The Incredible $3 Cigar

Alex Svenson

As I was getting in the car to head to the airport today, I looked back through my calendar and noticed something. In the last 12 months either myself or one of our cigar.com staff has been in cigar country for at least 13 days out of any given month. I can safely say that this is why our team is the best in the business. None of our competitors are as emersed in cigars as we are. The cigars we purchase are often times hand picked by our experts and we have unrestricted access to literally every farm, factory and aging room in the world. Its really remarkable when you think about. For a cigar junkly like myself it is a dream come true. If you had told me 15 years ago that I would be doing this and getting paid for it, I would have crapper myself.

Anyway, on to my bit of business that got me thinking to type this little blog. I have some appointments and factory visits this week, but one of the reasons I am headed down is to host about 10 guys from the states that won a trip to spend three days at the AJ Fernandez factory. Aj's English is not great and he enlisted my help to show these guys around and explain the entire process of cigars. The thing I always enjoy the most about hosting these groups a few times a year is seeing the reaction of the visitors once they really grasp what goes into making a cigar. Too often I see cigar guys just get into a routine of grabbing a cigar from their humidor and not really thinking about how that cigar cam to be in their humidor in the first place. To see cigar enthusiasts absorb the experience of cigar making first hand is almost like taking myself back to the first time that I really figured it out. From the time the seed is planted to the time a cigar is smoked, some 500 individual people have a hand on the tobacco or cigar you are about to light up. From the farmers, pickers, curers, fermenters, agers, rollers and folks in packaging, the entire process is labor intensive and done by hand. Even the guys that make the boxes.

One of the reasons I thought to write this now and to share this with our customers and readers is to discuss cigar pricing a little. I have had the chance to be on every side of this industry. A cigar smoker and customer for many years, cigar maker, and of course a retailer. That said, I have my hands in about every step in the cigar process and industry. I was at a competitors website the other day just checking out their forum and as usual some of their deals and I saw someone post a comment on their site, "wow 5 XXXXX robustos for $12.50 that's not a deal! Only 30% off!!". I won't mention the exact offer, the brand or the competition for sure but when I thought about the comment it got my brain jogging a bit First, think about what I wrote above, all the work that goes into what makes a finished cigar. Second, let me let you guys in on this nasty thing called the SCHIP expanseionon which occurred last year.

The federal tax to import a premium cigar was always 5 cents per cigar. In April of 2009, this federal tax increased to 52.75% of the wholesale price of a cigar with a cap of about 41 cents per cigar. This was one of the steepest increases in excise tax in history. To illustrate it's impact, this essentially worked out to a $1.50 to $2.00 increase on the retail prices of the cigars that you guys pay at the store or from your supplier who ever that may be. That is also without consideration of how the state tobacco tax compounds that number which is also significant. Sure, a $12 cigar before going to $13.50 sucks but what about the value lines like Oliva serie G etc that would go from $3.50 to $5. The impact on inexpensive cigars was more severe for sure. Many of these increases were softened by cigar makers and retailers like cigar.com cutting their profit margins as much as possible to ease the blow to the consumer, something many folks may not even realize.

The truth is, is that the mere existence of premium, hand made long filler cigars that can still be purchased for $2 to $3 a piece is amazing. You can imagine when I read comments like the aforementioned one, why it makes me scratch my head. Dont get me wrong, I understand that the concept of deal and value and how these terms are relative. There are lots of great competitive deals to be had on cigars. When it comes to looking for great deals online for anything, I am just as crazy about it as the next guy. I just hope from time to time, guys can step back, think about how much work went into a cigar, how much we all have been impacted by taxes and think about how great it is that there are still affordable everyday cigars. No one knows how pricing will be a few years from now in this industry, it may very well be five years from now we all look back and long for days like these where cigars are an affordable luxury accessible to everyone. On my side, you have my promise that Cigar.com will always do everything we can to deliver the best possible prices and service and will always look out for our loyal customers. Thank you all for your business and loyalty. Oh and on the note of people seeing the cigar making process first hand for the first time, stay tuned for news about an upcoming trip to Nicaragua hosted by cigar.com where our customers will have a chance to visit cigar country!!

Krieg

Alex Svenson:

As I was getting in the car to head to the airport today, I looked back through my calendar and noticed something. In the last 12 months either myself or one of our cigar.com staff has been in cigar country for at least 13 days out of any given month. I can safely say that this is why our team is the best in the business. None of our competitors are as emersed in cigars as we are. The cigars we purchase are often times hand picked by our experts and we have unrestricted access to literally every farm, factory and aging room in the world. Its really remarkable when you think about. For a cigar junkly like myself it is a dream come true. If you had told me 15 years ago that I would be doing this and getting paid for it, I would have crapper myself.

