H-s Price Increases

[smoke eater]

Fak. 20% that's not substantial?
Glad I got my order in yesterday.

There is no rhyme or reason to this bill.
1. Force people to quit or cut down on smoking by raising tobacco taxes.
1b. On another front, impose wide bans on smoking and smoking venues, designed to further reduce tobacco use.
2. Give the extra tax revenue to "fiduciary entities" to "administer fairly" to health needs of poor kids (this is something I have got to see, bet they see max 20% of it).
3. When people quit smoking throw up their hands and just raise taxes again.

[Stuie]

If memory serves me correct:

Romman up 1-3$ Depending on size
Tangiers up 2$
Starbuzz up 1-5$ Depending on size
Hydro Same
Fumari up .95$
Al Waha up .50-1$ Depending on size
Tonic up 2$
Al Fakher .50-2$ Depending on size
Layalina up $3
Fantasia up .50- 2$ Depending on size
Fusion up 2$
Nakhla up 2$
Potion up 1$
Al Amir up 3$

[Hippo_Master]

Well I have done the math, and even if I smoked 1 cigar a day, which i don't, I have enough cigars to last me well over 7 years.

Hookah tobacco I use very sparingly, 250 grams of salloum for example usually lasts me months, and now that I have about 30 different flavors that i know i for sure enjoy very much, and it is all in glass mason jars as of now, it will last me for years to come. And I have more on the way (before the tax)... Not to mention that I have friends who also stocked up. And I always smoke with them.

I have pounds of pipe tobacco cellared, and that, like cigars, only gets better with age, and I smoke a pipe now maybe 2 times a week sometimes not at all. This would last me... god knows how long.. 20 years or more?

I literally will not need to buy tobacco again for at least 5 years. And in the past month, the hundreds of dollars I have saved buying pre-SCHIP, will go to a new car. Plus a tax rebate.

So for me, this tax is nothing short of an epic win.

And therefore I am not helping the children. But honestly I don't care because I am helping myself. Sad, but true. Edited April 1, 2009 by Hippo_Master

[Giant Ninja Robot]

Here's a thought:

WE SHOULD ALREADY BE HELPING OUR CHILDREN AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE WITHOUT BULLSHIT TAX INCREASES THAT ARE THINLY VEILED AS SUCH but will ACTUALLY be going to sinking more money into this bullshit economy via unregulated bailouts!!!

Fuck this noise.

On that note, it's hilarious that the more expensive brands seem to be increasing prices the most. Because I used to debate whether it'd be worth it to pick up an 18 dollar 250 of SB for Tangerine Dream. Now I'll never do it. If only on principle alone. Eat some profit you jackass company that already makes a SHITTON of money by overcharging.

Let us all thank GOD that tangiers seems to still be reasonable.

[Hippo_Master]

Here's a thought:

WE SHOULD ALREADY BE HELPING OUR CHILDREN AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE WITHOUT BULLSHIT TAX INCREASES THAT ARE THINLY VEILED AS SUCH but will ACTUALLY be going to sinking more money into this bullshit economy!!!

Fuck this noise.

On that note, it's hilarious that the more expensive brands seem to be increasing prices the most. Because I used to debate whether it'd be worth it to pick up an 18 dollar 250 of SB for Tangerine Dream. Now I'll never do it. If only on principle alone. Eat some profit you jackass company that already makes a SHITTON of money by overcharging.

Let us all thank GOD that tangiers seems to still be reasonable.

The last thing the present human population needs is more humans.

We fuck too damn much.

[DrunK]

bah all i can say is hurry up scalli and get that herbal on the market cuss its all most of us are going to be able to afford soon.

agreed haha

[Bye bye now have fun]

Let us all thank GOD that tangiers seems to still be reasonable.

its 15$ its at that threshold

[chinamon]

Fak. 20% that's not substantial?
Glad I got my order in yesterday.

There is no rhyme or reason to this bill.
1. Force people to quit or cut down on smoking by raising tobacco taxes.
1b. On another front, impose wide bans on smoking and smoking venues, designed to further reduce tobacco use.
2. Give the extra tax revenue to "fiduciary entities" to "administer fairly" to health needs of poor kids (this is something I have got to see, bet they see max 20% of it).
3. When people quit smoking throw up their hands and just raise taxes again.

here is what i think is going on...

non-smokers are crying about having everywhere to be smoke-free so the government "listens to the people" so to say.
one of the results of having a smoke-free environment is some people decide to quit smoking.
people quitting smoking means less tax dollars for the government.
the government loves money. there is never enough.
so they decide to raise tobacco taxes on those that still decide to continue smoking to make up for the lost revenue.
it will be a vicious cycle.

