At what price would you quit? (One year later)

[djrey]

A bit more than a year ago I started a thread (linked here) with the above question. If I recall correctly this was when price increases were due more to lingering covid/unrest issues rather than the great HSA super premium price hike that really shook things up. The poll produced an interesting discussion that I think would be interesting for some members to revisit. Have your answers changed at all? Why have they changed? 

Sadly, I was priced out of Cubans a while ago (besides a recent purchase of 200 Partagas chicos 🤣). Luckily, I amassed a decent collection in the good ol days and I have reduced my smoking habits. This should let me smoke CC for the next 10 years. Even without buying CC, life has gone on. Luckily we have access to some pretty solid NC cigars including Rob's Nudie line. 

When all this began many said just wait for the supply to get back to normal and prices will settle once again. A basic economic model yes, but we are dealing with a corrupt communist country. They don't follow basic economics last time I checked. Prices have more than doubled (or more) for pretty much every cigar and people still scramble to buy them up at a frenzied pace. I would imagine HSA is pretty happy producing less cigars and bringing in some big bucks. Maybe too pessimistic but I doubt we will ever see prices remotely close to what we saw two years ago. If you disagree, 55 members or 34% voted that Cubans are life and they will pay anything. I bet that number is growing and HSA knows it. 

Anyway, if you participated in the previous poll, what has changed? Have you stayed true to your ceiling or have you dug a bit deeper in the wallet? And if you are new, what is your ceiling price? 

[dominattorney]

I am here also. Part of the joy of CCs is buying boxes. With NCs a unit was always a single. And the joy of shopping is buying multiple units. With CCs it used to be comparatively easy to justify buying 2 or more boxes of cigars a month, but no more. Even though my finances are such that I could afford to do so if I wanted, the pleasure of the purchase for me was also linked in part to a recognition of the value proposition, which is forever gone from the equation. 

[Hammer Smokin']

yah, I was priced out on the last increase. 

I've purchased one 2017 Sig 3 five pack offered a while back on 24;24. 

Like anything, finances are just shifted from one poison to another. 

We are in the golden age of Cannabis and my money is much better spent there. 

[cigcars]

   *In the prior years of its heyday - nothing would keep me away from my Cubans: no price amount, no scarcity, no nothing. I think a CC would have to be over a Thousand Dollars to make me at least wait. 

[BrightonCorgi]

I'll buy just enough so the few vendors I use know I am still in the game.  Don't need any boxes.

[shokao]

I feel like I'm in the edge of been priced out. I mean, I'm still able to afford cigars without filing for bankruptcy but I'm starting to wonder if I'm not paying too much for some dried leafs with all do respect. Cuban tobacco may be the best in the world but make no mistake, I'll not cut my own flesh just to enjoy cigars. I rather stick with Nudies and MOFOHs for the rest of my days but I do not intend to sustain HSA ridiculous price hikes. And that's about it.

[LizardGizmo]

The May/June price increase seemed appropriate to me (aside from Cohiba/Trini). Communication wise, HSA certainly blew it, but but in a lot of ways, I feel like it was a long overdue correction. A D4 or RASS absolutely provides me with $15-18 US worth of value every time. Price increases every 6 months will change that very quickly for me.

 

[joeypots]

   The Cuban cigars I would buy are getting too expensive. I may not buy many more at current prices but never say never. I got a box of those aged MCDEs a couple of years ago. They have almost doubled in price recently. Great cigars. They were a lot, to me, back in the day, maybe about the current price of a young box of Cuban Robustos. Now, they are too much. Never say never but I’m having a hard time pulling the trigger at current prices and prices are going up.....

 Cigars will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no cigars. To paraphrase my buddy, Freewheeling’ Franklin.

[DaBoot]

I’ll probably be only buying 3 boxes a year, quality smokes I enjoy for aging.but overall $20 a stick is too high on average for me. My stock will last me 10 years, but I don’t want to be smoking 15yr old sticks all the time. 

[BrightonCorgi]

3 minutes ago, DaBoot said:

I’ll probably be only buying 3 boxes a year, quality smokes I enjoy for aging.but overall $20 a stick is too high on average for me. My stock will last me 10 years, but I don’t want to be smoking 15yr old sticks all the time. 

Often the chase can be better than the catch.  I like fresh punchy cigars as much as aged ones.  I get tired of looking at the same boxes.  Getting new box is like a kid at Christmas.

[DaBoot]

4 minutes ago, BrightonCorgi said:

Often the chase can be better than the catch.  I like fresh punchy cigars as much as aged ones.  I get tired of looking at the same boxes.  Getting new box is like a kid at Christmas.

