Expert: James Yee - 4/21/2008

Question
James,

I was wondering if you have an opinion about buying cigars online. Is it worth it to look for a cheaper price online for premium cigars or just stay with your local cigar store.

Answer
Hi Peter,

I actually prefer buying locally or in person rather than buying online as there is less buyer's protection when buying cigars via mailorder.  One of the biggest problems with buying cigars online is the inability to inspect the cigars before you buy and very few companies will fulfill special requests from customers due to the limited supply and/or limited quality of their available cigars.  For example, if you order a box of cigars and request that you want a dark, oily batch or cigars with a specific box age, there's no guarantee that the company will be able to fulfill your request.  What they send you is what you're stuck with.  If you buy locally, you are able to thoroughly inspect a box of cigars before making a purchase.

Also, because a box of cigars can easily be tampered with, many mailorder companies refuse to offer a return/refund policy on their cigars once it has been shipped out.  There is also the possibility of receiving damaged cigars (either mold, tobacco beetles or physical damage during shipping), counterfeit cigars (a common problem with Cuban cigars and high end non-Cuban cigars), increased post office taxes and/or duties for tobacco products as well as long wait times while your order is in transit.  While a reputable company may be able to help resolve some of these problems, many companies prefer an "all sales final" policy when it concerns to mailorder.

There's also the issue of company reputation.  While there are many genuine and reputable cigar retailers operating online, there are more fraudulent businesses and spotting these companies may be a challenge.  The problem with online businesses is that if one is definitely fraudulent and exposed, they can quickly shut down and then quickly open a new website under a new name.  Some fraudulent websites will even have two or more websites operating at the same time under different names in hopes of generating more customers/money.  New mailorder websites spring up almost every month and the fraudulent businesses will have "too-good-to-be-true" offers and low prices in hopes of luring customers.  Once you hand over your money, there's no guarantee of the cigars you'll receive will be of positive and genuine quality.

If you do decide to buy online, my best suggestion is that you THOROUGHLY research the websites that you are interested in buying from.  Use search engines and search for cigar message board topics about these companies and try to find out if they're genuine or not.  Visit cigar message boards/forums and even speak with people at your local cigar shop as they may have extensive cigar mailorder experience (or at least knows someone else that does).

Hope this answers your question. If you have any more questions, please feel free to just ask and I will be happy to help.

Regards,
James