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.

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.

Lost a bid i see. Don't worry, there will be more auctions to win. Walk it off.

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.

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?

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!

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!

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!

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!

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 ...

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.

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.

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.

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)

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?

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

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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 $$ ...

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.

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. ???

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.