Gov. Schwarzenegger banned from Sacramento cigar shop

[groogs]

Good for John, and Mark. This is my favorite B&M, and with decisions like this I know why.

[hotreds]

Sehr gut, Tower Cigars! Bravo!

[yamaha6000]

Thanks for the story, this made my day.

[adsantos13]

Originally Posted by hoax

Except that it's killing all of our local cigar shops because cigars online are a 1/3 the price.

But this is capitalism, no? With the internet, certain traditional businesses must evolve or die. Harsh, I know, especially when people have spent a lot of time becoming valued customers and sometimes friends with their local B%M's, but thats the nature of the game. Arguing that the cigar taxes are putting people out of business because of online sales is basically arguing that B&M owners need some sort of government protection to stay in business. Bottom line is that people find the lowest price and buy at that price. Those who don't compete go away. Even if all taxes were abolished on tobacco, internet sites would be able to sell cigars cheaper due to lower operating costs.

If the government wanted to tax cigars and keep small businesses alive, they'd have to also start collecting taxes on internet sales across state lines which would ensure that the prices wouldn't be different whether you ordered online or walked over to your local B&M.

Ask the big music companies how their profits are looking now that with the advent of itunes and similar services we no longer have to buy a whole CD or record just for one song. Or how about the big TV networks and Cable stations, who now have to compete against the internet as the main entertainment source in people's homes.

Just my and probably bad economic/business analysis and for the record I am against high tobacco taxes because naturally as a cigar smoker, I want to buy cigars at as low a cost as possible.

[SR Mike]

Ahnold is not going to be phased. He has stated that he is not done with pushing the cigar tax. Anything he can do to continue to turn his back on his promises and conservatives...

[fizguy]

Originally Posted by adsantos13

But this is capitalism, no? With the internet, certain traditional businesses must evolve or die. Harsh, I know, especially when people have spent a lot of time becoming valued customers and sometimes friends with their local B%M's, but thats the nature of the game. Arguing that the cigar taxes are putting people out of business because of online sales is basically arguing that B&M owners need some sort of government protection to stay in business. Bottom line is that people find the lowest price and buy at that price. Those who don't compete go away. Even if all taxes were abolished on tobacco, internet sites would be able to sell cigars cheaper due to lower operating costs.

If the government wanted to tax cigars and keep small businesses alive, they'd have to also start collecting taxes on internet sales across state lines which would ensure that the prices wouldn't be different whether you ordered online or walked over to your local B&M.

Ask the big music companies how their profits are looking now that with the advent of itunes and similar services we no longer have to buy a whole CD or record just for one song. Or how about the big TV networks and Cable stations, who now have to compete against the internet as the main entertainment source in people's homes.

Just my and probably bad economic/business analysis and for the record I am against high tobacco taxes because naturally as a cigar smoker, I want to buy cigars at as low a cost as possible.

well, my analysis is no better than yours, but I disagree with the "it's capitalism, right?" part. It's not as if the original poster was asking for government intervention against online retailers to make things more competitive for local businesses. It is the government intervention itself that creates the imbalance.

Normally we praise free market capitalism because it rewards things we value, good products, good customer service, efficiency. In this case we are simply rewarding a business not having a local presence by taxing the business that DO (highly, I might add).

my

[hoax]

Originally Posted by fizguy

It's not as if the original poster was asking for government intervention against online retailers to make things more competitive for local businesses. It is the government intervention itself that creates the imbalance.

Exactly.

[Darrell]

Good, Arnold is a hypocritical tool.

[adsantos13]

Originally Posted by fizguy

well, my analysis is no better than yours, but I disagree with the "it's capitalism, right?" part. It's not as if the original poster was asking for government intervention against online retailers to make things more competitive for local businesses. It is the government intervention itself that creates the imbalance.

Normally we praise free market capitalism because it rewards things we value, good products, good customer service, efficiency. In this case we are simply rewarding a business not having a local presence by taxing the business that DO (highly, I might add).

my

Fizguy, I agree with you 100%. I misconstrued the statement. I guess I am making the assumption that taxes are here to stay and thus, B&M's will take the fall...

[l0venpeace]

That's so cool, and a good idea from a business stand point. They are going to get mountains of press out of this!

[Addiction]

Originally Posted by adsantos13

But this is capitalism, no? With the internet, certain traditional businesses must evolve or die. Harsh, I know, especially when people have spent a lot of time becoming valued customers and sometimes friends with their local B%M's, but thats the nature of the game. Arguing that the cigar taxes are putting people out of business because of online sales is basically arguing that B&M owners need some sort of government protection to stay in business. Bottom line is that people find the lowest price and buy at that price. Those who don't compete go away. Even if all taxes were abolished on tobacco, internet sites would be able to sell cigars cheaper due to lower operating costs.

If the government wanted to tax cigars and keep small businesses alive, they'd have to also start collecting taxes on internet sales across state lines which would ensure that the prices wouldn't be different whether you ordered online or walked over to your local B&M.

Ask the big music companies how their profits are looking now that with the advent of itunes and similar services we no longer have to buy a whole CD or record just for one song. Or how about the big TV networks and Cable stations, who now have to compete against the internet as the main entertainment source in people's homes.

Just my and probably bad economic/business analysis and for the record I am against high tobacco taxes because naturally as a cigar smoker, I want to buy cigars at as low a cost as possible.

Actually I completely agree with this post. You can go back to the advent of mail order businesses (Sears, Penny's) and see a very similair effect.

[shilala]

I've always found it ironic that the same state that hires a slow witted b movie actor to run the state's business is shocked when he does borderline retarded things.
I'm pretty sure that if I voted for him, I'd expect it.

[Harpo]

Great idea. We need more high-profile cigar smokers speaking out for us. I mean c'mon, there's enough of them...

[Volt]

Originally Posted by adsantos13

Fizguy, I agree with you 100%. I misconstrued the statement. I guess I am making the assumption that taxes are here to stay and thus, B&M's will take the fall...

Heck it's not the taxes that force me to the devil site, it's the mark up. $18 a Gurkha Beast at the B&M, box of 5 at the devil site averaged out at $8 a stick. I get they need to charge a bit more for the walls, electricity, etc, but a 125% more??? I like going in and getting single sticks, butane, a tin or two but fiscally it's just not something I can afford. Truley makes this new guy wonder about teh cigar pricing world.

[JCK]

Mark is a great vendor that really loves cigars. He's registered here. I'll shoot him a PM and let him know we appreciate what he's done.