Can someone tell me what the deal is with the MSRP. The latest CI e-mail special is a good example. Where does IT come off with their MSRPs (see their website also)...? I love the term used in the e-mail "Street Price". What is the manufacturer trying to accomplish, when they know that the actual value of the product is so much less than their MSRP?

marketing......all marketing....

A phenomenon that is not, by any stretch of the imagination, limited to the world of cigars ...

Never thought about it. I never look at the catalogs and buy only on auction or via internet searches.

What SteveS said.....from cars to washing machines, to boxes of Cocco Puffs, MSRP is not restricted to cigars.

not restricted to cigars... true, enough.

However, usually the discrepancy is not 300%

To me, this is actually a misguided marketing tool, because it carries no credibility at all.

On the other hand, maybe I should be worrying about something else.

Probably ... LOL

Cigars are affected more than a lot of items because of huge differences in tobacco taxes from one locale to another ... also, even where taxes are the same, there are differences in overhead from store to store that impact unit price ... here, for example, a store on Market Street in San Francisco has a far (make that FAR) higher cost per square foot than does the one on Rosewood Drive in the 'burbs out by my house ...

On some of the boom closeouts it could be the boom price....

Pure crapola. But I thought the 'street price' thing was funny, particularly when they were refering to mail order prices. I would consider 'street price to be what you'd typically have to pay if you walk into a shop, that has to tack on taxes, and retail expenses. I always keep three things by the computer, a ring guage, a ruler, and a calculator. They do wonders for cutting through the BS.

I'm worried that your not worrying about something else

:)

BEJEZUS ... do I have to get nasty here ?!?

I sent this thread ***DIRECTLY*** to Customer

SErvice ...

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR ... they will explain it better than any of us 'novices' ...

... I lied ... 😉

It's just a guide. MSRP is what you usually find in most retail shops. Market price or street price gives a more realistic portrayal of what you could actually buy it for. If Macanudo Hyde Parks are, say, $150 a box MSRP and that's what they sell for at your brick & mortar - yet they can generally be purchased for $90-$100 from catalogers or internet dealers, then it's helpful to know both as you're sizing up whether a special is a good buy or not.

My definition of "overbid" is more than 100% of the best internet price (CI or elsewhere). MSRP is not relevant to me. Unfortunately for some bidders there are many of those "overbids" here and they seem to recur with the same brand names over and over (that shall not be named 😉 ). Overbidders are good--they keep CBid in business so the rest of us can get great deals on other sticks! 80% or below is a good deal that probably will be better than waiting for someone somewhere to have a sale.

Below 65% is a great deal. I have had the pleasure of some winning bids below 50% here--those are incredible deals!

What cgbgjr said!

All MSRP means, is that is the price that the manufacturer recommends the retailer sale their product at ... and nothing more.

I got your MSRP right here...

Perhaps it would be helpful to remember that purchasing cigars in a "free" marketplace inherently places the fluctuation of the price of the commodity at risk. Such an environment is far preferable than the alternative of price fixing or government control. Without other factors being made evident, overbidding on the popular cigars might indicate so many different variables it is impossible to evaluate why or predict when it will not happen. Sure, . . . I hate it when I'm outbid, too, but I don't know how many times I've scooped a great buy on Cbid from a lower bidder.

PSR

the

Mighty

Slim

Really

Punishes

those that....(fill in your own blank)

LMAO!

Goody