I just noticed at the store today that packs of menthol cigarettes cost one dollar more than regular packs. Anyone ever seen this before?
Regular Camels were 5.89, the menthols were 6.89
Regular Marlboros were 5.99, menthol was 6.99
Never, and I smoke menthols. Yeah Newports are usually more expensive than Camels or Marlboros but I’ve never seen Marlboro menthol lights cost more than Marlboro lights.
The regulars were on sale and the menthols were not?
This is the opposite of what I’ve usually found though. Marlboro pushed their little short 72 mm Menthols for a couple of years at $1.00 cheaper than the non-menthols several years back, which was incentive enough to get me to switch to menthol for a while.
I’m not sure if it’s like this everywhere, but most cigarettes are on sale most of the time these days. So each brand costs a different amount, whether it’s $1.00 or $0.50 or $0.75 off the “premium price”.
I smoke Benson & Hedges, which is one of the few “premium” brands left and I pay $5.88 a pack (at one particular store). No pack of domestic 20 Class A cigarettes costs more than the Benson & Hedges, and only a few other obscure brands cost the same as the B&H cigs. These are the brands that the tobacco companies never-ever have on sale.
In September, a new tobacco bill was passed to discourage kids from wanting to smoke.
In the bill, flavored cigarettes are now banned, except for menthol.
Pipe tobacco and cigars also are acceptable, whatever the flavor.
I am aware of this, because all I have ever smoked <didn’t start until I was 31> is clove cigarettes, which seemed to be the only thing actually affected by this bill.
All is good, as clove cigarettes are now just relabelled as ‘cigars’ with a higher price, and voila! Essentially NOTHING has changed with the new bill.
But…I’m thinking maybe pricing structures have also changed, maybe an added tax on tobacco that seems too enticing?
Thank goodness this isn’t done with the liquor industry, or we’d all be forced to drink Bud Light.
As part of my job, I sell cigarettes at a c-store.
We change our prices based on our cost, and whatever pricing incentives the tobacco companies give us. All Marlboros cost the same, all Camel cost the same, etc. The prices change occasionally, but all styles within a given brand change at the same rate.
For some reason, our Newport price is volatile - they go from $6.09 down to $5.15 for a few months, then up, then down. It’s been this way for a year. Most other brands just go up a bit every 6-8 months.
Were the packs specially marked? Every week, we receive a distribution from the companies of sale-priced cigs. They come pre-printed with the discount boldly on the front of the pack. We often have only non-menthol, or only menthol available in these packs - we get whatever the companies send.
The conspiracy theorist in me wonders if it’s a swipe at the African-American community - IME, it’s absolutely true that they buy more menthol than non-menthol cigarettes.
ETA : One mistake - Camel NON-FILTERS are about a buck more than all the filtered varieties. No idea why.
Joe
As far as I can recall, that has been true as long as I’ve worked for this company (6 years). B&H are a hair over $7.00 now, after tax. American Spirit is about 45 cents less.
Joe
Marlboro Menthols are the same as regular Marlboros here in Ohio.
The most expensive cigarettes we sold at my old gas station were the “premium” cigarettes, which were all the same price (6.99 as of June). Premiums were :
Benson and Hedges
Carlton
Merit
Kent
True
Camel non Filfered
Pall Mall non Filtered
Capri
As to why the Camel and Pall Mall non filtered are more expensive, they are considered “premium” cigarettes, and supposedly have a higher quality tobacco. That’s why you can’t use the coupons on them.
These are the brands that seem to be quickly disappearing, probably because of the pricing.
I don’t see Virginia Slims mentioned, which was a huge brand when I was a teenager, but I rarely see anymore. They were a slim version of Benson & Hedges and used a very high-quality tobacco. I have no idea how they’re priced now and haven’t noticed them in the tobacco shops in a while, but I’d guess they’re full price also.
Also, I’ve seen Pall Mall Golds for sale at full price, and years ago they were a pretty high-quality cigarette, unlike the rest of the “new” Pall Mall line which seems to be made up of the tobacco scraps they sweep up off the floor in the cigarette factory.