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Hemmigways on CB - Pretty Entertaining
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goldengoose7 Offline
#1 Posted: Fri, Jul 12 2002, 7:45 AM EST
Joined: 06-28-2002
Posts: 310
If you want to see some serious overbidding going on, have a look at the Short Storys up for auction today. The winning bidders are currently paying 15% over retail for them. :o)

I have gotten some great deals on CB, but I can't get any super premiums on there for less than I buy them for already. Too many misinformed BOOMERS with more money than sense. ;o)
goldengoose7 Offline
#2 Posted: Fri, Jul 12 2002, 7:47 AM EST
Joined: 06-28-2002
Posts: 310
Ooops! My mistake...I as looking at the wrong cigar on the Fuente price list(masterpiece), they are actually currently paying 26% OVER retail for them! ;o)
mhollowa Offline
#3 Posted: Fri, Jul 12 2002, 7:49 AM EST
Joined: 10-03-2001
Posts: 517
Goose...search back through the message archives for the last time Hemingway provided some auction excitement. And the discussion that followed the close. I don't think the current bid is that far off the price you'll find in retail store fronts. I paid $8 each for Signatures last week and was happy to get them.
goldengoose7 Offline
#4 Posted: Fri, Jul 12 2002, 7:52 AM EST
Joined: 06-28-2002
Posts: 310
Really? You think that is a good deal? I can get Short Storys for $4.00 each which is just a tiny bit under retail. At the current bid price of 29.00, those guys are paying $5.80 each!

I love my Short Storys! But I don't love them THAT MUCH! ;o)
mhollowa Offline
#5 Posted: Fri, Jul 12 2002, 7:57 AM EST
Joined: 10-03-2001
Posts: 517
Goose...I this it's arguable that a 26% premium for these cigars at $29 really doesn't mean the bidder is cost-unconscious. Now if the autobid goes to 60% or higher, then I agree with you, call the price control commission...you know who they are: Mr Ed, The Old Grey Mare, Trigger, and recently Seattle Slough.
SteveS Offline
#6 Posted: Fri, Jul 12 2002, 8:01 AM EST
Joined: 01-13-2002
Posts: 8,751
On the sad-but-true front, $5.80 each is clearly a bargain price when compared to the price I would have to pay in one of the cigar stores here in SF or anywhere else in CA ... if you're lucky enough to live in a state where the taxes aren't out through the roof as they are here, I can understand how that $5.80 looks like less of a bargain.
goldengoose7 Offline
#7 Posted: Fri, Jul 12 2002, 8:03 AM EST
Joined: 06-28-2002
Posts: 310
Hee hee...The archives seem to only go back a month unless I am missing a link to actual archives some place.


Well, I stated in my introduction that I am a cheap ass, but I am not afraid to layout a bill or two for a box of cigars I know I love.

I buy Fuentes by the box and always have. I know I am going to smoke all of them.

I am glad for CB though that they are getting so much profit from this and other super premium auctions.

It doesn't make me feel so guilty for getting the stuff I won at 10-25% below wholesale! :o)
goldengoose7 Offline
#8 Posted: Fri, Jul 12 2002, 8:08 AM EST
Joined: 06-28-2002
Posts: 310
Hi Steve,


MAN! I had no idea they were charging that much over retail for these in California!

The taxes can add a bunch to the cost, but even considering that, it looks like dealers a gouging you guys big time!

I would think it would be wise to put your name in with some online shops that sell them at retail or less and just buy a box the next time they have them.
mhollowa Offline
#9 Posted: Fri, Jul 12 2002, 8:11 AM EST
Joined: 10-03-2001
Posts: 517
The "congratulations" to the winner of a box of Hemingways thread was back in March ...here's one reply worth repeating..."I guess I'll de-lurk to take my bows, since you all are being so nice and polite and congratulating me and all. I happened to have been having a lot of trouble finding hemi sigs in stock and when they are in stock, there is a limit of two singles or some such nonsense. I have to pay $8.00+ for singles in my local shops, but I wanted a BOX!!! So I got a box, even if I did have to fight for it $3.00 at a time with someone else. Did I pay less than I would at my local retailer? Yes. Did I pay a premium? Sure. Is the instant gratification worth it? You bet. Am I sorry? No. I've saved enough on this site to make an occasional over-bid tolerable. You'all play this game your way, I'll play it mine... "
goldengoose7 Offline
#10 Posted: Fri, Jul 12 2002, 8:20 AM EST
Joined: 06-28-2002
Posts: 310
I can see his point based on his situation, but I can tell you that Fuente deals ARE out there if you take the time to find them.
SteveS Offline
#11 Posted: Fri, Jul 12 2002, 8:31 AM EST
Joined: 01-13-2002
Posts: 8,751
The taxes here are nothing short of confiscatory ... a current proposal in the state legislature would raise the already exhorbitant tax to 87% ... a cigar that would sell without tax for $5 would then cost $9.35 PLUS the state sales tax, giving you a $10.35 total price out the door ... you can see what I mean about that $5.80 looking good
goldengoose7 Offline
#12 Posted: Fri, Jul 12 2002, 8:36 AM EST
Joined: 06-28-2002
Posts: 310
YIKES! Thats insane!