[SuburbanSmoker]

Honestly they are going to have to impose taxes on other products if they hope to keep it around at the current funding level. it was somrtihng like 22 million new smokers in the next five years to keep it afloat. With this affecting the lower class more then the upper class, it gives a powerful incentive for people to quit smoking. less smokers means less revenue, less revenue means a bill that has epic fail written all over it. Whats next? tax on alcohol?

[Bye bye now have fun]

they already tax alcohol. and its pretty heavy

[Andrew91]

jesus.... this is not cool! one of the benefits of hookah is it's cost effectiveness! Now what? man.... I am not looking forward to shelling out.

[erufiku]

John's prices haven't changed that much... H-S always had high prices but now it's just rape.

[Arcane]

HC's website is blocked at work...did their prices go up much?

[wilarseny]

John's prices haven't changed that much... H-S always had high prices but now it's just rape.

+1. stopped buying from h-s quite a while ago. Seems to me like the main reason they still get customers even when selling shisha 3-5$ more than most other vendors is they have very good design/layout. Hell that's why my first online shisha order was from them; it makes a place seem more professional/reliable/reputable.

I also wouldn't be surprised to see distributors phase new prices in, rather than all at once. From what I gather not all manufacturers have raised wholesale prices yet, so the only real reason to raise all your prices now is, well, greed. But that's based on the information I have, which may not be entirely accurate and contains some guesswork.

Personally I bought about 4k worth of shisha pre-SCHIP, next time I buy coals (probably in 2-3 months) I'll do a price comparison on everything I bought and report back. It'll be interesting to see how this affects what brands people choose to smoke; at what point does the Starbuzz fan look at what he's buying and realize he can get 3x as much Nakhla or 2x as much AF for the same price?

The lower-end shishas are, as a percentage price increase, going to take the biggest hit here, but I think the taxes definitely work out in their favor. There's a point where those 16-23$ shishas just cease to be economically viable, and I'm personally very curious to see if this is that point. If any vendors want to track purchase distribution over these next few months, that could be a really solid basis for understanding the dynamics of the shisha market. Anyone? Edited April 1, 2009 by wilarseny

[Bye bye now have fun]

wait those are johns new prices? it looks like tangiers didnt change

[chinamon]

they already tax alcohol. and its pretty heavy

if you guys thought your alcohol and tobacco taxes were high then you havent been to canada.
americans still got it good.

[BaronIV]

they already tax alcohol. and its pretty heavy

if you guys thought your alcohol and tobacco taxes were high then you havent been to canada.
americans still got it good.

little off topic.. but every year me, my dad, and a few friends go on a fly in canadian fishing trip. the guy who runs the outfit gives us a discount if we pick him up several liters of vodka when we go. (he even pays us back)

[chinamon]

they already tax alcohol. and its pretty heavy

if you guys thought your alcohol and tobacco taxes were high then you havent been to canada.
americans still got it good.

little off topic.. but every year me, my dad, and a few friends go on a fly in canadian fishing trip. the guy who runs the outfit gives us a discount if we pick him up several liters of vodka when we go. (he even pays us back)

so you have an idea
just think... in toronto, duty paid nakhla 50g is roughly $14 at the store. americans can go to the store and purchase duty paid nakhla 250g for a fraction of that price.

[indian_villager]

Starbuzz wasn't even worth it at the price before but now its even worse.....It sucks that tangy went up but i can think of something. Well what are you going to do....see what happened to the cigarette market? We still are dealing with tobacco and its damn near foolishness to not see this coming.

[shaffaaf27]

OT but does john ship to the UK?

[Capt. Morgan]

Has anybody check to see how the price increases from H-S compare with the other vendors?

[chinamon]

OT but does john ship to the UK?

do you mean hookahjohn? im pretty sure he does. send him an email.

[redjako]

Starbuzz wasn't even worth it at the price before but now its even worse.....It sucks that tangy went up but i can think of something. Well what are you going to do....see what happened to the cigarette market? We still are dealing with tobacco and its damn near foolishness to not see this coming.

Starbuzz is always quoted as being pricey, but its always cheaper then Fusion here, and I find Fusions just a superior Starbuzz..not even worth the cost anyway.

Tang > AF > Fusion > SB.

A buck on the shisha isn't that bad...a few local shops here have DROPPED shisha a few bucks just because of slow business in the economic downturn, so now maybe it'll go up that extra buck.

[delSol_si]

Damnit! Layalina actually went up $4 on HS. For the first 250g, it was $10, but went down to $9 after that. $13-9=$4. Thats a 44.44% increase! Fuck! Even at $10, thats a 40% increase. That really bites my ass. HC still has cheap Layalina, but they don't have as good of a selection. Fuck you economy!

And as Mooj would say, Obama can "Go fuck a goat."

[Scoop]

shouldn't worry so much. layalina is terrible anyhow lol.