Shopping Around?

[SmokinPhysics]

So I've spent some time the last several days (procrastination FTW) reading and digesting several pages worth of threads, and I must admit the selection of sales sites is a bit overwhelming. It seems like everyone either has some sort of go-to or a few that they use on a regular basis. My question is how much shopping around do you do prior to any given purchase?

I'm also curious as to how yall arrive at your purchase decisions. The cigar selections are so huge, and it's hard to choose even among sampler packs (it really is a slippery slope, huh ). I've been a beer geek longer than I've been into cigars, and I have the same issue in that hobby; I generally spend 15-30 minutes perusing a (good) bottle shop's selection before settling on a purchase (even if I've been to that shop before), and that's after spending hours of my own time reading reviews and the like of various beers online.