I just paid $3.39 for a pack of Marlboro lights, the cheapest pack I’ve bought in some time. The store where I usually buy smokes charges $4.08 (after tax).
I realize that 4 bucks is still incredibly cheap compared to many places. I visited Chicago last spring and paid $10.58 for 2 packs–on sale.
So, I’m not by any means complaining about the expense (if I’m going to kill myself, I may as well pay for it), I’m just curious what the prices are like in other places.
I’ve been paying $3.10 (including tax)/pack for Camel Ultra Lights for about 2 years now - the sign says it’s a special price, but it hasn’t gone up in a while.
Everything in the SF Bay area is about a dollar more than you’ll find it in the rest of the country (except, for example, New York).
Plus I switched to American Spirits, partly because they are more expensive, which I thought would be an added incentive for me to quit. (Man, that backfired.) But I guess I’m stuck with those, until I quit smoking altogether. Now, whenever I try to switch back to Camels, I go through them so quickly that I end up smoking twice as much and would wake up feeling like something died in my mouth.
I pay $4.09 per pack. I could get them for about three bucks a pack, but it’s too much hassle to go to the PX.
In Pennsylvania, the state government passed a new fifty-cent per pack tax to go into a fund to cover physician’s medical malpractice insurance. My pre-med friend no longer hassles me about smoking, since he knows one of the reasons his father can stay in practice is because I smoke.
I sell cigarettes in central CA. All Marlboros and Virginia Slims are $4.13 after tax, with a 2 for $7.49 deal, Camels are $3.97 with a 2 for $7.08 deal, Benson & Hedges are $4.28, Newports are $4.99, Basic and GPC are $3.85, and el cheapo Monarch are $3.10, or 2 for $5.25.
We often recieve pre-packaged 2-for-1 and 3-for-2 deals on Camel and Marlboro, with a low of 3 Marlboros for $7.49.
When I started in retail, 15 years ago in NJ, they were ALL $1.75 per pack.
Well, if I plan properly and go to the Indian Reservation, I pay $2.30 a pack for Camels or 85 cents a pack for the cheap house brand.
At the store, I do Camels or Lucky Strikes for $5.40 or Pall malls, which my local CVS has inexplicably been selling at $3.34. (This is all after taxes.)
I never buy cigs by the pack but if I break down the cost of what I pay for cartons of Kool Ultra-Lights over the internet it’s $1.78 a pack. That includes shipping.
I don’t smoke but most brands seem to be around $5. The other day I was driving around with my Dad and we saw a sign for a carton of some brand for $51.
I looked at my Dad and said, “Aren’t you glad you quit?”
