Joe Cigar Selling Seconds?

Originally Posted by Bax

So are you saying there might be a slight possibility that there are 2 types of cigars? 1 for B&M's and 1 for online retailers?

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

I think the answer is simple. It's the manufacturer that is sneaking in lesser quallity stock into the larger internet retailers orders. Every producer has stock that is just barely under standard. Throw them away or sneak them in a big order? CI will not open every box for sale like a B&M would. By the time the poorer sticks are discovered they're in a third persons hands and much less likely to get returned. It's all about profit margins.

So in short, blame the manufacturer.

I'm not saying there are sticks for B&Ms and different sticks for online retailers. What I'm saying is that "some" of the big online retailers are knowingly buying the lesser quality stock, so that they can sell it cheap on their daily/weekly special or auctions. If it were happening on occasion, I would believe that it is just the mfg being sneaky, but it is happening across multiple mfgs. I will go it a step further and say that if you purchase a box at full price (ie not the daily/weekly special or auction) from these retailers, you get a different quality. Have you noticed that there are no seconds for sale from a lot of mfgs? There has to be a certain amount of production that is off color, underfilled, improperly blended, etc. What happens to those?

[T.G]

Originally Posted by newlifetaxidermy

I'm not saying there are sticks for B&Ms and different sticks for online retailers. What I'm saying is that "some" of the big online retailers are knowingly buying the lesser quality stock, so that they can sell it cheap on their daily/weekly special or auctions. If it were happening on occasion, I would believe that it is just the mfg being sneaky, but it is happening across multiple mfgs. I will go it a step further and say that if you purchase a box at full price (ie not the daily/weekly special or auction) from these retailers, you get a different quality. Have you noticed that there are no seconds for sale from a lot of mfgs? There has to be a certain amount of production that is off color, underfilled, improperly blended, etc. What happens to those?

They sell them to online vendors at a deep discount and mark the boxes with a sticker that says "Hold for James in North Carolina or Tripp in Oregon"

Originally Posted by T.G

They sell them to online vendors at a deep discount and mark the boxes with a sticker that says "Hold for James in North Carolina or Tripp in Oregon"

You might be on to something...