01-19-2008, 02:15 AM
Hello im interested in reselling cigars and would like to find a reliable drop shipper in the USA or Canada can anyoue suggest a company?
Thank you
Thank you
Reliable dropshippers?
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01-19-2008, 02:15 AM
Hello im interested in reselling cigars and would like to find a reliable drop shipper in the USA or Canada can anyoue suggest a company?
Thank you
01-19-2008, 02:31 AM
With all the regulations on tobacco product shipments, I really don't think you will find many that will do so. Being that you would be collecting the money for the transaction, it would be your responsibility to ensure the buyer is of legal age. Second, the company shipping the tobacco to the end consumer would also be obligated to do the same. Then you have the issues of taxes and the complications if the drop shipper is not in the same state as you, and of course the sales tax for shipping in the same state as the shipper is located.
Third, and the biggest in my opinion.... You are thinking of selling a product that you don't have on hand and probably have little experience about. Selling cigars is not like selling items on eBay. An AM/FM radio is one thing... a cigar, well, its an art that many know well, but is very hard to master even with all these fine stogies sitting right in front of you. If you don't have the cigars in front of you to describe, enjoy, and talk to your customers about, then you have no hope in a successful business in cigars or much of anything else. Just my 2 cents... ET
01-19-2008, 02:52 AM
I appreciate your reply and understand there are legalities and complications, it's not something that can't be done though. I have other retail sites. I'm not selling radios on ebay my customers are spending an average of $180+- per sale sometimes a couple of hundred, with around 7 sales a day from one site. Signups for my mailing list are around 1,000-1500 a year and has passed 5k now. I've decided to sell cigars since they relate to the merchandise I sell and will appeal to the same customer base that I have. I don't plan to just open up a site to sell and leave it at that, a cousin of mine working at a private members only club in manhattan will be providing support till i get to know more about cigars. For now i'm just the ecommerce guy. If anything i can purchase at my local shops and resell that way but i'm looking to provide the widest selection possible with a competitive price.
01-19-2008, 05:01 AM
What other type of sites do you have that relate to cigars and where is your base?
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We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered.
01-19-2008, 09:23 AM
The problem: "Middle Man" and "competitive price" are two business factors that don't go together very well... especially when there are dozens and dozens of web retailers selling boxes for a few bucks above wholesale. It's like trying to beat Wal-Mart at their own game. This is one product that you can't sell if you don't know anything about it. Cigars are a passion, not a commodity.
01-19-2008, 01:20 PM
cch Wrote:I appreciate your reply and understand there are legalities and complications, it's not something that can't be done though. I have other retail sites. I'm not selling radios on ebay my customers are spending an average of $180+- per sale sometimes a couple of hundred, with around 7 sales a day from one site. Signups for my mailing list are around 1,000-1500 a year and has passed 5k now. I've decided to sell cigars since they relate to the merchandise I sell and will appeal to the same customer base that I have. I don't plan to just open up a site to sell and leave it at that, a cousin of mine working at a private members only club in manhattan will be providing support till i get to know more about cigars. For now i'm just the ecommerce guy. If anything i can purchase at my local shops and resell that way but i'm looking to provide the widest selection possible with a competitive price.Sorry, I didn't mean to come off rude. It was late last night when I posted and I just got back from doing a gig...and had many Capt'n Cokes in me too. Bottom line is cigars are a hard thing to sell in comparison to other items. You also have many cigars which are very limited (Fuente, Opus, CAO Vision, etc.). One retailer (who used to post here) sold items from local cigar stores. That went sour when he sold a limited item to a member and then the store didn't have it available for him to ship. While you can source other items from other places, cigars are very specialty and also perishable. Quality differs from one retailer to the next. I've walked into some tobacco shops with a cigar room and their humidor is running at 50%RH and they think its fine. Yes, its possible to work out all the details and get a good source that will dropship for you. But with all the other 300,000 sites selling cigars a few bucks above cost, can you really tack on an extra few bucks to the price and make any money? Chances are you will be competing with your supplier as well. :? How would you handle returns? especially on any specialty cigars that are not readily available. Returns happen no matter how good your company is. Also, you will not have a Canadian drop ship market. It is illegal to ship tobacco directly to the end consumer in Canada. (Canadian Tobacco Act, Sec 13(1) & (2)). Simple mistakes like that and you will end up with simple fines of $5,000 per case up to $250,000 and jail time (or more). Much easier to sell toaster ovens!! lol!
01-19-2008, 02:01 PM
We drop ship for a lot of cigar companies... not only do we ship for you, but give you delivery confirmations, Gurantee your package for your customer, and ship with your company name on the package.
Mike MD Cigars http://www.mdcigars.com
01-19-2008, 02:17 PM
mdman Wrote:We drop ship for a lot of cigar companies... not only do we ship for you, but give you delivery confirmations, Gurantee your package for your customer, and ship with your company name on the package.Hey Mike! I didn't realize you did that! my bad! For the record, Mike is a real standup BOTL! I recommend contacting him! |
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