| gvarsity |
03-04-2009 09:55 AM |
Re: stirring the pot local B&M vs big internet
I think your conspiracy theory would take more time and energy than it is worth. For the most part same blend lower quality sticks are marketed as 2nds, overuns, knockoffs etc... There may be handling or storage issues whatever but cigars have variation where you can have differences in the same box let alone between different production runs.
If there was a significant actual difference in the product I think it quickly noticed buy consumers in general change the value of the economic equation for internet retailers and make a significant impact on internet sales. People aren't just looking for cheap smokes they are looking for the same cigars but at lower cost. There are number of reasons why internet retailers can have significantly lower prices.
Internet sales are primarily about cost. Internet providers can sell lower due to markets of scale for the large sellers like CS, lack of having to maintain the same ratio of retail space as a B & M and by avoiding state sales tax which in some states like CA are very significant. I suspect that the large warehouses of companies like CI are more consistently managed and maintained for temp and humidity than the majority of B&M retailers.
The benefits of a B&M stick are you are supporting a local business and likely an independent owner, you get to develop a relationship with the people that work there, have a community of other cigar smokers and often a comfortable place to enjoy your cigars in peace. Both have their benefits and drawbacks but in general they targeting very different aspects of the market.
For the smoker who has his own smoking room and prefers to smoke alone there is almost no incentive to shop at a B&M unless they want an occasional single between internet purchases and they don't want to pay the shipping. On the other hand someone who smokes infrequently and/or doesn't maintain a large personal humidor and appreciates the community of a local smoke shop and has access to a B&M that stocks most of what said smoker is interested in that smoker has almost no incentive to shop online.
In the end the question is not very meaningful. Internet purchasing and B&M purchasing satisfy different requirements once you get past the most basic transaction of trading money for cigars. Many of us do some of each to satisfy both sets of interests.
DOH should have read the whole thread and realized this debate was long past dead. Oh well since I wrote it I'll leave it up anyway.:bh:bh:bh
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