Anyway, on to my bit of business that got me thinking to type this little blog. I have some appointments and factory visits this week, but one of the reasons I am headed down is to host about 10 guys from the states that won a trip to spend three days at the AJ Fernandez factory. Aj's English is not great and he enlisted my help to show these guys around and explain the entire process of cigars. The thing I always enjoy the most about hosting these groups a few times a year is seeing the reaction of the visitors once they really grasp what goes into making a cigar. Too often I see cigar guys just get into a routine of grabbing a cigar from their humidor and not really thinking about how that cigar cam to be in their humidor in the first place. To see cigar enthusiasts absorb the experience of cigar making first hand is almost like taking myself back to the first time that I really figured it out. From the time the seed is planted to the time a cigar is smoked, some 500 individual people have a hand on the tobacco or cigar you are about to light up. From the farmers, pickers, curers, fermenters, agers, rollers and folks in packaging, the entire process is labor intensive and done by hand. Even the guys that make the boxes.

One of the reasons I thought to write this now and to share this with our customers and readers is to discuss cigar pricing a little. I have had the chance to be on every side of this industry. A cigar smoker and customer for many years, cigar maker, and of course a retailer. That said, I have my hands in about every step in the cigar process and industry. I was at a competitors website the other day just checking out their forum and as usual some of their deals and I saw someone post a comment on their site, "wow 5 XXXXX robustos for $12.50 that's not a deal! Only 30% off!!". I won't mention the exact offer, the brand or the competition for sure but when I thought about the comment it got my brain jogging a bit First, think about what I wrote above, all the work that goes into what makes a finished cigar. Second, let me let you guys in on this nasty thing called the SCHIP expanseionon which occurred last year.

The federal tax to import a premium cigar was always 5 cents per cigar. In April of 2009, this federal tax increased to 52.75% of the wholesale price of a cigar with a cap of about 41 cents per cigar. This was one of the steepest increases in excise tax in history. To illustrate it's impact, this essentially worked out to a $1.50 to $2.00 increase on the retail prices of the cigars that you guys pay at the store or from your supplier who ever that may be. That is also without consideration of how the state tobacco tax compounds that number which is also significant. Sure, a $12 cigar before going to $13.50 sucks but what about the value lines like Oliva serie G etc that would go from $3.50 to $5. The impact on inexpensive cigars was more severe for sure. Many of these increases were softened by cigar makers and retailers like cigar.com cutting their profit margins as much as possible to ease the blow to the consumer, something many folks may not even realize.

The truth is, is that the mere existence of premium, hand made long filler cigars that can still be purchased for $2 to $3 a piece is amazing. You can imagine when I read comments like the aforementioned one, why it makes me scratch my head. Dont get me wrong, I understand that the concept of deal and value and how these terms are relative. There are lots of great competitive deals to be had on cigars. When it comes to looking for great deals online for anything, I am just as crazy about it as the next guy. I just hope from time to time, guys can step back, think about how much work went into a cigar, how much we all have been impacted by taxes and think about how great it is that there are still affordable everyday cigars. No one knows how pricing will be a few years from now in this industry, it may very well be five years from now we all look back and long for days like these where cigars are an affordable luxury accessible to everyone. On my side, you have my promise that Cigar.com will always do everything we can to deliver the best possible prices and service and will always look out for our loyal customers. Thank you all for your business and loyalty. Oh and on the note of people seeing the cigar making process first hand for the first time, stay tuned for news about an upcoming trip to Nicaragua hosted by cigar.com where our customers will have a chance to visit cigar country!!

Great point

Joeyjoe21_8

excellent point.....it sure does suck about the dumb tax which is so high......but there is nothing we can do about it.....and i cant wait to go on the trip!

