I'm the first to admit I don't stay on top of much in the hobby. Traditionally, I was an Oliva guy when I got back into cigars about 5 years ago as far as NC's go. Then I was recommended the My Father and Liga Privadas a couple of years ago. I ended up buying a box of My Father #1's and sevaral different sizes from the T52 and No. 9.

Fast forward to now, I'm shocked at the pricing of the LP's now. Is my memory bad or have they increased their pricing a lot? Is this a situation where a manufacturer increased pricing because of popularity or did they go in low to sucker people in, only to increase their buyers? I guess I'm comparing to the Oliva Serie V line-incredibly popular after release, but still at same pricing even though you'd think the market would allow them to increase their margins.

Anyone???
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The pricing has gone up during the last few years (at least in my neck of the woods). They are probably priced high because they can sell them at these prices. For the most part Liga's are incredibly hard to find. Thus one of the reasons they created the Liga Privada Undercrown a cheaper Liga that is easier to obtain.
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Inflation...... Things have no worth nowadays! $1 gets you pretty much any size drink at mcd's!
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I haven't been smoking the Liga Privada line long enough to compare pricing to when they first were released. I will say however that I do feel that they are priced fairly at this point. I guess it all just comes down to how much you like what you are buying and how much you are willing to pay to get it. I have seen some B&M's taking the price of FFP's up recently but I attribute it more to the popularity of them right now and some B&M's trying to make a few extra bucks. When they first came out I was able to get them for around $13 a stick. I have seen them as high as $16 a stick now in some places.
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I think they've gone up in price because of the availability of the tobacco's they are made from. It's harder to come by. Of course, I've been wong before on many occassions.
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Rising tobacco taxes don't help the situation either.
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Only thing is the prices for my "staples" have been pretty consistent while the LP's seemed to go up 30%.
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I think it's just simple forces of supply and demand.
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I think that's either the vendors cashing in on the popularity, or just the simple laws of supply and demand or both. For the last two years, getting enough wrapper leaf has been tough due to crop issues/problems.

DE has only raised their wholesale prices by about a dollar, and that was a few years ago. 40 cents of that buck was due to S-CHIP, the rest was due to materials cost increases. A number of manufacturers have had similar price hikes for the same reasons, although whether you see them or not at your end can be tied to a number of factors, such as popularity, state taxes (we had an interesting one here in CA, state tobacco taxes actually went DOWN 14% from 47% to 33% in the last year), supply / availability, trends, etc.
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Yeah that sucks. As much as I respect JD and what Drew Estates does, it's very hard for me to pay those prices when I can get a great CC for much less. My NC buying has come to a screeching halt for the most part, and prices are a big reason compared to what CC's I can get for much less.
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I can second this. My favorites from Nicoragua and Honduras have been going up over the last 4 months.
g-
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Agree %100

But to his credit and guys like Pete Johnson, they have produced less expensive quality smokes for the every day consumer. The Undercrown is a huge success in my opinion and the Tat red label, La Casita, Cabaiguan, La Riqueza etc. are delicious alternatives to LE sticks that retail for well over $200 a box!
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Say It Isn't So, Brother!:-)
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I had not heard this. Seems like a very likely possibility though.

I know when Oliva had the Special S, I thought I remember hearing something mentioned about the wrapper being quite expensive. It was going to end up costing them a lot more to produce at one point. They opted to discontinue the line rather than make it the highest cost cigar in their lineup.

Part of me was wondering if we might expect the Undercrown to gain popularity and see prices go up to $200/box after a period of time.
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It's called the No. 9

Increasing the price of the UC's defeats the entire purpose of why they were created to begin with......they go up over $200 and people will just buy the T52's and 9's.
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I know I'm new here at the nuthouse, but I've been around long enough to want to make sure I quote the above for truth.

The DE guys have been very open and honest with consumers about what they do and why, and they haven't raised their prices in a while. All of the increase is from vendors, and is due primarily to demand, as JD and Steve and crew refuse to rush out inferior product to keep up with the overwhelming demand. So the supply remains limited, and vendors continue to raise prices simply because they can.
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If the UCs hit $200, it'll be because the No.9 has already increased proportionally, still leaving the UCs as the more affordable option.
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Love the liga line, but i am a die hard Oliva/Studio Tobac guy, so its hard for me to pay out the butt for the LPs, when i can get a better cigar IMO with the Cain F 550 (which is my all time favorite cigar), or event the Oliva Vs... Just my 2 cents... The undercrown is tremendous, but i still think a little overpriced...
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I believe there was a slight increase in price for Liga in the last year to the vendors. I forget the number but for some reason 12% is stuck in my head. Don't quote me on that number though as the increase happened back in November or December if memory serves me correct and I don't really remember the exact increase. I know all the shops here in Charlotte pretty much ate the increase to stay competitive with each other on pricing.
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The UCs compared to the 52s and 9s are Apples to Oranges in taste and strength IMO.:-)
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