Can't you just buy everything online?

Washington State is almost as bad as your current taxes, but I stopped buying locally years ago (local cigar boom price gouging forced me to shop out of state/online) even before the taxes started rising above our eye balls.
penzt8 Offline
#13 Posted: Fri, Jul 12 2002, 9:37 AM EST
Joined: 06-05-2000
Posts: 1,771
I'm so glad I live in Virginia. Home of one of the lowest tax rates on tobbacco in the country. BTW, the last box of Hemingway Shortys I bought was less than $80.00. Don't even think about asking for my source :)
goldengoose7 Offline
#14 Posted: Fri, Jul 12 2002, 10:01 AM EST
Joined: 06-28-2002
Posts: 310
Hee hee... I don't blame you for keeping it a secret Penz! ;o)

I read somewhere even perhaps here that Fuente is VERY much opposed to price gouging of their products, so I find it odd that there is so much of it about out there in cigar retail land.

I know that it is the scarcety of the products that add to the prices, but you would think that Fuente would make an effort to produce more cigars if they are so dedicated to reducing the common practice of charing 30-40% OVER MSRP for them.
rayder1 Offline
#15 Posted: Fri, Jul 12 2002, 1:31 PM EST
Joined: 06-02-2002
Posts: 2,226
California does suck for buying at a shop. Taxes and gouging have the prices way up. Unfortunately it creates an overbid situation on CB. I haven't bought a single stogie from a walk in humidor in CA for 6 months.
delarob Offline
#16 Posted: Fri, Jul 12 2002, 3:16 PM EST
Joined: 06-28-2001
Posts: 5,318
1. Ca. is horrible for $$'s

2. While it sucks for mom&pop shops, online is the way to go for the best prices.

3. Cbid is still the best deal going for cigars, with few exceptions where you have to pay, (OK, everyone shudder now) RETAIL But the deals do tend to offset them in the long run, don't they?
Slimboli Offline
#17 Posted: Fri, Jul 12 2002, 4:43 PM EST
Joined: 07-09-2000
Posts: 16,139
I've mentioned this before at CF ... but there is a local tobacconist here in CA that sells Short Story's for $18.50 each ... no joke.
xibbumbero Offline
#18 Posted: Fri, Jul 12 2002, 5:13 PM EST
Joined: 01-25-2002
Posts: 12,535
The 1st tax hike of a few years back,added 25 cents to a pack of cigarettes,but a cigar I was buying at my local store,went from $2.60 to $9.80. The tax hike on cigars and other related tobacco products was raised an ungodly amt. The 2nd tax hike on cigs added $.50 to a pack,and now that same gar was at $17.85. Some tobbaconists,and a cigar mfg co in San Diego went out of buseness. It was at this point I started buying on the internet. Plus no local sales tax. I haven't bought a gar at a local shop in years. Yes,I live in CA. X
goldengoose7 Offline
#19 Posted: Sat, Jul 13 2002, 1:28 PM EST
Joined: 06-28-2002
Posts: 310
The taxes on cigars is really out of hand. Besides that, the money the raise that is supposed to go towards healthcare costs is being deverted to other areas of the state's bugets, thus defeating the purpose of the tax in the first place!

