Do They Sell Better?

[Mel]

Do discontinued cigars sell better? I can imagine as a marketing ploy that listing an item as going out of production could cause an increase in sales as people rush to get the last of their favorites. Is it possible that Habanos is just moving stock with temporary discontinuations of cigars that will come back later? The new marketing schemes at Habanos may have no limits, God only knows they are not based in reason.

[tigger]

Hi Mel,

While I wish in some ways that your way of thinking were HSAs way as well, I think the things that are being discontinued are gone for good (or may reappear in limited ways as ERs or ELs).

This has been going on for at least 8 years, and I don't think any of the discontinued cigars have reappeared, with the exception of a brief rerelease of RA 898s that it seems had been produced prior to their being discontinued, and had been overlooked.

Others may know more than I though...

[Ken Gargett]

Hi Mel,

While I wish in some ways that your way of thinking were HSAs way as well, I think the things that are being discontinued are gone for good (or may reappear in limited ways as ERs or ELs).

This has been going on for at least 8 years, and I don't think any of the discontinued cigars have reappeared, with the exception of a brief rerelease of RA 898s that it seems had been produced prior to their being discontinued, and had been overlooked.

Others may know more than I though...

love to think habanos was that devious but i very much doubt it.

[Mel]

Do they not value history and tradition? Has Rob sold out of the discontinued stuff yet? Has he seen an icrease in sales of the axed items?

[tigger]

Do they not value history and tradition?

It doesn't appear so. At the very least, they value their margins more.

Has Rob sold out of the discontinued stuff yet? Has he seen an icrease in sales of the axed items?

I think it depends on which year you're talking about. I would expect that for things showing as being discontinued for 2010, that production will continue for at least part of the year.

I'm sure there's been a jump in purchases of things that are on the block.

Things tend to stay available in the market in general for a while. Some merchants hold back part of their stock. I was able to purchase a box of Punch Ninfas (discontinued in '02) about three years ago at a premium from Germany. Down to my last couple.

[reg]

Well for what its worth, I just bought a box of Punch RS11 from the aged box thread. Part of it was the great video review, part was the discontinuation. A box that was aged a bit didn't hurt either