Supporting Local Shops

[fireground_piper]

Everyone wants to shop local or “made in the USA” (for us folks) until they have to break out their wallet.

That’s why Walmart succeeded and mom/pop shops closed down along with tools being made oversees.

It’s a great thing to say but the real statement is more “I’d love to shop local at foreign pricing”.

 

[AreBee]

And on cue. Today I stopped at vape/tobacconist shop next to my liquor store to pick up a couple Hemingways for my nephew’s visit and he had four or five Mac Baren 100g tins for $48-$50 each!

 

[burleybreath]

B&Ms are cool until you step inside one and realize that you have more inventory in your closet than they have in their entire store. I got very little from visiting them in the waning years of their ascendancy. Comfortable hangout for local townies, I suppose.

 

[WhiteCrown]

Everyone wants to shop local or “made in the USA” (for us folks) until they have to break out their wallet.

That’s why Walmart succeeded and mom/pop shops closed down along with tools being made oversees.

It’s a great thing to say but the real statement is more “I’d love to shop local at foreign pricing”.

I hear you, and to some extent quite agree. This is a little different though, its often times the same tin of of something like GLP domestically produced from a domestic company online, versus paying 3x that price for "taxes" at a local shop. Last time I ordered from P&C they charged me the "same" state taxes and it was way less that all the local shops in that same state. P&C, SP, 4noggins etc. probably cover the extra overhead with volume perhaps, and it works.

Like others have said though, its their buisiness and they can charge whatever they want to. Ill just keep primarily buying pseudo-local in the good ole USA via my computer I guess.

Maybe after these pipe shops eventually fail, the market will open up enough to support nationwide chain of Pipe-Marts. I want to be a greeter, imagine sitting in a chair smoking a pipe all day and getting paid to do it! "Hello, welcome to Pipe-Mart" puff puff

 

[jaytex1969]

Maybe after these pipe shops eventually fail, the market will open up enough to support nationwide chain of Pipe-Marts. I want to be a greeter, imagine sitting in a chair smoking a pipe all day and getting paid to do it! "Hello, welcome to Pipe-Mart" puff puff

I built my cellar from online sales with timed discounts and free shipping. My pipe and tin selection at home dwarfs the local B&M's offerings.

That said, I still force myself to buy SOMETHING with each visit to the B&M because I want them to continue existing. I almost always find a hidden gem.

We all want boutique goods and services at Mall-Wart prices, but the math does not work like that.

Do what you must to survive, but also do what you can when you can! Replace one $20 meal per month with ramen and buy a tin locally on occasion.

I met a friend at the B&M last week. We bought an overpriced 6-pack to share and felt good doing it, helping them to stay in business.

 

[VelourThunder]

I live next to a major city and I can't find any places that actually sell pipe tobacco (plenty of cigar shops) other than 1 place and as others have said it was 3x the price of online stores as well as him only have 2 different blends. I also got some sketchy old racist grandpa vibes from the owner so I won't be going back there anymore.

 

[warren]

Guys, support the local shops or avoid them because of price. But, avoiding them and complaining about price accomplished nothing other than a satisfying venting I suppose. B&M's have substantial costs which must be covered in their retail price to the consumer. Griping, complaining and such ain't gonna change that. Live with it and either support them or not. But, quit trying to validate your choice not to use them because of their prices. Make your choice and live quietly with it.

If you're unhappy with the service, avoid them. Seems easy enough.

 

[jackattack]

Guys, support the local shops or avoid them because of price. But, avoiding them and complaining about price accomplished nothing other than a satisfying venting I suppose. B&M's have substantial costs which must be covered in their retail price to the consumer. Griping, complaining and such ain't gonna change that. Live with it and either support them or not. But, quit trying to validate your choice not to use them because of their prices. Make your choice and live quietly with it.

If you're unhappy with the service, avoid them. Seems easy enough.

This is an internet forum for discussing whatever we want within the rules of the forum. If you don't want to participate in this discussion then don't. I'll gripe and complain about whatever I want.

 

[lukifer]

I would love to support my local B&Ms but I live in a college town with half a dozen of them and they all just carry cigarettes, bongs, glass pipes, cheap cigars that are intended to be split open and RYO tobacco. Only 2 shops actually carry pipe tobacco but it's all pouches of half&half, SWR and CB. I do buy pipe cleaners locally at a 100% markup, not for the fuzzy feel goods of #shopLocal but because I like not having to wait on shipping. I would gladly support them and pay extra on tobacco locally IF they would actually stock stuff I smoke, but as you can probably tell, my local B&Ms aren't intended to support pipe or cigar smokers.

 

[VelourThunder]

I would love to support my local B&Ms but I live in a college town with half a dozen of them and they all just carry cigarettes, bongs, glass pipes, cheap cigars that are intended to be split open and RYO tobacco. Only 2 shops actually carry pipe tobacco but it's all pouches of half&half, SWR and CB. I do buy pipe cleaners locally at a 100% markup, not for the fuzzy feel goods of #shopLocal but because I like not having to wait on shipping. I would gladly support them and pay extra on tobacco locally IF they would actually stock stuff I smoke, but as you can probably tell, my local B&Ms aren't intended to support pipe or cigar smokers.

Yes, I see a lot of head shops that have tobacco in the name too or shops that are 99% liquor and then sell like 10 cigar brands and cigarettes and then pipe cleaners but they call themselves a tobacco shop. As I said previously the last actual tobacco shop I was in left a lot to be desired.

