Gentlemen, As a newbie to the cigar world I've come across sites such as Thompson's, Famous Smokes, cigar.com, etc. Are any of the online cigar stores worth it or should I stick with my local B & M (which is absolutely outstanding)?
Posts: 20 | Location: Georgia | Registered: June 16, 2008
famous smoke-decent prices, free shipping on boxes, deal of the days are ok but they have some pretty good sales (box of VSG illusions for 170 about a month ago). they get to MD in a business day so i use em a lot.
CI-deal of the days are amazing, picked up a bunch of pepin sticks at 3 each, free shipping with whole order when you get the deal, ship in a day or 2 to MD. like em a lot.
cigarplace.biz-they have really low prices on a bunch of stuff, i got a box of pepin cuban classic robustos for 80 bucks which is like 27 below retail elsewhere. pree shipping when you order before noon and on 1 or 2 fridays a month you can get free stuff tacked onto orders of 40 or more. they ship from florida so theyd be closer for u but its usually 2-4 business days for me.
ive heard good things from holts as well in terms of samplers, a good way to get hard to find stuff like opus x and vsgs. newhavannacigars.com has illusiones and everything pepin blends under his own name as well as tatuajes, never used em tho.
dont use thompsons ever and cigar.com is expensive and usually ships dry cigars
DAMN, Im Thirsty! I want a beer, how bout you? You want a beer?
Famous is good. Cigar.com is often overpriced; try their sister company cigarsinternational.com (and cigarbid.com) for better prices. Some others I have had good luck with are Holt's, Atlantic, Tampa Humidor, and New Havana Cigars. For daily deals, check out joecigar.com (from CI), cigarmonster.com (from Famous), and todayscigar.com. I'm sure that others will chime in with other good online shops.
The one to avoid is Thompson. Their house brands are lousy and they have terrible prices for name brand smokes. Worst of all, once they get your phone number, their sleazy sales reps won't stop calling your house.
I noticed the responses about Thompson's. I have a buddy who lives and dies by Thompsons and after getting a few cardboard tasting smokes from him I had my doubts. Thanks for the advice, keep it coming.
Posts: 20 | Location: Georgia | Registered: June 16, 2008
Originally posted by Islander: I noticed the responses about Thompson's. I have a buddy who lives and dies by Thompsons and after getting a few cardboard tasting smokes from him I had my doubts. Thanks for the advice, keep it coming.
i got a couple RPs in a sampler that i swear were fakes, plus they send an email a day to you
DAMN, Im Thirsty! I want a beer, how bout you? You want a beer?
I buy a lot of my stuff from cigarbid, they are owned by Cigars International, so they ship out of PA, but you can usually get a pretty good deal on stuff, they also put some hard to find stuff on the singles listings, usually have a couple of Opus listings, have even seen a Casa Fuente on there before. I always check the price for a straight purchase on CI before bidding, because sometimes the bids will go higher than the purchase price, I guess some people just get caught up in the bidding.
"Eating and sleeping are the only activities that should be allowed to interrupt a man's enjoyment of his cigar" - Mark Twain
JRs, Famous, and Cigar International are my top online retailers. B&M shops are great for trying something different without buying a 5/10 pack or box. Plus supporting them is always a good thing. Once you find your standard favorites online is the way to go for those.
Posts: 186 | Location: Purcellville, Va, USA | Registered: October 19, 2004
i make it a point to try to buy atleast 5 singles every two weeks from my local to keep a contact and network for business. my local has a smoking room right next dorr so there is always someone there smoking and a great way to learn and mingle.
Originally posted by hawksfan75: Any chance the Mods could make a new forum or sticky for each of the main retailers for people to post the good, bad & ugly?
So, Holts, CI, Famous, JRs, and the rest?
Just a thought.
HF75, I had a similar idea, but have CA rate B&M's around the world like they do with cigars, and another forum member made the comment to set something up on the forum site to rate B&M's, but this idea would work great with online merchant's as well, as most online stores have a retail outlet too.
Originally posted by hawksfan75: Any chance the Mods could make a new forum or sticky for each of the main retailers for people to post the good, bad & ugly?
So, Holts, CI, Famous, JRs, and the rest?
Just a thought.
That is an excellent suggestion that I would like to see implemented. On the other hand it's an idea that will only go as far as the members of this site will take it.
There is a world of difference between giving fair pro and con critiques and spamming for or having a vendetta against any particular retailer.
I honestly don't think I'm going overboard by saying this. I'm a member of another cigar community that had a retailer ratings page and the BS got so out of hand they took it off the boards.
"Nobody loves me but my mother.......and she could be jivin' too".......B.B. King
Posts: 443 | Location: Staten Island, New York | Registered: June 01, 2004
My buddy mike has a place in Manchester NH. He sells online at www.nhcigars.com. You can get 10% off every time you order from him using coupon code: cgr156.
A few people on this board has used him and have had no problems. He also has some crazy sales (there was a 30% off sale he had for all online orders one time). Check them out if you get the chance and get on his mailing list....
_____________________ God, Country and Fast Boats
Posts: 583 | Location: New Hampshire | Registered: March 12, 2007
