Why are prem brand prices skyrocketing?

[cigarfan]

But the store bundles, factory seconds and maybe 2nd tier brands..are staying around the same price point?
I understand you pay more for a premium brand name, with fancy packaging, advertising.
But it seems those lines are getting more..and more expensive. But the bundle, and store brands, and "off brands" seem to be holding their price line.

It's just creating a much wider gulf between these brands and the premiums.

If the new taxes are causing prices to rice, why is it mostly on the premium lines?

[bigw]

Cause they can???

[tg81182]

The mfrs have to support all the fancy new names for cigars, sort of a wag-the-dog scenario.

[Mad Dawg]

Originally Posted by bigw

Cause they can???

Yep.

Nothing in a free-market economy happens in a vacuum. They're raising prices because they've discovered that they are able to sell their cigars at higher prices. As long as people are willing to shell out more money for cigars, cigar manufacturers will keep raising their prices. Simple as that.

[tonycsmoke]

Take a cigar and.......

put it in a bundle of 25. Charge $35 bucks for it and most people will laugh at it. They will only buy them to smoke while doing lawn work. They'll chuck the ban off before cutting and lighting.


or

Put it in a nice wooden box accompanied by marketing telling how it took two years to come up with the blend. Charge $10+ per smoke and people will savor them. Sip them like fine wine and leave the ban on as long as possible. It seems the more we pay the better we like them.

[N99]

Originally Posted by tonycsmoke

Take a cigar and.......

put it in a bundle of 25. Charge $35 bucks for it and most people will laugh at it. They will only buy them to smoke while doing lawn work. They'll chuck the ban off before cutting and lighting.


or

Put it in a nice wooden box accompanied by marketing telling how it took two years to come up with the blend. Charge $10+ per smoke and people will savor them. Sip them like fine wine and leave the ban on as long as possible. It seems the more we pay the better we like them.

+1 on this. The story makes the cigar a lot of times. Exclusivity and a gimmick help.
I have had major league cigars disappoint, and bundle cheapies that are twice as nice as cigars costing 3x more. Smoke what you like......

[Mad Dawg]

Originally Posted by tonycsmoke

Take a cigar and.......

put it in a bundle of 25. Charge $35 bucks for it and most people will laugh at it. They will only buy them to smoke while doing lawn work. They'll chuck the ban off before cutting and lighting.


or

Put it in a nice wooden box accompanied by marketing telling how it took two years to come up with the blend. Charge $10+ per smoke and people will savor them. Sip them like fine wine and leave the ban on as long as possible. It seems the more we pay the better we like them.

So...most people who buy cigars are poseurs and attention whores? Those are the guys driving the market?

Don't get me wrong - I've been around long enough to have seen ample evidence that you're right about the psychological factors involved. But I've also been around long enough to know that price and advertising spend are extremely poorly correlated with quality where cigars are concerned. Most of the seasoned cigar smokers I know get that as well, so your assertion seems to be that seasoned cigar smokers aren't the ones driving the market. I guess you could be right, but...

Personally, I don't give a tinker's damn what anybody else thinks of the cigars I smoke. I don't care if it's a buck-twenty cigar or a twelve buck cigar, the band comes off before the cigar gets clipped, and if it sucks, it gets pitched. There's only one person on the planet whose opinion of the cigars I smoke matters, and that's me.

The corollary is also clear: I don't give a tinker's damn what anybody else smokes. You wave a cigar around flaunting the band, you're a poseur, I'm not impressed.

Bottom line: Smoke what you like, like what you smoke, ignore the poseurs.

[KatDad]

Originally Posted by Mad Dawg

Bottom line: Smoke what you like, like what you smoke, ignore the poseurs.

Words to live by.

[tonycsmoke]

Originally Posted by Mad Dawg

So...most people who buy cigars are poseurs and attention whores? Those are the guys driving the market?

Don't get me wrong - I've been around long enough to have seen ample evidence that you're right about the psychological factors involved. But I've also been around long enough to know that price and advertising spend are extremely poorly correlated with quality where cigars are concerned. Most of the seasoned cigar smokers I know get that as well, so your assertion seems to be that seasoned cigar smokers aren't the ones driving the market. I guess you could be right, but...

Personally, I don't give a tinker's damn what anybody else thinks of the cigars I smoke. I don't care if it's a buck-twenty cigar or a twelve buck cigar, the band comes off before the cigar gets clipped, and if it sucks, it gets pitched. There's only one person on the planet whose opinion of the cigars I smoke matters, and that's me.

The corollary is also clear: I don't give a tinker's damn what anybody else smokes. You wave a cigar around flaunting the band, you're a poseur, I'm not impressed.

Bottom line: Smoke what you like, like what you smoke, ignore the poseurs.

There are two parts to what I'm saying. One is that the mental aspect of cigars is very strong. Expectations from price and box all the way to the band influences our opinion of a cigar. A friend of mine had a source for isoms. Typical guy in Miami that had them boated in. He gifted me a few of them and without a doubt they were fakes. Not even good fakes. Him and everyone he gifted them to loved them.

The other part is that its common to take the very same cigar and put it into a bundle and more than one brand/box. I'm not saying it all cigars but probably more than we know.

[cigarfan]

Originally Posted by tonycsmoke

Take a cigar and.......

put it in a bundle of 25. Charge $35 bucks for it and most people will laugh at it. They will only buy them to smoke while doing lawn work. They'll chuck the ban off before cutting and lighting.

or

Put it in a nice wooden box accompanied by marketing telling how it took two years to come up with the blend. Charge $10+ per smoke and people will savor them. Sip them like fine wine and leave the ban on as long as possible. It seems the more we pay the better we like them.

I think you have answered my question.

I've been smoking cigars for 20+ years. I have learned to appreciate different blends, etc.
However, labels don't mean shit to me, as I usually take them off anyway.

My concerns with a cigar are:
1. it tastes good
2. has a good draw
3. doesn't cost a lot.

I might pay more for a certain cigar in some instances...just because I really like the smoking experience. The flavor, blend, draw. And even then, I shop around for the absolute best price I can find.
But as soon as I find a bundle, or similar smoke for less $$$, that's where I'll go next.

Even then, I have a limit to what I can spend or even would spend, on Cigars.
For example, I have never bought a box of Davidoffs, or Padrons Anniversary lines, or even Ashtons.
If prices keep rising on premiums, I'll just have to find bundles I like really well. And maybe that's not such a bad idea after all.