Well, it depends on the brand - where I work, we sell Pall Mall for $24.99 per carton, and Newports for $40-ish. I have two regulars who buy cartons of popular brands for $30-$40, then charge $10 per pack at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Fran.
Joe
No no no no no. Don’t go spreading these kind of lies, you will get people in trouble. Taking money for a smoke is every bit as bad karmicly as not giving when asked. Also, you must always offer your last smoke trusting that the bummer will know the rules and will not take it.
if I bum a cig or two off a friend, and it isn’t often, I usually give em a quarter or two. This way, I don’t have to buy a whole pack for those rare occasions I want to smoke and they don’t have to lose too much money for being my friend.
*However, just like gum or a can of pop, the last one is always the owner’s and is totally off limits. I’ve seen someone try to bum the last cigarette in a pack and it didn’t go well. Not well at all.
I think it’s a little bit of both. Canned tobacco is tax Class J, whereas packs are Class A. So even though American Spirit costs even more than the regular premium brands when bought in packs, the same tobacco is far less when you just make the cigarettes yourself. According to a quick search, a pack of cigarettes contains 12.5g of tobacco. The cans I buy are 150g. I get about 175 cigarettes out of that, but I pack them tight enough to smoke for ten minutes apiece, while a regular cigarette from a pack takes me three or four minutes. They can be packed looser or made shorter if you prefer.
This is what the cans look like. Along with one of those, I buy a carton of 200 empty tubes for a little over a dollar and use an injector like this to make them. It’s a pretty quick process; with practice, I’ve found I can make about three cigarettes a minute.
I’ve been smoking these for about four years now and I vastly prefer them to regular cigarettes. Even if the cost doubled, I wouldn’t go back.
Around here we hand them our lighter and ask, “Need a kick in the chest to get it started, too?” 
I quit smoking and took up dipping (probably a worse habit; please don’t remind me) and in the ONE instance where I was by a stranger propositioned at a bus stop, I did mind (although I obliged). You don’t see people packing their lips around every corner like you do smokers, so the rules of karma don’t apply–it’s much less likely to come back to you. Also, unlike cigarettes, there isn’t a preset amount that can be taken–it’s variable, and offering it to a stranger can lead to him taking half your tin.
On the other hand, when I’m at drill weekend with my Guard unit and a known dipper is desperate, I’ll happily share with him.
Yep. Smoker’s Code, gotta love it. 8$ a pack tho. Geez.
Fags are around $10AUD (depending on the size of the pack) and mostly I will happily hand one over to coworkers (even though the favours or the smokes are rarely returned…like catsix says, it’s good karma I guess).
I’m more loathe to on the street nowadays, and it depends on my mood and the politeness of the bummer. There’s a few kids from the local Feral School who have tried it on occasion, but now as soon as they make eye contact, I just tell 'em to fuck off. Bumming smokes and/or change has become a virtual occupation for many street-folk in Melbourne, and it pisses me right off that the more they are accomodated, the more brazen (and prolific) they become.
That being said, if somebody needs a smoke, I’ll give 'em one. No dramas.
Good heavens, I need to make friends with all you beautiful people…
I’ll almost always bum a smoke to someone. Karma has been mentioned. I WILL accept payment if offered (a quarter, whatever) because it means the person bumming doesn’t want to feel like a beggar. The most shockingly rude was once from someone in a car, while I was walking, demanding a smoke. From the other side of the street. They were clearly angry when I did not comply.
As a general practice, there’s an extra pack in the glovebox if I’ve been very spacey and don’t have any in the house. At a party, well…I’ll bum away. Heck, it’s a party!
You poor saps, paying that much for cigs. Here, I get 'em for $14 the carton. Granted, they’re an off-brand. But even Camels only cost $29!
I always lend another smoker a cigarette if they bum one. Not a big deal to me. Now if they ask for a light after bumming the cig then I ask them if they would like for me to smoke it for them too.
Don’t blame the messenger! 
Like the offer of a kick to get started, or offering to smoke it for them too, it’s just somehow a different thing to bum without a lighter.
