% of Cigars sold over the internet that are fake?

[El Presidente]

The Oz Fed Govt has asked us what % of cigars sold over the internet are fake. This is all part of the inquiry over tobacco and internet currently going on in this country.

I have no idea of what % of cigars sold over the internet are fake. If anyone has any links to articles on the matter, plese post here or let me know.

Cheers!

[melies]

All Except cigar czar?

[rp99pts]

All cigars from the Costa Rica sites....

[Diamondog]

Hard to say....obviously more than being able to inspect them in store....probably just as many as reputable vendors...

[TankerT]

Very interesting question. I wonder what their motive/angle is with it.

My job is in IT, specifically hosting websites. I truly believe that this is no practical way to gather this data. As such, I would find it questionable that an accurate study has been done on this topic. (Get lots of somewhat similar questions about gathering data about various classifications of web sites... I have to admit though... that my favorite request is from 16 years ago, when one of my clients asked me if I could put the Internet on a CD for him so he could look at it without getting an AOL account.)

[OZCUBAN]

Hi all

Touch wood I have never encounterd any fakes but then again I only buy from well trusted and reliable sources CZARS and a couple of others which are all official

Is the fake market aimed mainly at the American market or is it more of a world wide problem?

So I have been of no real help as I would not have a clue as to the % rate of fakes but I would imagine the stats would be frightening

Cheers OZ

[MrGlass]

Although this doesn't address your request, this is a news article on Philip Morris sueing retailers for selling fake Marlboro cigarettes in the US: http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110706-710149.html

According to that, they have now sued 212 retailers in New York alone.

[jedipastor]

I've never been the victim of it myself, but I know guys who have purchased fakes over the internet.

[cigcars]

I would say a good 55+% of vendors out there are selling NotReallos. If it's not breaking forum rules to list it, there is a very nice site called www.cigarinspector.com that has a shops list at the mid top of the page where you click on it and it gives you numerous shop listings. When you click on the bold bordered black and white writing in the top of their various shops boxes there are customer reviews of the shops and their experiences. It lets you state your shopper's experiences, and when numerous customers have listed their bad experiences with suspected fakes, sometimes the owner/operator of the business comes on to argue their case. In case you're interested, the Czar is one of the reviewed shops on there with a 100% positive rating (I'm one of the raters! ). Also, it would appear that too, too many shops located in Costa Rica or the West Indies islands have too many questionables to risk...

[kyee]

Some of the well known and trusted vendors that sell online are also selling fakes. sometimes unknowingly, sometimes knowingly. I've experienced this first hand. They may buy some of their product off the grey market, and when they do, there's no guarantee of what they're actually getting.

Czar is the only vendor that I trust 100% at this point.