EAR: Shill for Habanos s.a.

[El Presidente]

EAR: Shill for Habanos s.a. 

EAR:= Email assistance required. 

 

I am just going to throw this one over to you good people 

 

"Let’s set aside their crazy pricing for a second, but seriously—how can you justify promoting their product? You know as well as anyone that it ultimately supports the regime in power. I left Cuba to get away from that, and it baffles me to see people still tied to it. Do you ever stop and think about the bigger picture?

Rob, I’ll admit you’ve got some talent, and I respect the work you’ve done with Nudies and Bond Roberts cigars. But I can’t ignore how much influence you and your auction site have had on driving up prices. It’s hard to reconcile that. How do you feel about it deep down? Do you even know how much they are paid at the rolling table? Ken said it best in "Shame" 

I’ll keep you in my prayers, and if we ever cross paths, I’d like to share my thoughts face-to-face."

 

Personally I can't wait for that catchup 

 

[El Presidente]

Now to be fair, there appears to be an increased email campaign occuring against anyone involved with Cuban product. I just assumed I was on a list. This is the first one however that recites some knowledge of background and industry involvement. 

[B44]

Time to send their wife inflated invoices for all their 24:24 purchases. 

[WarriorPrincess]

Do you want to stop on the way home for some Prosecco to discuss? 🍾

[El Presidente]

9 hours ago, WarriorPrincess said:

Do you want to stop on the way home for some Prosecco to discuss? 🍾

Bring as much prosecco as you can carry !LOL!

Every day honey 

[chasy]

He’s got a point. Discount the inventory 80% and dump it! We can drive prices down and overthrow the administration!!!

[chris12381]

"Thanks for your e-mail. Who ties your shoes for you?"

[Ford2112]

My thoughts on this matter...

[Li Bai]

Like everybody else here I'm sad about the situation in Cuba but at the end of the day, how would putting thousands of people out of their jobs help them?

I understand that anger towards the regime but let's not forget who the real villains are.

9 hours ago, El Presidente said:

Now to be fair, there appears to be an increased email campaign occurring against anyone involved with Cuban product. I just assumed I was on a list. This is the first one however that recites some knowledge of background and industry involvement. 

Where does this campaign come from you think?

[Habanoschris]

I have seen similar sentiments often from families of Castro era revolution exiles etc. BUT FOH/BR has single-handedly created the Habanos price increases!? ... Hmmm.

[gormag38]

7 hours ago, Habanoschris said:

BUT FOH/BR has single-handedly created the Habanos price increases!? ... Hmmm.

Yeah I think that's laughable. BR has screwed up some secondary flippers prices no doubt. Someone in Asia may very well overpay for a 3 year old box of CoRos, Monte 2, etc. but that doesn't mean others see that as a reasonable price point. 

But to think Habanos SA has been monitoring BR and adjusting their prices accordingly is just silly. Great site and all but I don't think they give a flying F what goes on there. 

[Puros Y Vino]

Highly doubtful FOH/BR drives up prices. Pricing is out of whack because Habanos has pushed it out of bounds for their historical customers to curry favour with brand conscious luxury seekers with money to spend.

The only price discrepancy that I'm keeping an eye out is the price of new stock (Habanos) vs vintage stock. Prior to all this pricing mess, a vintage box of let's say. Esplendidos tended to carry up to a 15% compound premium with every year of age from the Habanos list price. 

For the sake of argument. Let's compare a vintage box (2008) vs a new one 2024. 16 years age difference. (NOTE: Math is not my strongpoint. If I have erred, please advise and I'll go crawl into a hole somewhere)

New 25ct box of Esplendidos. (I'll use a recent 24:24 sale of 15ct Petacas and extrapolate for 25ct price)

$1923USD/15ct = $128/stick * 25 = $3200/25ct box (oof)🫣

Back in 2011 I was too slow to pull the trigger on $500USD boxes of 2008 Esplendido.  😭

So, let's take 2011 as the starting point had I bought one of these 2008 boxes then. A  15% compound interest on the $500USD purchase price(value) would yield a CMV of that vintage box to be $3076.

That $500 box bought in 2011 would fetch $3076USD today.

Would you rather buy a new one at $3200 or a vintage one(16 years of age) at $3076? 

IMO. If anything BR isn't pushing Habanos pricing up. It's showing their pricing to be ridiculous. Veteran cigar smokers will most likely chase a vintage box over a current one. Right?

Some caveats.

• The 15% premium is something that was quoted to me by a lot more seasoned smokers over the years in discussions about values. Depending on the marca, many cited that a 2-15% compound interest per year for holding a box would be reasonable to apply.  Cohiba being the top dog OFC, with Monte, RA, Bolivar, Partagas falling below that and also varying on which cigar. For instance. A 10YO Partagas Habanero would yield a lower % than a 10YO Lusitania.
• Some talked about applying the premiums to the current Habanos price vs the one they paid in the past.  With today's pricing, it would be totally bonkers. Circle back 10 years ago. Habanos list pricing, didnt' get ridiculous increases and using CMV as the list price, seemed to be accepted amongst collectors.

So, my take is that BR might be disrupting the pricing for vintage more than it does for new stock. Why buy new when you can get more bang for the buck on vintage? If you're a seller, are you leaving some money on the table by giving someone a better deal than what new costs?  It doesn't seem right that a new box is priced higher than vintage. While Habanos may have killed/reduced the amount of new stock flipping, they've put the vintage market into a bit of chaos. OFC if you bought  in the old days, you're making a great profit when you sell.  I   paid $275 for Cohiba 1966 when released. They fetch $3/4K now on BR?  That's a great ROI!  But...it does rub me the wrong way that Habanos is getting that amount for a new Cohiba release.

 

Interest table for reference.

[BrightonCorgi]

What percent of Habanos consumers know of this site and/or Bond Roberts? I would say less than 1%.

[avitus]

Sounds like a typical redditor from r/Cuba to me.

[Arabian]

I couldn't help it..

 

[Islandboy]

[MrBirdman]

Wait until this guy finds out about Kirby…

[GerardMichaelTX]

I mean, let's discuss how Pinar lost over half of their curing barns this past hurricane season. 2026-2028 are going to be scarce years and there are no guarantees that even the top 1% of the yield is even going to be of the same calibur as regular quality previous years.

Not to mention the fact that the bulk of Habanos are now in the Chinese market and half of Cuba has effectively defected the island creating a massive labor shortage since there's hardly any food on the island.

It's gonna be slim pickens for a while and Bond Roberts has very little to do with that.

[Chas.Alpha]

One thing I have never understood is the support given by the Cuban ex-pats for the U.S. sanctions on Cuba. To me, it hurts their families and friends that have remained there and hasn’t effected the lifestyles of those that they wish to punish. Diaz-Canel and his cronies haven’t missed a gourmet meal, I assure you. As far as cigar pricing goes, I think it was logical if not inevitable. Anything is worth exactly what someone is willing to pay for it. If you’ve purchased a box of CC’s in the past 24 months you have illustrated my point. Since HSA is likely facing a shortage of product in the near future, with scarcity comes inflated demand and pricing.