I am looking for the cheapest place to get a S.T. Dupont lighter. I will be visiting both Paris and New York and was thinking which place would be better to buy a lighter from.
Also if you know of any reputable dealers please let me know.
(edited) Would anyone have any ideas?
Thanks in advance for your help
This message has been edited. Last edited by: nuffsaid,
If you're a citizen of the US, buy it in Paris if it retails for about the same price after the dollar/euro conversion. You can usually get the taxes back at the airport when you present receipts. HOWEVER - and there's a reason it's in all caps - you can't schlep a lighter on the plane. It will be confiscated. Unless it's new and completely empty of gas, you can't put it in your checked bags either. (And even so, TSA and their French counterpart sometimes have sticky fingers.) The best bet would be to have it sent directly from the shop.
Then again, you could skip all that and buy one online. Most S. T. Dupont retail for about the same price anywhere you go. At least by ordering it from out of state you could avoid the tax.
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Posts: 1340 | Location: New York/Denver | Registered: August 05, 2005
Here you go: http://www.stdupontlighters.com/ By the way, if you want it for cigars, make sure you get the additional flame jet installed. I have a Ligne 2 that I absolutely love. Hope this helps
"No matter how far a jackass travels, it will never return a horse."
Posts: 1447 | Location: New Jersey | Registered: June 21, 2002
I wonder what they do with all the lighters that the TSA confiscates from travelers. I recently walked by a bin FULL of lighters...everything from bic disposables, to what appeared to be nice Colibri lighters, and quite certainly, they've nabbed their share of dupont's.
The auction sites have them for sale all the time, both from institutional vendors, to individuals.
___________________ Santa Cabilla...patron saint of Quericæstan. VIVE COULTER (not Ann)! VIVE CPD! Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go...(Oscar Wilde)
Posts: 9021 | Location: Avenida de las Nalgas, Quericæstan | Registered: May 02, 2002
Originally posted by mbrown3: Try www.elighters.com - they have Duponts at good prices, but I've never ordered from there so can't say how good they are.
That was a good site....thanks for giving us the link.
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Posts: 284 | Location: In the SouthWest! | Registered: December 10, 2005
Just a word of advice from someone who has had this happen to them:
If you have a lighter, even an empty lighter, in your checked baggage, it will be seen on the x-ray and your bag checked. The TSA inspects the checked bags without supervision and are accused from time to time, pocketing the odd valuable.
I lost a cheap Chinatown torch lighter this way. I would hate to see it happen to your ST Dupont.
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Posts: 1340 | Location: New York/Denver | Registered: August 05, 2005
TSA goes through locked bags as easily as unlocked bags. I think sending it back would be safer, though maybe that's just because I've never had anything disappear that way. The store would surely be able to ship it for you, or you could even do it yourself.
These stupid TSA regulations just make no sense. Matches? Fine. But no lighters. Anyway, good luck.
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Posts: 1340 | Location: New York/Denver | Registered: August 05, 2005
Makes me kind of worried about my normal luggage and something disappearing from that then! I will probably have something valuable packed in there that they might take. Argh!
No, you should never check your "valuables". But ALL lighters will be confiscated if found. And a huge hunk of metal going through an x-ray machine will cause an inquiry and a seizure, filled with gas or not. If the bag is locked, TSA just gets bolt cutters out and clips off the lock. That is hardly an impediment. However, your bags are pretty safe once they are handed to be checked. After all...with all the security checks involved in order to PREVENT tampering with bags, one would think, anyway, that it's going to be tough to mess with baggage under the circumstances.
Once you're through the gate and if the lighter is found, what are your options as far as sending it back? There are no postal facilities handy. MAYBE you could get one of the airport stores to ship it for you (assuming you can get it past the screening lines). But you really don't have many options. Plus...the postal service won't even allow you to ship lighters or anything else of "flammable" nature.
___________________ Santa Cabilla...patron saint of Quericæstan. VIVE COULTER (not Ann)! VIVE CPD! Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go...(Oscar Wilde)
Posts: 9021 | Location: Avenida de las Nalgas, Quericæstan | Registered: May 02, 2002
Originally posted by ryj7x47: I wonder what they do with all the lighters that the TSA confiscates from travelers. I recently walked by a bin FULL of lighters...everything from bic disposables, to what appeared to be nice Colibri lighters, and quite certainly, they've nabbed their share of dupont's.
They light all those confiscated Cohiba's with 'em!