YankeeMan

New York State tax has not helped the situation. They increased the already ridiculous tobacco tax over 51%. It has driven one B & M to Florida and other ones are feeling the crunch.

thehoff

Ok. So I understand where $0.41 of the markup comes from but what about the other $1.09-$1.59? Based on the information given above, the maximum price increase I should have seen on my favorite cigar should be $0.41 with potentially less if the cigar manufacturer/distributor cut into their profit margin to absorb some of the increase. That extra buck seems unaccounted for. As the post was written, the only tax mentioned in relation to the increase was SCHIP tax (which is capped). See how this doesn't add up? Did the manufactures take the opportunity to raise prices while knowing the consumer will automatically blame whatever increases on unpopular (within the smoking community) legislation? Did the distributor? I thought these businesses cut profit margin. Who is getting the extra money? I don't understand the point of this thread at all. Not all the factors are present and consumer response to prices is all part of being in free market economy where an elastic good's ability to sell is directly related to its cost. Can it be poor form from time to time? Of course. But mentioning the effort required for the finished product still probably will not take priority over price for many consumers.

fla-gypsy

If I understand Alex's point, the maximum increase is .41 per stick unless the state has tacked on something as well?

Lasabar

thehoff:

Ok. So I understand where $0.41 of the markup comes from but what about the other $1.09-$1.59? Based on the information given above, the maximum price increase I should have seen on my favorite cigar should be $0.41 with potentially less if the cigar manufacturer/distributor cut into their profit margin to absorb some of the increase. That extra buck seems unaccounted for. As the post was written, the only tax mentioned in relation to the increase was SCHIP tax (which is capped). See how this doesn't add up? Did the manufactures take the opportunity to raise prices while knowing the consumer will automatically blame whatever increases on unpopular (within the smoking community) legislation? Did the distributor? I thought these businesses cut profit margin. Who is getting the extra money? I don't understand the point of this thread at all. Not all the factors are present and consumer response to prices is all part of being in free market economy where an elastic good's ability to sell is directly related to its cost. Can it be poor form from time to time? Of course. But mentioning the effort required for the finished product still probably will not take priority over price for many consumers.

Thats just the import tax, most states have even higher taxes on tobacco as well, and those went up as well... I'm no expert, but online you can find what your state charges on tobacco tax as well

Hays

fla-gypsy:

If I understand Alex's point, the maximum increase is .41 per stick unless the state has tacked on something as well?

(Unless I'm quite mistaken) You guys aren't really doing the math right. Figure this...

Cigar A prior to SCHIP is $5 from the importer. Then when it hits the retailer, that cigar's cost is increased by that state's tobacco tax (in CA, that would be 33%), making Cigar A cost $6.65 to the retailer. The retailer then offers that cigar at X price above $6.65, so as to make their profit margin.

Now, Cigar A, after SCHIP, costs $5 from the importer, then adding the $0.41 from SCHIP, that cigar costs $5.41. Now, the retailer pays state tobacco tax on $5.41, making that cigar cost $7.20 in CA before the retailer adds his markup. This is just one example...you can continue the math along, and see how these costs would add up significantly (especially in states like NY that have 50% taxes or higher).

docedwards

I don't understand some of the comments on today's '92 beli. The usual price is $135-$140 per box plus shipping and this is only $100 w/ free shipping. As for $3 cigars, one of my favs is only $2. It is the Indian Tabac Limited Reserve on the sister site. I don't think the price has increased in the 5 years that I've been buying them. Still $50 for a box of 25. Have a great trip, Alex.

thehoff

Hays:

fla-gypsy:

If I understand Alex's point, the maximum increase is .41 per stick unless the state has tacked on something as well?

(Unless I'm quite mistaken) You guys aren't really doing the math right. Figure this...

Cigar A prior to SCHIP is $5 from the importer. Then when it hits the retailer, that cigar's cost is increased by that state's tobacco tax (in CA, that would be 33%), making Cigar A cost $6.65 to the retailer. The retailer then offers that cigar at X price above $6.65, so as to make their profit margin.

Now, Cigar A, after SCHIP, costs $5 from the importer, then adding the $0.41 from SCHIP, that cigar costs $5.41. Now, the retailer pays state tobacco tax on $5.41, making that cigar cost $7.20 in CA before the retailer adds his markup. This is just one example...you can continue the math along, and see how these costs would add up significantly (especially in states like NY that have 50% taxes or higher).

These state taxes were not present before the SCHIP tax? All the post discusses is the SCHIP tax (capped at 41 cents) and a $1.50-$2 mark up. If there were state taxes that were created or increased then they need to be mentioned. All that is being discussed is one federal tax. I know the state taxes tobacco, but they were before the federal tax increase. Again, all this post mentions is one new tax and that does not account for the entire price increase.