The whole thing is way out of control and even though I feel bad for the local retailers, I have no interest in helping to line the coufers of the state any more than I already do with property taxes, sales taxes, etc. etc.
RICKAMAVEN Offline
#20 Posted: Sat, Jul 13 2002, 2:58 PM EST
Joined: 10-01-2000
Posts: 33,248
Slimboli --i was offered a masterpiece in vegas for $32.50 and that did not include a short time, i mean a short story.
calavera Offline
#21 Posted: Sun, Jul 14 2002, 4:45 AM EST
Joined: 01-26-2002
Posts: 1,868
Here in ND the tobacco taxes on cigars are not too bad. I usually pay about 25 % more here for cigars than the price that a certain cigar magazine lists as the retail price in their reviews (and from what I hear this is not that unusual). However, I buy my Cubans in Winnipeg Manitoba, and if you want to talk about steep taxes, now that is the place. Cubans start at $20 and go up from there. Monte A's were $79 per stick. Cigarettes were something like $10 per pack.
Rdell Offline
#22 Posted: Sun, Jul 14 2002, 6:55 AM EST
Joined: 06-15-2004
Posts: 11
I am on CB to save money, not to overpay. Why not go to several of the online sites and order your Hemingways for less than you are bidding on CB? Perhaps we should post retail/online prices in the comments section of the bids.
GetYourOwn Offline
#23 Posted: Sun, Jul 14 2002, 7:04 AM EST
Joined: 04-05-2002
Posts: 734
Lost a bid i see. Don't worry, there will be more auctions to win. Walk it off.
Rdell Offline
#24 Posted: Sun, Jul 14 2002, 7:26 AM EST
Joined: 06-15-2004
Posts: 11
I know--you're right, but its just so aggravating. The same thing is happening with the boxes of 10 Royal Salutes. I have seen these for $54 plus S&H on the internet.
eleltea Offline
#25 Posted: Sun, Jul 14 2002, 7:32 AM EST
Joined: 03-03-2002
Posts: 4,562
OK, Penzt, I won't ask you for your source for Hemingway Shortys. Do they sell Hemingway Signature or Masterpiece? If so, what's your source?
goldengoose7 Offline
#26 Posted: Sun, Jul 14 2002, 8:02 AM EST
Joined: 06-28-2002
Posts: 310
I have been sticking to my 10-20% below "discount" retail rule.

If some folks want to pay 20-50% OVER retail on a CB cigar deal, I am surely not one to stand in their way! ;o) If anything, it helps keep this site profitable for CI.

As I mentioned, I usually buy my Hemingways by the box and at either Fuente retail or slightly below. I can see that on CB there are certain brands which are basically the domain of the "BOOMER" bidder or as I have learned from this thread, the POOR CALIFORNIAN cigar buyer who has been so beaten up by state tobacco taxes that 30-40% over retail is actually considered a bargain. :o(

The up side to these overbidding wars, is that in the mad scramble for those Hemingways and other WELL KNOWN PREMIUMS, they allow more savvy and experienced smokers to scoop up some equally great smokes at some excellent below wholesale prices!

Life is good!
Hansen Offline
#27 Posted: Sun, Jul 14 2002, 11:46 AM EST
Joined: 03-11-2000
Posts: 444
At the prices You guys come up with those (Hemingway) Short Stories must be the best cigars this side of the known universe. Man are You blessed to know and have smoked these. I bet the Newman family are all laughing all the way to the bank. I don't get it!
penzt8 Offline
#28 Posted: Sun, Jul 14 2002, 2:34 PM EST
Joined: 06-05-2000
Posts: 1,771
LLT, even my source hasn't seen a box of Materpieces in over two years. The way it was explained to me, they receive whatever Fuente wants to ship them. Sometimes it's short stories sometimes it Signatures. and very rarely they get some classics. BTW, I smoked a short story today while I was wiring my shed in the backyard. Great smoke!
cruiser Offline
#29 Posted: Sun, Jul 14 2002, 2:51 PM EST
Joined: 06-15-2001
Posts: 739
penz smoking a HW short story working on your shed,wow I never in my life used this kind of gar for yardwork,well I am just a poor sucker!
Slimboli Offline
#30 Posted: Sun, Jul 14 2002, 3:15 PM EST
Joined: 07-09-2000
Posts: 16,139
Hansen ... it's the Fuentes that are laughing all the way to the bank. The Newmans (Diamond Crown) are just partners with them, and have their own line ...
goldengoose7 Offline
#31 Posted: Sun, Jul 14 2002, 3:43 PM EST
Joined: 06-28-2002
Posts: 310
I think it is actually the RETAILERS with customers willing to pay these ridiculous prices that are doing most of the laughing. Afterall, Fuente sells the cigars at their usual wholsale price to retailers, who then tack on an additional 30-80% above what the retail price is supposed to be.

I'd call it highway robbery, except for the fact that there seems to be plenty of folks falling all over each other to empty their wallets for these guys!