 

[lukifer]

Yes, I see a lot of head shops that have tobacco in the name too or shops that are 99% liquor and then sell like 10 cigar brands and cigarettes and then pipe cleaners but they call themselves a tobacco shop. As I said previously the last actual tobacco shop I was in left a lot to be desired.

"You looking for something bro?"

"Yeah, you guys wouldn't happen to carry any pipe tobacco would you?"

"For sure my dude, we got the good stuff!" *holds up a bag of RYO and giggles like a stoner*

 

[pappymac]

Let me provide a small defense of the local B&M and their pricing structure.

1. Yes, they have to pay the excise and other taxes on the pipe tobacco they carry. From what I understand I think this also includes an inventory tax in some states. These taxes are passed on to the consumer.
2. Most B&Ms are stocked based on what is selling fast. The reason why their selections are sometimes limited is that pipe tobacco may not be selling as fast as the cigars in the walk-in humidor are selling.
Basically, in the retail world, shelf space equals money. If a product isn't constantly have to be restocked, then it is not selling. If it's not selling, the B&M is not making money.
3. Overhead. In addition to the federal, state and local excise tobacco taxes (not including the sales tax), most B&Ms have to pay rent or building upkeep, pay their employees (and associated employee taxes), pay utilities, pay for amenities, property taxes, etc. The big on-line retailers also have overhead but the overhead may not be as high simply due to the volume of product they sale. (This is how store like Walmart has lower prices than a locally owned grocery store, for example. They get a bigger price break for buying 100,000 cans of vegetables than the local grocery gets for buying 100 cans of the same vegetables)

We have our monthly pipe club meeting at a local B&M. The selection has dwindled over the past four years and the prices have incrementally gone up. I don't visit the store more than once or twice a month but I spend at least $20 each time I walk in the door.

 

[khiddy]

Ideally a local B&M for me would be a welcoming place to smoke and hang out, especially when the weather is too awful to sit on the patio. But as it is, there’s not really much with a non-vape focus within a 90-minute drive of me.

I went in to the single local store that advertises itself as a real tobacconist. It is a cigar shop that has a small rack of pipes and four jars of bulk of dubious provenance. Aromatic tobacco that may have been blended during the Obama administration, for all I could tell. And the shop attendant didn’t seem very interested in moving any product that day.

I might pop back in sometime to see if I caught the guy on a bad day or if I just wasn’t really paying attention to the whole situation (it was very early in my return to pipedom and I had a list of smoke hardware I needed). I’d like to see the place thrive, even if pipes are the shop’s red-headed stepchild. I mean, the weather *has* been awful lately…

 

[Auxsender]

I'm normally a big "shop local" person... but after doing some price comparison I'll never buy from the local b&m's again.

Based on this statement, you’re not as big of a “shop local” person as you think you are. Shopping local is almost always more expensive. We don’t do it to save money, we do it to help keep small businesses alive.

 

[Auxsender]

I visited a B&M yesterday in Washington State. It was a pleasant experience and the owner was very personable, and I really wanted to spend some money there, but I just couldn't bring myself to pay 3x for something that I could have at my doorstep in a week. However I want to support these shops, so I grabbed a tin and a couple ounces of bulk anyway. I wish I could bring myself to spend more but it would feel like more of a donation than a purchase.

These owners (in multiple states) always say "its the taxes"! Just a year or so ago I was living in Maryland, the tobacco tax was 30% (iirc) and most tobacco shops wanted $17 a pouch for OTCs. However there was one lonely cigar shop that sold the full line of PS bulk for $3.99/oz, and that same $17 would get you a tin of Nightcap... but with the same tax rate, hmm. I know a 30% tax on a $5-6 pouch of tobacco is not an extra $11-12. Last weekend I stopped by a Cigar shop in Spokane, WA (same tax rate) and paid about half of what this one was charging for bulks, but he still said it was "those high state taxes".

I probably would have spent 3-4 times as much money at that shop if the prices matched the Spokane shop, and he would have made more profit from my purchase by not charging an extra 200% in "taxes". It just doesn't make sense to me, so I'm left feeling like bunch of tobacco shop owners are trying to pull the wool over my eyes. I like to think not everyone is crooked, so is there something I'm missing? Or, did I just fall for it and unwittingly make a "donation" because pity has been most tobacconist's business model all along?

What’s wrong with making a donation in the form of a purchase at a local shop? You seem really intent on avoiding donations.

 

[jackattack]

Based on this statement, you’re not as big of a “shop local” person as you think you are. Shopping local is almost always more expensive. We don’t do it to save money, we do it to help keep small businesses alive.

Based on this statement you like to make assumptions and jump to conclusions off very little information.

Paying a 100% markup on a boutique luxury good is out of the realm of "support" for my money. That's not even mentioning the limited selection and disinterested staff.

 

[fireground_piper]

It’s all fun and games until all of the B&Ms close and then your state closes the door to mail order. It’s a perfect play!

 

[STP]

3X as much is not an exaggeration. I’ll pick up a few cigars and whatnot, but any big purchases are done on-line.

 

[Auxsender]

Based on this statement you like to make assumptions and jump to conclusions off very little information.

Paying a 100% markup on a boutique luxury good is out of the realm of "support" for my money. That's not even mentioning the limited selection and disinterested staff.

I clearly hit a nerve.
Maybe it’s time to switch to decaf, homie.

 

[jackattack]

I clearly hit a nerve.
Maybe it’s time to switch to decaf, homie.

That's it? "U mAd BrO?" Have a nice day.