Redtailhawkoz

Alex Svenson:

As I was getting in the car to head to the airport today, I looked back through my calendar and noticed something. In the last 12 months either myself or one of our cigar.com staff has been in cigar country for at least 13 days out of any given month. I can safely say that this is why our team is the best in the business. None of our competitors are as emersed in cigars as we are. The cigars we purchase are often times hand picked by our experts and we have unrestricted access to literally every farm, factory and aging room in the world. Its really remarkable when you think about. For a cigar junkly like myself it is a dream come true. If you had told me 15 years ago that I would be doing this and getting paid for it, I would have crapper myself.

Anyway, on to my bit of business that got me thinking to type this little blog. I have some appointments and factory visits this week, but one of the reasons I am headed down is to host about 10 guys from the states that won a trip to spend three days at the AJ Fernandez factory. Aj's English is not great and he enlisted my help to show these guys around and explain the entire process of cigars. The thing I always enjoy the most about hosting these groups a few times a year is seeing the reaction of the visitors once they really grasp what goes into making a cigar. Too often I see cigar guys just get into a routine of grabbing a cigar from their humidor and not really thinking about how that cigar cam to be in their humidor in the first place. To see cigar enthusiasts absorb the experience of cigar making first hand is almost like taking myself back to the first time that I really figured it out. From the time the seed is planted to the time a cigar is smoked, some 500 individual people have a hand on the tobacco or cigar you are about to light up. From the farmers, pickers, curers, fermenters, agers, rollers and folks in packaging, the entire process is labor intensive and done by hand. Even the guys that make the boxes.

One of the reasons I thought to write this now and to share this with our customers and readers is to discuss cigar pricing a little. I have had the chance to be on every side of this industry. A cigar smoker and customer for many years, cigar maker, and of course a retailer. That said, I have my hands in about every step in the cigar process and industry. I was at a competitors website the other day just checking out their forum and as usual some of their deals and I saw someone post a comment on their site, "wow 5 XXXXX robustos for $12.50 that's not a deal! Only 30% off!!". I won't mention the exact offer, the brand or the competition for sure but when I thought about the comment it got my brain jogging a bit First, think about what I wrote above, all the work that goes into what makes a finished cigar. Second, let me let you guys in on this nasty thing called the SCHIP expanseionon which occurred last year.

The federal tax to import a premium cigar was always 5 cents per cigar. In April of 2009, this federal tax increased to 52.75% of the wholesale price of a cigar with a cap of about 41 cents per cigar. This was one of the steepest increases in excise tax in history. To illustrate it's impact, this essentially worked out to a $1.50 to $2.00 increase on the retail prices of the cigars that you guys pay at the store or from your supplier who ever that may be. That is also without consideration of how the state tobacco tax compounds that number which is also significant. Sure, a $12 cigar before going to $13.50 sucks but what about the value lines like Oliva serie G etc that would go from $3.50 to $5. The impact on inexpensive cigars was more severe for sure. Many of these increases were softened by cigar makers and retailers like cigar.com cutting their profit margins as much as possible to ease the blow to the consumer, something many folks may not even realize.

The truth is, is that the mere existence of premium, hand made long filler cigars that can still be purchased for $2 to $3 a piece is amazing. You can imagine when I read comments like the aforementioned one, why it makes me scratch my head. Dont get me wrong, I understand that the concept of deal and value and how these terms are relative. There are lots of great competitive deals to be had on cigars. When it comes to looking for great deals online for anything, I am just as crazy about it as the next guy. I just hope from time to time, guys can step back, think about how much work went into a cigar, how much we all have been impacted by taxes and think about how great it is that there are still affordable everyday cigars. No one knows how pricing will be a few years from now in this industry, it may very well be five years from now we all look back and long for days like these where cigars are an affordable luxury accessible to everyone. On my side, you have my promise that Cigar.com will always do everything we can to deliver the best possible prices and service and will always look out for our loyal customers. Thank you all for your business and loyalty. Oh and on the note of people seeing the cigar making process first hand for the first time, stay tuned for news about an upcoming trip to Nicaragua hosted by cigar.com where our customers will have a chance to visit cigar country!!

Thanks for the GREAT READ and all the information to get down to BraSS tAX... Living in Ca. I can relate to the Mark up..... I too cant wait to go on this trip... Actually My Wife and I are looking into traveling to Dominican possibly for thanksgiving! But I would rather go with some Cigar Guys and Smoke and learn... I Love my wife but that will be A Serious RELAXING AND Eating trip. LOL

doromath

It's always nice to get a good perspective on things, as we often lose sight of it. I was just telling my fiance this weekend as we're working through the budget that I can cut back on my cigars because I know of some great ones at $2-$3 that I can just focus on (Yes, CCOM blends mostly).

