Esoterica people

[jaytex1969]

I sit all day in my underwear Web Crawling Tobacco sites to Post the Rewards of this Area51 Brand...

:worship:

 

[Chasing Embers]

@Brian
I accept that as high praise! :rofl:

 

[foursidedtriangle]

Jiminks is correct it wouldn't work. One simple fact that most people fail to recognize is that it's only a simple matter of supply and demand. The small supply, no matter if the price is 30 dollars or 80 dollars, dictates a high demand. In turn, high demand dictates yet a higher price. If such a price is reached that no after market buyer is willing to pay then the supply will stack and increase and the demand and price will fall to meet it. Yet it will never fall to the price we wish because eventually people will snag it p and the balance renewed. It's unfortunate but the price asked and paid on the aftermarket is indeed the correct price, as dictated by the constant demand. Esoterica raising the price actually hurts everyone because as jiminks stated the sellers will purchase it and set the price higher to see their profit, and the market price will shift higher. Or... In my opinion what will happen is even worse... The aftermarket diminishes due to decreased profits for the sellers, and therefore the chance to purchase it by normal buyers becomes diminished because their only hope of finding it is in said aftermarket. Finding it in online stores is next to impossible for most people, and stock at brick and mortar stores is often low or limited by design or due to scarcity. In my opinion, as long as Germain keeps the production low we should be happy that things are as they are... A chance at getting it cheap online or at the store, and if not then we can find it for increased price on the aftermarket. Not desirable, but better than not having it at all.

In other words the price you see it at in the aftermarket is it's true value, and seeing Germain raise the price to such value would simply mean that it would be a lot harder to find for many people. That's my fifty cents.

That sounds like a legitimate counter argument. Thanks. I am not looking to buy from a third party by the way, not interested at the moment.
I am saying it will work though because everyone's budget is limited and they will just buy another blend instead (like if a match is 10 times cheaper than esoterica they will buy the match).

 

[erhardt85]

@foursidedtriangle Same here. I'm not currently in the market for aftermarket esoterica. I've been considering it for special Latakia flake, medium, flake, brown flake, and stonehaven but not yet. I want to try my hand at brick and mortar or even sp.com more first. The Esoterica blends themselves are fairly unique in flavor, though I would argue they aren't the best in their respective categories of blends. I do love their Virginia's though. Dunbar, Dorchester, Brighton, Tilbury, and Cardiff all strike a chord with me. I've yet to find a virginia blend with a similar flavor. Their casing is unique. Personally, I find other blends too pleasurable to justify stocking up by means of aftermarket, but I would pay to try a blend. I just haven't yet. Special Latakia flake and medium flake continue to elude me even more than Penzance so maybe I'll have no choice soon haha.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I am saying it will work though because everyone's budget is limited and they will just buy another blend instead (like if a match is 10 times cheaper than esoterica they will buy the match).

If it's truly a match, I'd buy it if it were but 20% cheaper.

 

[woodsroad]

That argument fails to recognize that people routinely pay $150 for some Esoterica blends. There’s an odd phenomenon wherein the higher the price, the more desirable the product. Not quite that simple, but you all know what I’m talking about.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

There is a difference between... seeing a bunch of people putting these blends on ebay for $150-300, and seeing them actually sell. Just like guys putting a low end pipe on ebay for $1000. That doesn't mean it is selling for that price.

I have to remind my wife of this all the time. She uses ebay prices to guide her in setting prices for selling her mother's antiques, and I am always pointing out that sometimes people will put higher prices, not expecting the thing to sell. Seeing a price and seeing it sell are different, very different.
Now, do people actually pay $150 for a bag of Penzance... maybe... I am sure there are a few clunkheads out there. That is not a outrageous price, but "routinely"? When we see them pricing at $300 or more... they are just speculating, fishing deeper waters, where less fish live.
$150, I could go in with my pipeclub friends and buy a bag, and everyone could at least try a bowl or two for like $5. But, I am not sure how many people are filling a closet at $150 a half pound.

 

[warren]

I am saying it will work though because everyone's budget is limited

Some people? Maybe "most everyone's" (I doubt it.) but certainly not "everyone's."

 

[haparnold]

Some people? Maybe "most everyone's" (I doubt it.) but certainly not "everyone's."

Are you saying that some people literally have an unlimited budget? Not to be the economist in the room, but that doesn't make a bit of sense to me.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Some of us are constantly being told by accountants to spend more money on personal things. Not my accountant, but I have friends... apparently, there is a benefit to not being too frugal when you have money that you are trying to show as separate from your business.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Are you saying that some people literally have an unlimited budget? Not to be the economist in the room, but that doesn't make a bit of sense to me.

Few things are infinite, but if you have net disposable income of several million dollars annually, that'd meet my criterion for "unlimited budget".

 

[warren]

Yes, that is what I'm saying. Not sure why that is so hard to believe.

 

[sablebrush52]

And so, the quest for proof of intelligent life in the Universe goes on...

 

[lawdawg]

That argument fails to recognize that people routinely pay $150 for some Esoterica blends. There’s an odd phenomenon wherein the higher the price, the more desirable the product. Not quite that simple, but you all know what I’m talking about.

"Veblen Goods": Wikipedia - Veblen Goods
The high price must mean its good! ::

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Marketing has become so good that humans have had their "dominant species" legal status revoked, due to mass consumerism. Unbeknownst to many, amoebic dysentery now legally rules the planet. ::

 

[sablebrush52]

The high price must mean its good! ::

Yep. It's a corollary to the "If it's scarce it must be good!" theory of quality. Pricing is important. When I started out I kept prices for services pretty modest. I wanted to build up some credits, build the résumé, etc. I was getting some work, but wasn't frantically busy by any means. Then a producer on a show I'd completed gave me merry hell over my invoice. The reason? It was too low. He tripled my rate and told me to stay at that rate for a bit and then start increasing it. Sure enough, as soon as I started quoting that higher rate, business started flowing in.
A lot of people are largely clueless. It becomes perception over knowledge, as in if it's scarce or expensive it must be good. Sure worked for Dunhill.

 

[bluto]

That’s what Martha Stewart did , she couldn’t sell pies at the mall for 10 bucks , so she went back the next day and asked 25 dollars for each pie .
Sold every thing she had.

 

[balkisobrains]

You can set Ebay search to display sold items, and it looks like the Esoterica market is a little soft right now, because it's been easier to find this year. :puffpipe:

 

[erhardt85]

Only the rarest Esoterica blends sell for 150 or above recently. For the most part. I never said it wouldn't sell for a higher price. Only that the price would balance to where it's supposed to be. Penzance and Stonehaven can fetch those prices but the others less so. Respectfully I have to 100% disagree with the statement that people want what is priced high. By that statement, W.O. Larsen's limited edition blend would be highly sought after at 1000 dollars per box. Instead some retailers had to reduce the price significantly to sell their stock. If Germain raised the price of Penzance 8 oz.bags to 300 dollars there would be a scarce aftermarket for their tobaccos. Actually I'm convinced it would remain in stock long enough to see it in stock. There is a price at which most people will refuse. Who sets that price matters not. We could talk at length about why Esoterica prices are so high whole similarly scarce blenda aren't. Absurd Hype, low supply, high quality, and unique flavor sums it up well i think. In that order.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Absurd Hype-No doubt
Low Supply-Only online
High Quality-No more so than Mac Baren, Peterson, etc.
Unique Flavor-Nothing that has no match or superior