I am sure that Fuente is shacking their heads in disbelief as much as most of us are.
aberdeen Offline
#32 Posted: Sun, Jul 14 2002, 8:24 PM EST
Joined: 06-11-1999
Posts: 741
I agree, I must confess I think Fuente is overated, and why is that? Because they pay huge sums for adds in Cigar Aficiando and are always rated and usually with very positive results. I had a box of short stories and thought they were decent enough, but not a super premium in my book. In fact my favorite Fuentes are those with the sun grown wrappers. Otherwise I don't spend premium prices on their cigars. Fuente is also a marketing genius, give credit were credit is due, and is able to sucker people in believing that their cigars are God's gift to man. In my entire collection of over 2000 cigars I only have one box of Fuentes, Don Carlos torpedo and 8 Opus X (singles, not boxes). I also think CI should start doing auctions for cigarettes, people on the east coast with the new extortionist taxes would be here like chickens on a june bug.
mhollowa Offline
#33 Posted: Mon, Jul 15 2002, 8:36 AM EST
Joined: 10-03-2001
Posts: 517
I bailed out of the bidding at $33...I called five Internet retailers today and turned up empty shelves, except one who said she would have a couple of boxes, maybe Signatures, this week, probably.
goldengoose7 Offline
#34 Posted: Mon, Jul 15 2002, 9:16 AM EST
Joined: 06-28-2002
Posts: 310
Mhollowa, just think of the great gars you can buy with that money you saved! :o) As far as getting your hands on Hemingways, I have my name in with several online stores that email me when they get them about every 3-4 months. If I need some, I buy them by the box and at retail or less. There is a lot to say about what Aberdeen said regarding the marketing genius of Fuente!

I think we all know that although Fuente is a great cigar brand, there are others out there of equal quality that can be had for a fraction of the cost with far less hassle.

I think for many of these guys, it is the prestiege of whipping out some of these (EXPENSIVE) cigars in front of their friends that gets them wanting to own these things so much. Since I am a lone cigar smoker in the wilderness as far as my friends are concerned, I have no one to impress with brands I have in my humidor. When I go out to have a smoke on the deck, the squirrels and blue jays could care less if I am smoking a Hemingway, a Bolivar or a White Owl! As long as I throw them some peanuts, they are happy! ;o)
mhollowa Offline
#35 Posted: Mon, Jul 15 2002, 9:25 AM EST
Joined: 10-03-2001
Posts: 517
Goose...I guarantee I don't care about impressing anyone. But I love a good smoke and the Hemingway is a good smoke. I lived in the country years ago...goats, chickens and a half-acre garden. Moved away when the kids got to school age. I have a few dozen sheets of "Macintosh Office" stationery if you would like to trade your sources. How about Lisa Office?
goldengoose7 Offline
#36 Posted: Mon, Jul 15 2002, 10:25 AM EST
Joined: 06-28-2002
Posts: 310
Old Apple stuff eh? I don't need that stationary, but if you want, I can give you a source for Hemingway Shortys and Classics by the box at a non gouge price, but you better hurry! They got them in today and they are already down to a couple boxes of each

[email protected]
SteveS Offline
#37 Posted: Mon, Jul 15 2002, 10:59 AM EST
Joined: 01-13-2002
Posts: 8,751
The taste buds on this kid just don't appreciate those Heminways enough to justify the expense ... I tried one recently, just to see what the fuss was all about and for ME, while they're clearly a good cigar, they're over-rated ... but, as I've said many times, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so for those of you who feel them to be all that, go ahead and bid with the knowledge that it won't be me trying to outbid you ... I too can buy any number of other cigars that I will like as well or even better and get more of them for the same $$ ...
Rdell Offline
#38 Posted: Mon, Jul 15 2002, 2:43 PM EST
Joined: 06-15-2004
Posts: 11
I have found Hemingway Classics online for $7.60 each, in stock. There may even be a lower price out there. So why are the bids higher than that? It is simple enough to check out the retail price before bidding.
goldengoose7 Offline
#39 Posted: Tue, Jul 16 2002, 5:50 PM EST
Joined: 06-28-2002
Posts: 310
I don't know.

I picked up some Short Storys just yesterday for $4.20 a piece.

Go figure why these guys can't find the same online stores I shop at. ???
ashman Offline
#40 Posted: Wed, Jul 17 2002, 6:07 AM EST
Joined: 06-19-2002
Posts: 4
Ever heard the one about the "created shortage" to increase the demand thus increasing the price. If everyone would stop paying outrageous prices for the much revered brands you would see how soon they would become reasonably priced. People would practically kill for ISOMs just because they are scarce and illegal. A prestige item if you will, not necessarily the best cigar for the money. Just my 2 cents.
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