Thanks CCOM, for the great prices, service as well as insightful reading.

ljl

It is good to have some inside perspective on this. An interesting post. Sometimes people fail to realize the value of an item at it's regular price and they get upset when they see a sale price that they feel should give a greater discount. I still see cigars as an affordable luxury.

ctremblay187

great point Alex....i am fairly new to the cigar world but a couple weeks ago at my local B&M they had nick perdomo there. He also had emphasized everything that goes into the cigar process in whcih i found amazing. It really opened my eyes and now have more of an appreciation every time i light up. He also talked about all of the bullshit taxing that they do here in the states and everything that he has done to make it more affordable for the consumers. All in all it was a very informing visit. Cant wait to read the next post. Have a safe and smokey trip!!

Nick2021

I think Alex makes some great points. Part of the problem nowadays (in my opinion) is that it's easier to criticize a company/person over such issues as pricing, rather than taking the time to understand all of the factors affecting the situation. Companies are in the business to make a profit, so any discounts provided to the consumers are a plus in my opinion. As a contract negotiator for the Government, I can tell you the Government considers 8-13% a fair profit margin of the overall price of the contract. What cigar companies consider to be a fair profit I don't know, but I'm sure there's a reason behind why they price their products the way they do. I don't think most of the cigar companies would charge some random outrageous price for their products without putting some thought behind it...if they didn't understand the basics of pricing I can't see how they'd survive in the industry.

Unthought_Known

thehoff:

These state taxes were not present before the SCHIP tax? All the post discusses is the SCHIP tax (capped at 41 cents) and a $1.50-$2 mark up. If there were state taxes that were created or increased then they need to be mentioned. All that is being discussed is one federal tax. I know the state taxes tobacco, but they were before the federal tax increase. Again, all this post mentions is one new tax and that does not account for the entire price increase.

Profit margin isn't a dollar figure, it's a percentage. And it's one of the most important percentages that businesses use. Let's completely ignore any other taxes in this example: Let's say that CCom paid $1/cigar from the importer before SCHIP and sold it for $1.50. They buy a million cigars at a time, so they paid $1,000,000 for inventory and made $1,500,000 in revenue. That's a 50% profit margin (they put in a million bucks and profited half a million bucks).

Post-SCHIP, these same cigars cost $1,410,000 to import. If they stick with the 50cent profit per cigar, their profit margin goes down to about 35% ($500,000 profit on a $1,410,000 outlay).

Some people would say "who cares about the margin...it's the profit in dollars that counts...they're still making 50 cents per cigar!". But when you consider that CCom probably has a warehouse with millions of cigars, they can't simply pay an extra 41cents per cigar for inventory and not make any more profit to offset it.

NYHCx516x

so very glad i got in on that list for the Nicaragua trip. I really do want to see the whole seed to finished product.

Schrooz

CCOm should incorporate, put out some stocks, and pay dividend in premium cigars.

boydmcgowan

Nick2021:

I think Alex makes some great points. Part of the problem nowadays (in my opinion) is that it's easier to criticize a company/person over such issues as pricing, rather than taking the time to understand all of the factors affecting the situation. Companies are in the business to make a profit, so any discounts provided to the consumers are a plus in my opinion. As a contract negotiator for the Government, I can tell you the Government considers 8-13% a fair profit margin of the overall price of the contract. What cigar companies consider to be a fair profit I don't know, but I'm sure there's a reason behind why they price their products the way they do. I don't think most of the cigar companies would charge some random outrageous price for their products without putting some thought behind it...if they didn't understand the basics of pricing I can't see how they'd survive in the industry.

I completely agree man. Also, the thing a lot of people forget is that the profit margin being made by CCom on each cigar isn’t really profit. That profit margin per stick goes to pay their facilities rent, the utilities to keep the lights on the forum up and running and those cigars in the warehouse humidified, their travel expenses, and the salaries of the account reps we all rave about. I’m a fairly long time cigar smoker, and I switched exclusively to CCom about 2-3 years back entirely as a result of their customer service and the condition of the cigars shipped to me. A Good buying experience and a great product make their normal prices completely worth it for me. Anything below that for their sales or daily deals is just icing on the cake if it’s a cigar that I want to try. Great Read Alex, it’s cool to hear about what goes on behind the scenes in the industry. Thanks for the information and keep doing what you guys do.

