auctions

Yup, yup, and yup.

Never did an auction, but i'll vouch for famous smoke.

I had put bids on cigarbid.com, but never won anything!

I have bid and won on cigarbid and cigarauctioneer.

Only had one problem with a sampler I won on cigarbid. The cigars looked like they had been damaged in shipment and the caps were damaged on some. I sent their customer service an email and they sent me a replacement sampler so I ended up ok anyway. Have had no other problems.

The problem with cigar auctions is they can become very addicting. Cigar Auctioneer is good, but man, I'm running out of room in my humi. I had to buy another one.

don't use auction sites if you are new to cigars. you'll make a mistake and overpay. you need to be sure that you're getting a deal.

i typically use cigarbid.com. which is owned by cigarsinternational.com (and generally has decent prices). if you're using cigarbid you have to be at least aware of the normal CI price. it is a good place to "practice" by researching between the 2 sites.

don't forget to factor in shipping and tax (if applicable).

also, make sure you know what you're bidding on. i've seen $300 bids on empty PAM / PAN boxes or 5 Packs. read the descriptions carefully.

for the well informed (which is anyone who did a little homework, it ain't rocket science) auction sites can be a places to find very good deals. my rule of thumb is to only buy things if i can save at least 25% over the best price i'd found for the same item at other retailers