Wading Through Online Retailers

I’m active in a few online cigar forums and often run across the same question: “Where can I buy ‘so and so’ cigar?” B/SOTLs being helpful make lots of recommendations and mostly share their favorite retailers. I’m oftentimes surprised by the suggestions because they point to sites that tend to be more expensive than other sites.

Perhaps there’s a brand loyalty thing going on with store recommendations where folks have shopped on particular sites for a long time. A friend of mine always suggests picking up cigars at JR Cigars because that’s where he always buys from, but unless they’re running a blowout deal, JR is usually 25%+ pricier than other sites for the same cigars. Loyalty is great but at least for me, competition trumps loyalty, especially in the cigar purchasing game.

Granted, there are some cigar brands that can only be found on certain retailers. For instance, I love Definition Cigars, but as far as I’ve been able to find out, they’re only sold either direct from Definition or on Luxury Cigar Club and small retailers. But those are special cases. What I’m talking about here is purchasing regular production/catalog cigars online; not the scarce or ultra-boutique.

And in that case, there are LOTS of choices to be made among hundreds – perhaps thousands – of sites out there! But rather than list all the retailers to buy from, which would be rather tedious and pointless, what I will discuss here are the conditions under which I will purchase from a particular retailer.

So, what are those conditions?

• Total Cost – Not price? No way because what you ultimately pay for your cigars is the list price PLUS shipping, tax, and other fees. So, we must look at what the total cost would be when buying from a particular retailer. For instance, lots of people love winning auctions on CigarBid. But they charge shipping. If you win an auction for a 5er, shipping will be a minimum of $6-$8, so in a case like that, it’s not really a good deal.
• Shipping – Shipping charges can skew the cost significantly if you don’t pay attention to it. As for myself, I do my best to shop from retailers that provide free shipping on everything or free shipping beyond a certain amount. Believe me, it matters.
• Availability – I realize that availability isn’t intuitive. But I have found that if there are more retailers carrying a certain item, there’s more competition. And that translates to better, more consistent pricing among retailers. The more scarce a cigar is, count on the price to fluctuate wildly. It’s the law of supply and demand. A cool side effect of availability is that retailers will often dump their stock with sometimes insane deals.
• Reputation – Finally, I’ve done my best to do research on the retailers I buy from, asking other B/SOTLs if they’ve purchased from certain retailers. This characteristic might not seem important, but it is because it takes into account a different factors such as general image, shipping time, and customer service. If there’s a lot of negative discussion about a retailer, I avoid them. On the other hand, positive assessments will compel me to check them out.

So, what retailers do I buy from and why?

NOTE: These aren’t necessarily in order, because I will check almost all of them to see which has the best total cost.

CigarPage.com

In general, CP has the best prices and lowest total cost on regular-production sticks out of most of the online retailers; not counting auction sites. But that’s not always the case. If you have the patience, their Scorcher deals are sometimes pretty insane. But the drawback with the Scorchers is that they peddle a lot of cheapos interspersed with some great sticks, so it takes some time to watch for the really great deals. I normally don’t have the time nor patience. But I’ve been pretty happy with CP for the few years I’ve been ordering from them.

One nit I do have is that it has sometimes taken them several days to process my orders. It’s a little concerning because I don’t know if the cigars are sitting out in the open for an extended period of time. So, I’ve learned to let my cigars I order from them sit for at least a couple of weeks before I smoke them.

MiamiHumidor.com

I buy my Paul Stulac cigars from Miami Humidor; specifically, the Post Script and Red Screaming Sun. There are other, more well-known sites that carry them, but Miami Humidor has the total cost (yes, they charge shipping, but their prices more than compensate). I took a chance on them, and they’ve been stellar. And I’ve found that they have extremely competitive pricing compared to more high-volume sites AND because they’re a small outfit and are often overlooked, will have sticks in stock that aren’t available on the high-volume retailers.

FoxCigar.com

I only started using Fox recently but am kicking myself for not using them sooner. They have free shipping on everything like CigarPage. Also, their prices for certain sticks are far better than CP amazingly enough. Specifically, I buy Curivari or La Gloria Cubana sticks from Fox that I can’t get on other sites, like the Curivari Sun Grown Maduro, or LCG Los Gloriosos and Medio Tiempo.

One thing I love about Fox is that they ship all their sticks with a humidification pack and they take great care in properly packaging cigars for shipping. It’s a nice touch and show a commitment to quality.

