The $10 “Premium Cigar” Minimum Compared to Other Industries

Though many individuals that enjoy cigars have been bombarded with information as of late by various cigar companies (us included) regarding the proposed FDA regulations of Premium cigars, I wanted to do the math for everyone,  because $10 dollars a cigar doesn’t mean much until you actually start looking at your brands and what they would cost should this be passed.

As an example, assume you are going to purchase a box of Damn Good Gordo Cigars.

Currently a box of 20 runs for $49.

After FDA rules, this same box will run you $200.

If this was your once a month purchase, your spending will increase from $588/year to $2,400/year for the exact same cigar.   It’s not like the new price tag will come with anything special,  it’s just going to be the exact same cigar but for thousands of dollars more.

If this were any other industry people would be up in arms.  Here are some examples:

If the Auto industry had minimums like this,  a $24,000 Jeep Wrangler will now cost you $100,000

If the Grocery Store had minimums like this,  a $7 case of soda cans will now cost you $28

If the Electric Company had minimums like this, a $90 power bill will now cost you $360

If the Real Estate industry had minimums like this,  a $1,250/month mortgage would now cost you $5,000/month

I don’t even want to discuss college tuition….. but if you really wanted to know..  According to the College Board, the average cost of tuition and fees for the 2013–2014 school year was $30,094 at private colleges. If the FDA rules applied there, you are looking at $120,376 a year for Private School (or better said $481,504 for a 4 year degree). Meaning an individual would have to earn well over 1/2 a million to a million dollars (after interest) to pay off the college loan.

These examples demonstrate that setting arbitrary minimums for any industry is wrong. It leads to unnecessary inflation and a completely unwarranted hit on your pocketbook.

Opinions?