Seems like all the B&M sites are either stuck in the 90s or don't have an online store. Anyone know of ones that do have purchasing online?
B&Ms with Online Shopping?
- Thread starter AroEnglish
- Start date
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There are literally a hundred of them if you just look. LJ Peretti, Watch City Cigar, Mars Cigar, The Country Squire Tobacconist, The GatlinBurlier, etc. You just have to get up and look for them.
I second Watch City cigar, but I'm reasonably close, so visit them in person. I find their website is pretty easy to navigate and use it to research before heading over.
If I ran one, there's no way in hell that i would have a website, if I could help it. A fucking headache. I thought about buying The Briary, but after watching them deal with online dumbasses over the years, I think that I will just stay out of that game. They can just close up shop once Skip hits his wall for all that I care.
The biggest thing that kills B&Ms when it comes to going online, is that Laudsi will be your wholesaler, and your wholesaler is competing against you through Smokingpipes at the same prices they are charging you. So, screw it. There's no money in it at all.
I respect B&Ms that just stay out of the online game, and am willing to go visit them when I pass through. There would be no point to me in visiting one that has an online presence.
The biggest thing that kills B&Ms when it comes to going online, is that Laudsi will be your wholesaler, and your wholesaler is competing against you through Smokingpipes at the same prices they are charging you. So, screw it. There's no money in it at all.
I respect B&Ms that just stay out of the online game, and am willing to go visit them when I pass through. There would be no point to me in visiting one that has an online presence.
I went through the whole list below which included Peretti, WCC, and TCS but not Mars or GB. There weren't many there.
Laudisi Distribution Group
Buy the finest tobacco pipes, pipe tobacco, and premium cigars from Laudisi Distribution Group
www.laudisi.com
Yeah that's true about LDG being the wholesaler and competing at retail with SP. At the same time I'd imagine the traffic from in person shoppers is low. I have romantic ideas about owning a B&M but then I remember the dumbasses.
I've never walked into The Briary when there weren't at least a few people in there. And,. many times, it's just too crowded for me to hang out. The big difference is that here in my area, I'd say that it looks like about 30% of the men smoke pipes. That's just off the top of my head, but you can't set in traffic without seeing several guys smoking pipes in their trucks. I hardly ever see cigarette smokers, but pipes rule down here.
Skip also bring crowds by inviting in pipe carvers with very well known names to events, or blenders or reps from the big tobacco companies. I've gotten to meet so many big names and hang out with them that I can barely keep up with them all.
Plus, being the largest pipe shop, he brings in celebrities and other interesting people that drop in when in the area.
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That's great to hear and that makes sense that it isn't dying. I'm curious as to how other, less active B&Ms manage to stick around.
Something went wrong with that link; it's supposed to go to this page:
Estate Pipes
Some of the best values you can find in the pipe market are by buying Estate Pipes. One man's trash in anothers man's treasure. Iwan Ries & Co. selects only the finest estate pipes to sell on our site. For this reason, we do not use a grading system common to all the other shops out there. We...
Quite right..... dunno what happened as I copied the link faithfully. Thanks for the right one. Also corrected my post on the matter.Something went wrong with that link; it's supposed to go to this page:
Estate Pipes
Some of the best values you can find in the pipe market are by buying Estate Pipes. One man's trash in anothers man's treasure. Iwan Ries & Co. selects only the finest estate pipes to sell on our site. For this reason, we do not use a grading system common to all the other shops out there. We...www.iwanries.com
Their web site looks very old in internet years, but what a collection of....everything!
...by selling cigars.
To the contrary, what a painful page to look at as a shopper, with all of the "OUT OF STOCK" or "SOLD" pipes left there on the page. Just remove them when they're gone. It looks like an impressive collection, but when you remove those that are unavailable or sold long ago, it's not that great.
Another horribly-designed site is Wilke's. I spent too much time there last evening trying to figure out what I might want to try, but by the time I was done clicking on every individual blend to see what it was (worthless names like "515" and "187" that tell you nothing about the blend without having to click thru) and then clicking back to get to the main page, my clickfinger had developed the Arthur-itis. I ended up giving up. Ain't nobody got time for that.
I maintain a small website as part of my job, though it's not an e-commerce site of any sort. I detest terribly designed sites, and get angry when I am forced to waste time on them.
Yeah, you're not wrong about either of those sites.
Normally when I buy tobaccos I search through the store's selection on TR. Here's Wilke's page below. I don't know what you're looking for but I particularly liked Surbrug's Best Make and Surbrug Crystal Palace.
Tobacco Reviews
www.tobaccoreviews.com
What a fantastic use of TR, I hadn't thought of that approach. Thanks for the suggestion!Yeah, you're not wrong about either of those sites.
Normally when I buy tobaccos I search through the store's selection on TR. Here's Wilke's page below. I don't know what you're looking for but I particularly liked Surbrug's Best Make and Surbrug Crystal Palace.
Tobacco Reviews
Generally, I agree with you that cumbersome websites can destroy the desire to make a purchase but in this case, I fear you might be cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Wilke is worth the slog through the absurd website, especially if you’re into English blends.
Take a deep breath and revisit if you care to, they have some great blends that you should try if you haven’t already.
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