So how much % of MAP do you consider a good deal or = buy?

[hydro-terp]

So this is a byproduct of buying stuff off CPs scorcher deals where you only have 60 seconds to make a decision.

I have en excel file that I track my purchases with and in it I have a formula that will calculate the cost per stick and I then enter the cost per stick based on the everyday price if you bought a box from Da Page. I then have a cell that calculates how much % savings off MAP I got the cigars for. And Its been a wide range I must say from 10% to 75% and everything in between. Not all have been scorcher purchases but the following is specific to this situation.

Well with 60 seconds to make a decision its easy to mistake a mundane sale for a good one so I have created a sheet that does the same on one line but I added another cell and added the IF formula to it. So in additions to giving % off MAP it will have another instantaneous function, a "Buy" or "No Deal" prompt. I can set a % off MAP as my buy trigger. Say above 20% off it will say Buy, below it will say No Deal. It should make buying the scorcher deals a little easier and cut down on buying stuff that really isnt great. So enter the deal thats running down in 60 seconds, look it up at the CP list of brands and do the quick math and come back and enter that price and presto. @CBoukal Im sure you have something thats goes way deaper but humor me. Some of my best deals have come from the CP Scorcher so its utility has value for me. I bought basically two boxes (8x5r's) of EPC Encore's that were over 50% off MAP as scorcher deals.

I know MAP pricing is like pricing on new cars and the manufactures can set the price at whatever they want *cough* Gurkha *cough* so this isnt perfect. You can have big mark downs on Oliva and Rojas etc. and hardly any on Perdomo and Padron for example but this will be a useful and fun exercise for those brands that are not outlyers on the price bell curve.

So
20%
30%
What?

HT

 

[whopper]

Disappointed there is no hidden C-Page link.

 

[rbbrock]

It varies so much that I don't think you can use a blanket percentage.

Padrons are basically set at a certain price and pretty much never discounted that I have seen. Fuentes are rarely discounted, and then only by a small amount. The same goes for Dunbarton and Tatuaje.

Some things are hugely overpriced and get big discounts, or are older lines that aren't getting hyped up any longer. E.g. Montecristo Espada and 1935 Anniversary, EP Carrillo Pledge and La Historia, Warped Cloud Hopper and Maestro del Tiempo. Those are just off the top of my head and there are a lot more, but those cigars are pretty regularly on sale for approximately $5 or less per stick, maybe $5.50 for the Espadas and down to $3 and change for many of the others.

Most cigars are somewhere in between.

All this to say that I don't think a single X % works very well, no matter what you tie it to. Some examples from my own records (MSRP taken from CigarPage listings):

Cigar	MSRP	CigarPage Reg. Price	Best price seen	% off MSRP / reg. price
Monte Espada Guard	17.91	16.12	4.50	75% / 72%
EPC La Historia El Senador	14.15	11.20	3.33	76% / 70%
Dunbarton Umbagog Toro	11.70	8.48	6.90	41% / 19%

So if you said 20% off MSRP, then all of these examples are going to be a buy, but you're really not getting a good deal if it's just 20% off, it needs to be much more. On the other hand, if you said 20% off the regular listed price on CigarPage, the Umbagog would not be a buy, but that's the best price I've personally seen on them because Dunbarton stuff doesn't get discounted as heavily as most brands.

Also, MAP and MSRP are not the same thing, and neither one is "street price."

Not to be condescending, but for those who don't know, MSRP is "Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price" or the theoretical price that the manufacturer thinks their product is worth. Almost nothing actually sells for MSRP and it's basically meaningless in reality.

MAP on the other hand is "Minimum Advertised Price" and is the lowest price a retailer is permitted to display for an item pursuant to their contract with the manufacturer/distributor. It's generally a percentage of MSRP. When you see the same cigars listed at the same prices all over the web, that is likely the MAP. When you see things that you have to add to the cart to view the price, that is a way around MAP policies, as they aren't "advertising" the product at that price. (As a side note, I have heard recently that Spyderco, the knife company, is cracking down on retailers that do this.) CigarPage gets around MAP policies by bundling different cigars together, dropping the price in the cart, or by just plain breaking the rule, which they might be able to get away with due to their volume (just guessing).