigar at a B&M has more to do with the overall experience you get from learning, choosing, smoking, conversing, and relaxing.
If everyone got smokes online/direct at wholesale prices, the number of smokers would naturally decline, and this industry is already feeling increased pressure almost daily. What we don't need is fewer smokers out there to fight for our liberties, and if there is no central place for people to go to, the numbers will drop off sharply.

So I completely agree that we want cheaper cigars, but cutting out the middleman would (in my opinion) be devastating to the tobacco industry. I wish we lived in a world of $1-$3 cigars, but I just don't think it can be done without some massive reshaping of the industry.


TYLER

 

[Wigwam_Motel]

99% are getting pounded in the ass already, The 1% of us that dont' need the light and flashes and just want our smokes at invoice. those prices are b/c its a business , business are in for the profit. i am working with my bm since our relationship is getting past customer and shop owner, to weekend buddies. i just can't stand this over priced shit anymore. when i was dumb it was ok, but now, no way.

 

[Halon]

99% are getting pounded in the ass already, The 1% of us that dont' need the light and flashes and just want our smokes at invoice. those prices are b/c its a business , business are in for the profit. i am working with my bm since our relationship is getting past customer and shop owner, to weekend buddies. i just can't stand this over priced shit anymore. when i was dumb it was ok, but now, no way.

Oh. I didn't know you were talking about blatant over-pricing. Here in CO, taxes are at 40%, so naturally it's expensive, but for a whole different reason I guess. Yeah, B&Ms who rape customers are assholes.

One thing to consider is that this industry is built on relationships more so than 99% of all other industries. Manufacturers have excellent relationships with B&Ms, and it would be hard to get one to risk severing that tie to 99% of the community just to provide to 1% of the community. Does that suck? Maybe. I'd have to really think about it before I came up with an answer that I thought was right.
Although I think it would be awesome to get cigars as cheap as you're talking about, I don't think it's particularly feasible at this point in time.

I do feel sorry that you're paying ridiculously high prices, tho. That's not cool. I mean we make money at my shop, but if you saw the profit margins on our cigars you wouldn't envy our trade at all.
One thing to do might be to talk to your B&M guy or an online place and organize a massive group buy of one stick or another. I'm sure the retailer would be willing to work out a pretty slick deal for you in that case.


TYLER

 

[sportsmedjosh]

Do people do group buys here?

 

[amgracing]

i think this would be great but one concern is how many boxes do you have to order to get that kind of pricing?

 

[amgracing]

im sorry maybe i dont understand.. are you saying to get your bm to give you his wholesale prices? or you become a "retailer" to get those kind of prices and supply fellow brothers who are also being gouged?.. sorry if this is a stupid question

 

[daniyal]

I see this as an extremely strange phenomena and mostly found in NC's I haven't seen this trend in Cubans thus far but I think in certain cases it is the manufacturer themself encourage such practices from what I know (I may be wrong) Casa Fuente in Vegas is owned by Fuente and even there you find sticks that are marked up.

 

[cvm4]

I'm sure it has to do with volume. A B&M store can order a lot more cigar boxes than a couple guys could.

 

[Asher]

I'm happy to continue supporting B&M stores that charge a reasonable markup. Doing so buys me the pleasure of having a nice place to smoke indoors and being able to browse a walk-in humidor in search of new smokes.

On the topic of overcharging, though: this weekend, I browsed the humidor at a downtown smoke shop. Most of their business appears to be glass pipes and other paraphernalia, but they have a decent-sized humidor. They had a box and a half of Oliva V Lanceros priced at about $15 per stick or $485 for a box.

 

[Jfire]

2 things I see. Wig. How does 1 business owner support cutting out another owner in another trade? I'm sure the B&M would like to stay at your hotel for a cute rate price.
2 We and I are 2 different things as far as working for a business and owning it. My reason for saying this is let the B&M owner worry about his/her pricing. Don't get caught up in how everyone needs our support. Its their business not ours. You can be a great employee and take care of customers. But when you start worrying about Our profits or our cost I think you may be confused as who is the worker and employee. (I lost many sleepless nights when I worked retail doing this such thing.)

 

[Donk]

They had a box and a half of Oliva V Lanceros priced at about $15 per stick or $485 for a box.[/QUOTE]

WOW NOW THAT IS BEING RAPED! NO WAY WOULD I EVER PAY MORE THAN 7.00 FOR A SERIES V LANCERO. DAMN THAT IS JUST HIGHWAY ROBBERY RIGHT THERE.

 

[daniyal]

I'm happy to continue supporting B&M stores that charge a reasonable markup. Doing so buys me the pleasure of having a nice place to smoke indoors and being able to browse a walk-in humidor in search of new smokes.

I agree with you if by reasonable markup you mean the suggested retail price, I know some vendors don't want their cigars sold below a certain price and rarely would any one of them put a ceiling on what you can charge is but I just don't see why anyone should be able to get away with over charging unless you happen to be located on some remote Alaskan trail. Don't B&M's usually have ridiculous markups on food and drinks? isn't that enough for the pleasure of having a nice place to smoke at?

 

[Donk]

Do people do group buys here?

hEY BRO, YOU ORGANIZE THE BUY BUY AND I'M SURE YOU WILL HAVE SOME BROTHERS JUMP IN ON A GROUP BUY, DEPENDING ON WHAT YOU HAVE IN MIND.

 

[Tegu]

In the example of the La Requiza you cant blaim the B&M for selling them at those prices, blaim Tatuaje. They come up with minimum prices that they can be sold for, and if you dont sell them at that or above they drop your account. The company does not allow them to be sold to the masses at discount prices, and there is no way Tatuaje would supply us if we formed a cigar company and distributed the cigars at discount prices. I understand that they are just trying to protect the brand etc.... and I am not saying it is a bad thing, but unless you want Rocky Patels, Gurkhas, etc... I do not think the plan would work out. Many of the quality brands practice similar "price fixing". I remember on one board a guy selling discounted Tats to board members got his account dropped.

 

[tubaman]

Folks, it's a free market system. They can ASK whatever they want for the cigars, as long as it doesn't violate any deals with the manufacturer. You don't have to buy them!!! If nobody buys them, the price will eventually come down. The buyer must beware. If your local B and M is raking you over the coals on prices, DON'T GO THERE! I don't happen to go to B and M's much, I just don't get out. But when I do, I always try to find a few sticks to buy because as Tyler points out, it's getting harder and harder to find places that you can go and enjoy a smoke. We should help them out as much as we can, provided they aren't asking ridiculous prices for their cigars.

There are retailers here that post specials for us to take advantage of if you don't have a retailer nearby that charges reasonable prices. Do some online searches. SOMEONE wants to make the money on our sales, if not a vendor, then whoever here that would run it would want to earn that money. They aren't going to just do it out of the kindness of their hearts! We may be BOTL's but we also have lives!! The amount of work that goes into this kind of venture is great. Just ask Mark at Cigarmony for one! It eats up alot of your time.