Deal of the week
pross
Posts: 874 ✭✭✭
Is the deal of the week gone now, or did they just run out of Diesels?
3
pross
Posts: 874 ✭✭✭
Comments
https://www.cigar.com/mobile/deal-of-the-week
When you folks see a CCOM deal you don't think is good (or vice versa), tell me WHY its not. Price, selection, too much of the same, not the right qty, etc etc. AND, when you see another company's deal that IS good, also tell me why. Sometimes I can match or even beat other offers. My goal has always been to make CCOM a one-stop shop, and with your feedback & some creativity on my part, that is achievable.
As you all know, I'm handcuffed on advertised pricing. I have to follow our vendor's MAP restrictions, so please keep that in mind. But if we openly communicate, starting right here in the forum, there's ALWAYS an agreeable solution that can be reached, good for both sides.
Too much talky...my apologies. Now you go.
THANKS ALL,
am told you can’t price match some items. Free shipping is also a big deal
I don't know who told you what, but we price match (est)95% of the time and there's always ways to get free shipping that are easy & attractive. Email me: tblythe@cigar.com if you are having a hard time getting a price match and/or free shipping. I'll get it done and make it easy. I cannot directly place orders as i did in the past, but i'll get the job done none-the-less.
long memories of past deals:
Our costs (what we pay for cigars & etc from the makers/vendors) change ALL THE TIME, and almost always in the wrong direction...UP. That means the brands that sold 10 for 29.99 in 2015 cant always be sold for the same in 2017. Not to mention items that weren't MAP back then, could be MAP now, heavily restricting what we can do. Not trying to post a crybaby statement, its been the reality for every business everywhere, but the frequency and dollar amount of this cost variation would surprise you i think. it always surprises me!
perceived inflated pricing: this is a killer for me, because of that wide variation in cost i mentioned. While it IS an absolutely fair point that, when you take away all the packaging, marketing, and legal costs the brand owner puts into a brand, there really isnt a wide range in what a cigar ACTUALLY costs a factory to make. And you all probably have a good idea of what that number is.
However, that production cost rarely correlates to what our landed cost might be. You'd be amazed at how little margin there are on certain brands. If i took as little as 5% off some brands, we'd be losing money before we even factored in shipping costs. While that's rare, 10-15% deductions resulting in loss are quite common.
You better believe on the brands there is some margin to work with, I'm sharpening my pencil to a razor point. but that lack of margin on many other products ends up balancing out the positives when factoring the bottom-line, once again limiting just how LOW I can go.
Boo hoo, right? Well hold your tears (hehe) and keep the feedback coming. I'm 100% serious we will be able to do some eye-opening offers and programs you never thought CIGAR.com could do if we keep this kind of communication going.
Also, I think your pricing is more than fair, but getting a sweet deal on a cigar somehow makes it taste much better.
I keep an eye on CI (and many others) almost daily to see whats new and where prices are. Re: CI - We're corporate sisters, no doubt, but there's little to no communication as to what deals we run and when we run 'em. The exception are vendor sponsored deals, which are typically offered to many retailers for a particular month or quarter, so its not uncommon to see MONTE MARCH MADNESS or PUNCH IN THE SAVINGS, big, expansive deals like that... overlap across CCOM, CI, JR's... any retailer that opts in.
One thing that comes to mind... there are times when a box of 10 brand X cigars goes for $99.99 as the "regular", everyday sale price on CCOM, CI, JR...etc. Then one day, CCOM, CI, Holts... you name it... they get offered or they negotiate with a vendor a special closeout deal on brand X. Let's say they agree to buy 1000 10-packs of brand X in exchange for a reduced cost. They then put it on special and blow it out for $49.99. Other companies that didnt negotiate that deal are still selling their boxes of 10 for $99.99, as their costs have stayed the same. The companies selling those $99.99 boxes may very well be making LESS per box than the guy selling them at $49.99. It can make my head hurt. IDK if any of this sheds some light on why you will see discrepancies, a little I hope? I can try and elaborate more if you want.
One more thought then i gotta get some sleep. CIGAR.com's plan is to be in business for a very long time. That won't happen if we don't take care of our customers, offer competitive pricing while respecting vendor MAP policies, and conduct fair & just business practices all along the way. Will we make some mistakes, of course. But I'm fully committed to fix anything that ain't right and be a sounding board for you all to tell me what's up. Let's do this.
Gnight all! Happy Friday!
tb
PS - JOHN, great to meet you. No offense taken, like i said the forum provides us a place to voice our opinions and I want to use it to improve the way we operate and react to customer trends. You expect MORE. That's cool, I'm picking up what you're putting down. Let's discuss! Feel free to email me if you dont want to post it here, either way let's see what we can come up with.
email: tblythe@cigar.com
How many companies do you deal with that provide a forum for their customers and actually pay attention to their venting and even provide input.
I'm thinking not many.
Do I consider ccom perfect?
Not by any long shot, but when I email with a request, they've usually been able to meet the price of competitors or offered up another deal. So if the price seems high, call them on it. I have.
I'll be one of the first to question a deal on the site. Daily deals comes to mind. But in the same token, a couple days later, I'm cussing because the deal is one I'm looking for excuses not to jump on.
Do I buy cigars from other places? Of course I do. Killer deals, cigars that ccom doesn't carry and all that. But they have also gotten me cigars they don't normally carry.
Don't get me wrong, I agree with a lot of comments made. But got to give a little credit that someone is paying attention.
Money can't buy happiness, but it can buy cigars and that's close enough.
Thats another thing, your Corp has very good customer service.
Cigarpage started out with GREAT DEALS! Now they say deals, and I find better here.
Tatuaje Havana VI Victorias--23.79 ccom: 29.99
Or, you could do two levels of membership, i.e. $25/year gets you a discount, but $50/year gets you more of a discount and free shipping.
JR has a $30 membership, and it only gets you free shipping for a year.
I'd assume that you'd give up some profit to earn greater loyalty, and that's what these types of memberships would bring to Ccom.
-- Winston Churchill
"LET'S GO FRANCIS" Peter
"If you do not read the newspapers you're uninformed. If you do read the newspapers, you're misinformed." -- Mark Twain
-- Winston Churchill
"LET'S GO FRANCIS" Peter