I’m starting to have that feeling about whiskey. Love the hunt for a bottle… the GF opened the last delivery and seen the overall cost,,,, she has been shopping ever since😂😂

[djrey]

36 minutes ago, BrightonCorgi said:

Often the chase can be better than the catch.  I like fresh punchy cigars as much as aged ones.  I get tired of looking at the same boxes.  Getting new box is like a kid at Christmas.

That's what's killing me. This hobby for me was the chase of tasting something new or getting a different shade wrapper from the same blend etc. Not buying anymore has killed nearly all enjoyment of reading about or watching videos about Cuban cigars in general. Now its just the same boxes for me every time I open the humi. What a problem to have. 🤣

[Puros Y Vino]

As of the last price increase, I've relegated myself to never buying another Cohiba or Trinidad cigar again.  So, that has lead me to dig down into the Habanos catalogue and discover some "cheaper" cigars I would otherwise pass up.  I don't need to smoke top tier sticks every time I light up, so a few cheapies have been pleasant surprises. 

[DikkeSigaar]

Petit Corona is the new Robusto😉

[El Presidente]

The Habanos strategy is to lose 30% of you. 

.....stop holding on 

[vladdraq]

personally i didn't find much NC i really enjoy. Beside Opus, Davidoffs, a few ok sticks, but that's it. jus "ok" didnt' do it fo me. So, i stay, mostly for the cheap side of the spectrum.

[JohnS]

19 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

The Habanos strategy is to lose 30% of you. 

.....stop holding on 

After these changes in 2022, and after this thread even, I now can't hear the following song in the same way!

[Bijan]

I mean there are a lot of luxury goods I was priced out of before all this (or at least couldn't buy or consume to anywhere near the same extent I could buy and smoke CCs): champagne, watches, cars (plural). It's not just an incompetent communist government that is to blame.

But due to the crazy taxes in Canada and the near total ban on smoking in public, I felt this was just a matter of time anyways. So it was probably less of a shock to me, than some (especially those in the US).

[dominattorney]

42 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

The Habanos strategy is to lose 30% of you. 

.....stop holding on 

Be surprised if it was just 30 percent. I'll still buy here and there, but nothing like before. Might even justify it on a health kick. Smoking is bad for you, so it's actually an informed decision. Ah, the magic of mental gymnastics 

[Ford2112]

I gotta grab some La Trovas unfortunately  🤮

[El Presidente]

10 minutes ago, dominattorney said:

Be surprised if it was just 30 percent. 

You may be right. 

I suspect in their eyes, the pricing balance will be right when LCDH shelves in Europe and Asia  start to fill up with product.  Now that looks to be happening in Cuba (cigar tourism is now largely dead) but it is not happening on any scale in Europe/Middle East/Asia right now outside of Trini and a few smaller Cohiba. 

I am guessing it would take 160 - 200 million cigars to restock shelves, distributor and retailer warehouses around the world to prepandemic levels.  That isn't going to happen from new production under the current regime. 

 

 

[Nevrknow]

Even when I can again, I'm thinking only Esmeralda and Fundi and Sir Winnie. The 3 must tries I haven't gotten to try. Yet.

[dominattorney]

2 hours ago, El Presidente said:

You may be right. 

I suspect in their eyes, the pricing balance will be right when LCDH shelves in Europe and Asia  start to fill up with product.  Now that looks to be happening in Cuba (cigar tourism is now largely dead) but it is not happening on any scale in Europe/Middle East/Asia right now outside of Trini and a few smaller Cohiba. 

I am guessing it would take 160 - 200 million cigars to restock shelves, distributor and retailer warehouses around the world to prepandemic levels.  That isn't going to happen from new production under the current regime. 

 

 

The death of cigar tourism is likely to be a significant problem in the long run. The cheaper cigars in Cuba thing was a great idea. Short sighted to look only to profits brought from the sale itself. The tourists coming to buy cigars spent money elsewhere and the lack of that influx of cash will surely hurt the economy as well as the people who relied on the tourist industry in general to earn an extra buck. 

[Islandboy]

4 hours ago, DaBoot said:

I’m starting to have that feeling about whiskey. Love the hunt for a bottle… the GF opened the last delivery and seen the overall cost,,,, she has been shopping ever since😂😂

Did you explain to her that it's whiskey hunting season? 

[SCgarman]

2 hours ago, El Presidente said:

You may be right. 

I suspect in their eyes, the pricing balance will be right when LCDH shelves in Europe and Asia  start to fill up with product.  Now that looks to be happening in Cuba (cigar tourism is now largely dead) but it is not happening on any scale in Europe/Middle East/Asia right now outside of Trini and a few smaller Cohiba. 

I am guessing it would take 160 - 200 million cigars to restock shelves, distributor and retailer warehouses around the world to prepandemic levels.  That isn't going to happen from new production under the current regime. 

 

 

Just curious. What's the point of fully stocked shelves in Cuba with absolutely zero tourism?