Your Preferred Online Vendors?

Hi folks,
I have been using Famous-Smoke for nearly all of my cigar purchases. I have never had an issue with them and still have good experiences with them.

As I mentioned in another thread, I am planning to do some large purchases in the coming weeks. Single, bundles boxes etc...

I see many of you using Small Batch and Cbid, and wondered if perhaps these may be better for what I am looking to do. The biggest drawback to famous is They don't carry many of the cigars I have come to like. I am not much interested in auctions and prefer to just buy what I am looking for and be done with it, without having to worry about.

I thought I saw a place on Cbid that lets you just buy without bidding, I might be mistaken though.

Would really appreciate some direction on this one, or even some other trusted online vendor options.

TIA
Chris

If you plan on a larger quantity to purchase over time, you might look at Atlantic Cigars. They have a VIP buyers club. AIR, the annual fee more than pays for itself in discounts with a few purchases.

You may also consider Neptune Cigars.

I am sure others can offer up additional options.

Nickel City Cigars
Mardo Cigars
JNV Cigars although Jorge is layed up currently

cigar federation
small batch cigars

Janus Tobak ( not sure but think it is toabk) anyway his delivery is super speedy with free shipping on everything. His selection is not real extensive but he has a lot of good smokes. Am buying most things from him right now because of his good service

CBid does have Buy it Now options on some of its auctions. They also have "waterfall" auctions, where the price slowly goes down and you hit "buy" whenever you feel it's at its lowest before it shoots up again.

I can totally understand why auctions may be an inconvenience for many. But I gotta tell you, once you've learned how the system works, you can reap the rewards. I buy all of my cigars for at least half the price of those on Cigars International. I would say that the average single-cigar price for my stash is about $4, including shipping. And I don't smoke dog rockets :)

My advice is to try it out. Place some bids using the Maximum Bid function and set it to whatever you feel comfortable spending on any given 5er. If you're used to paying full price for things via Famous, set it to $10 less than your usual price. I guarantee you'll win all day long. Shipping is done in batches, and you control which day your winnings are added up and then shipped out. So you essentially have a week to bid on things, which keeps me from feeling antsy. Then the real game is seeing how low you can go. Some steals I've gotten on that site include a full box of Super Ligero Lanceros for $30, 5ers of Guardian of the Farm, Casa Fernandez Reserva Maduro and AJ Fernandez La Gran Llave for around $15 each, and I can regularly get singles of My Father and other top shelf stuff for $5-6.

Anyway, I'm walking billboard for CigarBid. Outside of my COTM club and supporting my local B&Ms, it's the only place I buy from. I can't justify paying twice as much elsewhere.

I used to buy from Cigar Page, but I think their prices have gone up. But it's always free shipping--so you can take that into consideration.

Thanks everyone, this is all extremely helpful.

While not an "online" retailer per se, I have been a big customer of Boiling Springs Cigar and Wine from South Carolina. Kartikh Shah is the owner and I've purchased from him via Facebook in the past. He is a great guy and one I would highly recommend. If there is something you're looking for you can send him a PM on Facebook or call his shop. You could feel free to drop my name.

I always bought from Smallbatch for my online purchases and their customer service was always top notch.

Continued thanks for the feedback. I will be checking these sites out in the coming weeks.

Yeah, Small Batch is awesome.