KCW

Nick2021:

I don't think most of the cigar companies would charge some random outrageous price for their products without putting some thought behind it...if they didn't understand the basics of pricing I can't see how they'd survive in the industry.

OK. Well then let me ask this (to anyone): Gurkha Legend Perfecto. On the site is around $16.00 ea. I bought a bunch when CCOM had their "Gurkha Sampler" (Any 10 Gurkha cigars on the list for $35.00) Thats $3.50 each. Companies do not operate at a loss. How about the bid site?

Alex Svenson

thehoff:

Ok. So I understand where $0.41 of the markup comes from but what about the other $1.09-$1.59? Based on the information given above, the maximum price increase I should have seen on my favorite cigar should be $0.41 with potentially less if the cigar manufacturer/distributor cut into their profit margin to absorb some of the increase. That extra buck seems unaccounted for. As the post was written, the only tax mentioned in relation to the increase was SCHIP tax (which is capped). See how this doesn't add up? Did the manufactures take the opportunity to raise prices while knowing the consumer will automatically blame whatever increases on unpopular (within the smoking community) legislation? Did the distributor? I thought these businesses cut profit margin. Who is getting the extra money? I don't understand the point of this thread at all. Not all the factors are present and consumer response to prices is all part of being in free market economy where an elastic good's ability to sell is directly related to its cost. Can it be poor form from time to time? Of course. But mentioning the effort required for the finished product still probably will not take priority over price for many consumers.

Wow some great pints and I am happy to see people found this interesting. Some guys hit the nail on the head with the later reponsies. The cigars are imported by manufacturers then sold to distributors or to retailers. That tax got balled into the wholesale cost so basically the suppliers costs go up. Most retail in any industry works on profit margin as a %. So if the wholesale price increases as it did, it gets compounded along the way in the sales chain so to speak. When I say many companies took a hit in profit, they basically choose to pass along the tax rather than mark up the cigars more. Some suppliers ate the tax all together and some actually tried to build profit on it. One stand up company in particular that is worth mentioning in regard to all of this is Perdomo. Those guys actually ate the whole tax and even took the opportunity to get aggressive and lowered their prices in the wake of everyone else raising. Nick is a stand up guy and I think it is worth mentioning. I'll also add that the intention of my post was not to try to defend pricing or stand on a soap box, merely to remind everyone what goes into a cigar. It really is an art and an amazing product.

Alex Svenson

KCW:

Nick2021:

I don't think most of the cigar companies would charge some random outrageous price for their products without putting some thought behind it...if they didn't understand the basics of pricing I can't see how they'd survive in the industry.

OK. Well then let me ask this (to anyone): Gurkha Legend Perfecto. On the site is around $16.00 ea. I bought a bunch when CCOM had their "Gurkha Sampler" (Any 10 Gurkha cigars on the list for $35.00) Thats $3.50 each. Companies do not operate at a loss. How about the bid site?

Great point. Like any business, factories, retailers and everyone must manage inventory. When peole have a lot, they are willing to mark things down. That happens in this industry often, especially when things slow down and factories are over loaded. That is a big reason my guys spend a lot of time down here, to search out and pick up those great deals on large lots of cigars so we can pass the savings on to you guys. Wow that soounds like a sales pitch lol.

KCW

Alex Svenson:

KCW:

Nick2021:

I don't think most of the cigar companies would charge some random outrageous price for their products without putting some thought behind it...if they didn't understand the basics of pricing I can't see how they'd survive in the industry.

OK. Well then let me ask this (to anyone): Gurkha Legend Perfecto. On the site is around $16.00 ea. I bought a bunch when CCOM had their "Gurkha Sampler" (Any 10 Gurkha cigars on the list for $35.00) Thats $3.50 each. Companies do not operate at a loss. How about the bid site?

Great point. Like any business, factories, retailers and everyone must manage inventory. When peole have a lot, they are willing to mark things down. That happens in this industry often, especially when things slow down and factories are over loaded. That is a big reason my guys spend a lot of time down here, to search out and pick up those great deals on large lots of cigars so we can pass the savings on to you guys. Wow that soounds like a sales pitch lol.

I love it when that happens!

undulac

This is why AJ Fernandez sticks are such a good price. The are bought directly from ccom and do not hit a middle man. One of my favorites is the Le Herencia Habano and (LHCOF) and SCCC and if ccom didn't buy them direct they'd be a $6-$7 stick.

quix24

I am loving this thread. I'm very new to cigars and the cigar world as a whole and this is all very informative and I can't wait to learn more.