Quote Originally Posted by Ropey View Post
Why again do we care if vendors and/or retailers post here? I'm confused.

I also chafe at censorship. Especially when it feels like I'm being censored so that other people can make money.
You may not care, but that doesn't me we as a group don't care. I'll elaborate and hopefully alleviate your confusion. Everyone is here for a different reason. Some of us like the comradare, come of us like to talk cigars, some of us like to find deals, some of us like to share our tobacco related projects, etc. we have FOGs, noobs and everything in between here. Some of us like social interaction and like to do business with people we know. There are a lot of advantages to having retailers and manufacturers here. I'll list just a few for you.

1. We can get to know where our money is going.
2. We can build relationships that can get us access to cigars that are not as easily available. Example: you can't order Opus X from @FamousSmokeShop website, but you can pm them here (assuming you have that feature enabled) , see what is in stock, what the prices are and call to place an order. That's a bonus to me.
3. The vendors send us special deals and discounts. There are several cigar Bum centric Promo codes that we have here.
4. Noobs and FOGs alike can ask questions to their vendors directly and learn more about the hobby and make wiser purchases.
5. We have a common interest, the enjoyment of tobacco and protection of that enjoyment.
6. There are people out there like Steve Saka @ssaka who have forgotten more than most of us know and will from time to time drop exceptional nuggets of knowledge on us.
7. When we have issues with products, it can be brought to their attention in a useful manner for both consumer and retailer. Improving the experience for us all.

There are plenty more reasons I, as well as the vast majority of the members here, could come up with.

Who is censoring you? Making a comment like that seems to me that you are expecting blowback from your comment, almost like you are looking to start trouble. Feel free to pm me if you want to discuss your concerns further.