I’m getting a headache the size of Yamamotoyama, thought to be the heaviest Japanese-born sumo wrestler in history at 584 lbs. This discomfort is growing all on account that I can’t figure out which book to order on the internet of a certain title (in this case it’s Nicole’s Flattery’s, Nothing Special). Which one to order, and which one not to order. The ISBNs (International Standard Book Number) are different. One ends in 20 the other 19.
One cover has a typist on the front nothing but the title and the author’s name. The other one has the same typist on the outside but with quotes from other authors praising the book. One is the UK version that came out in March of this year (the one with the typist). The pre-order tome is the US edition and has a graphic of a woman in bright colors and won’t be out until July. The one with the typist is also on the softcover edition but with a different ISBN#. That’s the only clear distinction that I can find. In fact, it says, “paperback.” Whereas the others are both hardcovers (one says “the original”) but you really can’t be sure what you’re going to get.
Some are listed and shown as the seller’s image, and some are stock images (which are also some of the sellers’ images). Very often the sellers are wrong; they make mistakes. How this can occur is a mystery to me. Hard? Soft? Boiled? Fried? It ain’t that difficult to figure out. At least I wouldn’t think so.
And then there are the price differences – some are new for $28, and others are new for $37. Why? Still, others are the lower-grade good but are first editions for $42.
And to add to the confusion are the vague condition descriptions, such as good. There are books that are considered, acceptable, good, very good, new, like new, brand new – and alas, fine. These are general headings all interpreted in a different way by each seller and – in turn – by the buyer. What one seller sees as light notes, can be an annotated nightmare to the buyer. What a maze of manic madness. Pause . . .
I just took you through your average, well-stocked cigar humidor found throughout cities, towns, and villages within the world of cigars. It’s too bloody confusing. So what do you do? You do what I do – research. Hardcore, uninhibited, down-to-the-wire detective work (ergo the headache). You have to do your due diligence or it’s inevitable that the smoke you pick will not be the one you want. Unless you don’t know what you want then it’s easy. Why? Because you really don’t care. But if you have a yen for a particular one, take some time to ask questions. And read the information on the sites (although the latter is only a muddied opinion muttered along with indisputable facts (wrapper, filler, binder, country of origin, and such). Or do what I do when it comes to books – I just get a feel for the seller, the description, and the price, and take a stab at it. And, sometimes because of my experience with used, rare books, and my willingness to admit ignorance, I often come out a winner as I did with Anne Truitt’s Turn. What a find. Hot! ChaChaCha. But at least I did my homework as best I could prior to the purchase but the most important aspect of all this is that . . . Eureka! I KNEW what I wanted. But I still didn’t know what I was going to get until I bought it – despite all the groundwork.
Sure you can get burned buying any cigar, excuse the pun. But the only way to know a cigar is to put a flame to it and draw.
IrvCigarBroker 