No cigarette but have lighter? I think smoker caught off-guard, sure I’ll share. Maybe they thought they had more left in the pack, maybe they were caught short because they bummed a few out, maybe they had a really stressful day and smoked more or forgot to hit the store, etc.
Neither smoke or fire? I think not a real smoker, actual addicts rarely forget their kit altogether. Doesn’t mean I won’t bum them a couple, but I will crack the obligatory jokes while doing so.
I will give almost anybody a cigarette.
ONE cigarette.
If you’re a friend of mine, my cigs are your cigs.
And since most of my friends are smokers, it goes without saying that it’s not normal for them to be caught without cigs.
My “walking down the street” philosophy is that I won’t give a cigarette to anybody who looks like they could’ve asked for money. AKA, the homeless, random bums, creepy-looking people, etc. It takes less time to give someone money than it does a cig, because it’s guaranteed that the person who wants cash doesn’t also want to light it on fire. With a cig, there’s an excellent chance they don’t have a freakin’ lighter either, and then you have to either
a.) let them borrow yours (ew) or
b.) light it for them.
I guess giving them your lighter/matches is a third option, but I’ve rarely felt the urge.
As a female I don’t want to engage some random weirdo on the street for that length of time. I used to work downtown (at a bar) and you learn quickly that if you wouldn’t give them directions, don’t give them a cigarette.
As for taking money for cigarettes…since I work at a bar, I get a lot of people asking me for cigarettes. If you’re a good tipper, I won’t take your money. If you’re a crappy tipper, damn right I’m taking your dollar. That may be all the money I make off you.
Random people offering me money…if you’re polite and you only ask once, I won’t take your money. If you ask again, or you want more than one, I’ll take the dollar.
If you offer me a quarter I won’t take it and you won’t get a cig either. I’d rather people ask me for a cig without offering me any money than offer me a freakin’ quarter.
I’m a non-smoker who often has total strangers ask me if I have a cigarette when I’m walking down the street drinking coffee. If I were a smoker, wouldn’t I be smoking while walking down the street drinking coffee?
My response is a very snarky “Of course not. Do I look stupid?”
The last experience I’d had with someone trying to bum a cig off me was a few years ago. I’m not a smoker, and when I told her I had none, she wasn’t too bad about it. (But it was clear I’d just told her I frammelled the grupznik on the weekends.) So, she went out into the lawn in front of our building to retrieve the butts there, for anything that had smokable tobacco left.
Eventually, I suspected her of being the mail thief in my building. And she ended up evicted for failure to pay rent.
This experience has left me with a hugely negative reaction if someone tries to bum a cigarette off me.
(I’m not trying to make any judgment about smoking, per se, but if you’re trying to bum a smoke off someone without a cigarette going themselves, I’m going to wonder just how much of a mooch you might be.)
You don’t have the $1 cup o’ smokes? When I was bartending we’d keep packs that were left by drunks and put the individual cigarettes in a glass on the bar with a handwritten sign that said “Smokes $1”. You can make a nice couple of extra bucks on a busy night that way.
See, this is why I like smoking weird girly cigs. 
Almost nobody wants to get caught smoking a chardonnay clove (but they’re so tasty!), so I rarely get asked. I actually enjoy sharing, though - I like turning people on to the joy of smoking something that doesn’t taste like it just came out of a camel’s ass. So, yeah, when I get asked, I’ll pretty much always fork one over.
Unless you’re That Guy - the one who never has cigarettes, almost never has a light, and bitches about the stuff he bums half the time. That guy gets “if you weren’t a dick, I’d happily spare you one. But, since you are a dick, feel free to suffer where I can hear you. It makes mine taste better.” Funny, That Guy doesn’t really ask me for cigs anymore…
A woman I know was smoking a clove cigarette in a bar and a guy bummed one. They are now happily married.
You guys shouldn’t be complaining about cig prices, they’re around $10 - $12 a pack here!
Anyhow, I don’t smoke, but I do sometimes smoke when I’m drinking and bum smokes off certain friends. I usually buy them a pack every once in a while to even it out.
We always say ‘You want me to smoke it for you too?’
That is the general idea, I believe.