FAQ about LGCS
Here are some of the common questions we have received here at LGCS. If you have any other questions or concerns please email us at info@littleguycigarshop.com
Q: Where are you located and does LGCS have a retail location?
A: We are located in Tucson, Arizona. Currently no, we are strictly an online retailer. This can change with the support of you all, our awesome customers!! The more support we receive the more we can grow and keep reaching and achieving goals!
Q: How long does it take to ship my order?
A: I try to ship same day (average daily cut off is 2pm MST) if not, we generally ship within 24 hours of your order placement. If there is an issue I will reach out and let you know and also offer a solution. If you have any questions always feel free to reach out and ask via email, phone, text, Messenger or Instagram!! I will be the one answering and getting back to you.
Q: Because you are an online retailer doesn't that mean you can sell everything cheaper?
A: While being an online retailer affords us to have less overhead we still have to comply with all the same laws, licensing and regulations as any other cigar retailer via a brick and mortar or as an ecommerce merchant.
So what does this have to do with overhead? We have to be legally licensed and comply with all federal and state regulations. Additionally we have to run the website and ecommerce platform. This houses it's own costs as well in the form of domain registration costs, webhosting service and most importantly ecommerce payment processing gateway.
The payment processing gateway is one of the most important parts of the platform and also warrants the highest initial investment aside from inventory costs. As many of us know tobacco is a regulated industry, that regulation creates added cost and hurdles. While we strive to bring you all the best experience possible and the best products possible the "High Risk Transaction"(that is how it is referred by the processing companies) nature of the sales add cost and thus overhead in the ways of higher processing fees, professional legal assessment to verify regulatory compliance etc.
Q: Why doesn't LGCS carry "X" brand/cigars?
A: This is a choice we have to make very business minded. While I personally love all the brands we carry, there are specific lines we do not yet stock. Why is this? You the customer are what drives the products we stock and the availability. The more requests we get for a specific brand or product line or the more support that we see from a specific brand, we can bring in more quantity of product, desired lines, vitolas etc. While at my core like you all I am a consumer we have to always keep the business aspect in our scope to be able to have a sustainable model to keep bringing you the best products possible, best experience possible while doing our best to be as competitive as we can. The more awesome support we get from you all the more we can invest and grow.
Q: Why don't you offer free shipping on any order amount?
A: While we would love to be able to offer free shipping on everything it unfortunately has a cost to it. Through much accounting and research we have found that right now the acceptable threshold that makes it cost effective is $79.99 or more. This itself also has a fluidity to it and can change for the better or worse. If shipping prices or product prices increase so can the flat shipping rate or the threshold for free shipping.
Q: How does LGCS set it's pricing?
A: There are certain somewhat consistent factors and other dynamic factors which go into prices, discounts and over all pricing structure. You may notice other online retailers have better pricing or even higher pricing. While I cannot speak for each business and their model I can speak to what I do know. In retail as a whole for the most part the more buying power you have to buy more product each time, there are many times bulk or tiered pricing from the manufacturer. You may notice the large online retailers can offer large discount deals because their buying power is so great they are able to buy products at a lower cost. This comes with positive and negative connotations. While as a consumer the end price many times is the ultimate deciding factor in a purchase, there can be pitfalls to heavily discounted prices. Such pitfalls can be detrimental to a brand's reputation, but more importantly the consumer over time in the way of less retailers and competition.
The cigar industry is a very small and personal one. If as a consumer you are always searching for only the lowest price, while you may save a few dollars, you can ultimately hurt the industry as a whole. There are many many retailers, we encourage people to support their local brick and mortar shops along with patronizing businesses like LGCS. It's difficult to carry everything and we need to remember the back bone of the industry is the consumer and the brick and mortar retailer. In the end it is your hard earned dollars making the purchase, we appreciate your decision to shop with us more than you know, as a small business but, we encourage you to keep your local brick and mortar alive as well. We hope that over time we can move into that realm and have a retail location.
Q: How many people are behind LGCS?
A: While we plan and hope one day to be an awesome brick and mortar retail location, at the present the business is a one person operation, myself. Michael, Owner of LGCS. Yet I consider all of you an integral part of the business because after all without your support there would be no business to drive.
What other questions do you have? Email us at info@littleguycigarshop.com