CigarPlace.biz

This is the main place I buy Curivari sticks from as they have a fairly wide selection of the most popular Curivari cigars. But they also have great deals on other brands as well. They’re also one of the only sites that carries the Liga Undercrown Corona Viva vitola. CigarBid occasionally has this vitola, but I’ve only had success once in getting it for a lower total cost than CigarPlace.biz.

CigarBid.com

Though I usually first look at the other sites first, I’ve purchased more cigars from this place than anywhere else because hands-down, it’s possible to get incredible deals on regular production sticks here if you’re willing to engage in auctions. But the trick to CigarBid is that you must go into an auction with a per stick price that you establish beforehand; otherwise, you could end up paying more for cigars than on other sites. But if you know what you’re willing to pay, CigarBid is a great place to get sticks. I usually get my LGC Serie R/Serie R Maduro, Alec Bradley Magic Toast, CAO Brazilia, and occasionally, Undercrown Maduro here. On a rare occasion they have higher-end sticks available, but not often as this is the clearinghouse for Cigars International.

Also, bear in mind that CigarBid charges for shipping. But luckily, they ship flat rate. So, I’ve found that it’s best to use CigarBid when I’m after a couple bundles or boxes at a time. That way, the shipping charges are distributed among the lots I win.

HilandsCigars.com

This is a sleeper site located in Scottsdale, AZ. One of my closest friends introduced me to the site a few years ago. Like CI, they have a B&M, but their prices are much, much better than many retailers depending on the brand and what they’re trying to move. This is one of my go-to sites to check because when they put sticks on sale, they’re practically unbeatable; otherwise, they sell their sticks at full MAP. For instance, as I write this, they’re having a sale on various Perdomo sticks. The 10th Annivesary Maduro Epicure is only $167.98 for a box of 25. That’s a damn good deal!

AtlanticCigars.com, Famous-Smoke.com, CigarsInternational.com

I will usually take a peek at these sites because like Hilands, when they have deals, they have great deals. For instance, CI had an email deal for boxes of Undercrown Maduro Toro Especial for $29 for a box of 10. I got four boxes. But usually, these sites tend to be more expensive than other sites. That said, I check these sites to find sticks that aren’t easy to come by, and if I really want a particular stick, I’ll pony up for a 5er to satisfy my itch.

To Box or Not to Box?

By far, the best price per stick you can get is through buying boxes. When I was just getting back to the hobby, like many, I’d buy a couple of singles or 5ers so I could try as many different blends as possible. I still do that when exploring blends I haven’t tried. But if I’ve established a cigar as box worthy, my purchases of said cigar will invariably be by the box. And mind you, I don’t have a large collection, at least compared to other B/SOTLs. I normally have between 150-250 cigars in my tupperdores at any one time; sometimes less if I’m dwindling down my stock.

You see, I like a lot of different cigars, but I also don’t want to have too many on hand. My “rotation” isn’t by the stick, but by the box. I’ve gotten to the point where I like certain profiles and don’t need a lot of variety. For instance, I’m not too wild about connies, unless it’s a Davidoff or Zino Platinum Sword or on occasion DTT Brulee Blue. Most other connies just don’t appeal to me. But I love Habano, San Andres, Brazilian Arapiraca, Camaroon, Dominican, Honduras, and Nicaraguan wrappers in either Natural or Maduro. So, my collection has plenty of variety already. I just don’t have too many connies. And since I know what I like, I just buy boxes at a time.

Also, with respect to buying boxes, almost all the sites have the best deals on boxes or bundles, so the per stick prices gets even better when there’s a great deal on a box.

What About Buying Higher-End/Boutique/Small Batch Sticks?

That’s a tough one because those kinds of sticks are invariably going to be sold at a premium and will not be widely available meaning few retailers will carry them. For those kinds of sticks, I try my best to go with sites like Small Batch, Luxury Cigar Club, and Cigar God because they’re well-established andYou have great reputations. But sometimes, as in the case of Don Emmanuel cigars, only one place in the US has those cigars available online (The Burnt Leaf Lounge), and I just roll the dice. Luckily, I haven’t been burned yet.

You might be wondering why I’ve taken all this time to discuss this. Simply put, it’s because this hobby is expensive. For regular smokers like me, value is important because I go through my stock. Getting the best price means that I have more money on hand to buy more cigars. It has nothing to do with being cheap. I want to maximize my buying power!