# Whats the true cost of a pack of cigarettes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 20, 2003, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-true-cost-of-a-pack-of-cigarettes/149726 "2003-01-20T03:21:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hermann\_Cheruscan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b782af/32.png) [@Hermann\_Cheruscan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermann_Cheruscan)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-true-cost-of-a-pack-of-cigarettes/149726/1 "2003-01-20T03:21:26Z")
Cigarette prices in my area are around $3.50 per pack of Marlboroughs. I have to wonder how much of that $3.50 is taxes and fees. I remember cigarettes back in the '70s were about 75 cents a pack. This was before they started taxing the hell out of them. I also remember buying cartons of generic cigarettes for $4.10 back when I was in the military during the 1980s. Of course, at that time, cigs were tax and duty free at the military commissary. So I have to wonder what is the true cost of a pack of smokes. I’m talking about how much money it takes to produce one pack of marlboroughs. Probably between 50 and 75 cents, I would think. Does anyone have any good guesses? ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-true-cost-of-a-pack-of-cigarettes/149726/2 "2003-01-20T03:30:08Z")
- - - In the late 80’s when I worked at a convenience store and when cigarettes had just gone to $1.50 a pack, a cigarette rep told us the actual cost was 18 cents. ~ ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-true-cost-of-a-pack-of-cigarettes/149726/3 "2003-01-20T16:45:50Z")
I found: "Cigarettes are relatively cheap to manufacture, they can cost about $0.05/each … Shipping Questions \*\* QUESTION: Where is my package?! … [www.yousmoke.com/faq.html](http://www.yousmoke.com/faq.html) " However, that website is down, that quote appears from a search engine list. At SFO I saw a duty free shop that had Marlboro Reds for $17.95 a carton in 2000. ---
**Author:** ![Lorenzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4da419/32.png) [@Lorenzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorenzo)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-true-cost-of-a-pack-of-cigarettes/149726/4 "2003-01-20T18:05:35Z")
I think you mean the “wholesale” cost of cigarettes. The “true” cost of cigarettes, as I understand it, would be a different thread and might include other factors such as loss of productivity, increased health care costs, loss of enjoyment of particpation in some physical activities, but also a reduction in Social Security costs caused by shortened life. Or maybe there’s no consensus on what “true” cost means. ---
**Author:** ![Powers106](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@Powers106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers106)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-true-cost-of-a-pack-of-cigarettes/149726/5 "2003-01-20T18:29:01Z")
I would say it’s less than $.05 a cigarette, because that would make it $1 a pack. A month ago, I saw duty free Marlboros in Bangkok airport (also in Rio, for that matter) for $11 a carton. So, I’d guess DougC is closer to the truth at 18 cents a pack. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2003, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-true-cost-of-a-pack-of-cigarettes/149726/6 "2003-01-20T19:04:42Z")
The question is not production costs, but what is a “fair market price” without taxes – remember that the manufacturer, the wholesaler, and the retailer have to make their overheads and profits, unless you want to drive to a factory outlet store every time you want to buy a pack. North Carolina’s per-pack tax is $0.05, and the Federal excise tax is $0.39. A 6.5% state sales tax is added to the price-before-excise-tax. Typically one can pick up a pack of Marlboros around here for about $3.00 – ranging from $2.80 to $3.50 depending on the store and whether any specials are being held. When our funds are a bit low, we tend to smoke Kingstons, an off brand manufactured in a small town in Virginia, which cost $1.39 a pack or $14.00 a carton – the lowest regular price we’ve seen (and, by the way, a better tasting cigarette for a Marlboro-by-preference smoker than most generic brands). R. J. Reynolds has a web page discussing excise taxes and their impact on the tobacco industry. This page gives thirteen states’ excise taxes per pack.