The Circle
What The Circle is
The Circle is a membership, not a subscription. Nothing is chosen for you and nothing arrives that you did not order. What you get is the freedom to buy the way people actually smoke.
Most of us do not order in $250 blocks. We want one cigar on a Thursday, a box in December, a humidor when the moment finally calls for one. A shipping charge should not be the thing that decides the size of the order. Membership removes it.
There are four levels. The first is free and already yours. The other three remove the $250 threshold completely, add member pricing across the store, and put store credit in your account every month whether you order or not.
The four levels
| Guest | Enthusiast | Aficionado | Connoisseur | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free | $475 a year or $42 a month |
$1,140 a year or $100 a month |
$2,375 a year or $209 a month |
| Free shipping | 5-day ground on orders over $250 | 1 free ground shipment a month, any order size, no minimum | 2 free shipments a month: two-day over $150, ground below | 2 free shipments a month: next-day over $250, two-day over $150, ground below |
| Cigars | Retail | 8% off | 12% off | 15% off |
| Accessories | Retail | 12% off | 18% off | 22% off |
| Store credit | None | $25 a month ($300 a year) |
$65 a month ($780 a year) |
$145 a month ($1,740 a year) |
| Allocated boxes | None | Early word on new arrivals | Priority | First refusal, before it reaches the site |
| Also included | A cigar on your birthday, one humidification refresh a year | Two humidification refreshes, complimentary gift wrapping, a direct line by email |
Guest
Free. No sign-up, no account, nothing to accept.
Every order over $250 ships free by 5-day ground. This is our standing policy and it is not going anywhere. It simply has a name now.
Below $250, shipping is charged at published rates. That is the line membership erases. At every paid level there is no threshold at all, which means a single cigar ships free, and so does a $60 cutter.
The three memberships
Enthusiast
$475 a year, or $42 a month
- One free ground shipment every month, any order size, no minimum
- 8% off cigars, 12% off accessories
- $25 store credit every month, $300 across the year
- Early word on new arrivals
Aficionado
$1,140 a year, or $100 a month
- Two free shipments every month: two-day on orders over $150, ground on anything smaller
- 12% off cigars, 18% off accessories
- $65 store credit every month, $780 across the year
- Priority on allocated boxes
- A cigar on your birthday
- One humidification refresh a year
Connoisseur
$2,375 a year, or $209 a month
- Two free shipments every month: next-day over $250, two-day over $150, ground below
- 15% off cigars, 22% off accessories
- $145 store credit every month, $1,740 across the year
- First refusal on allocated boxes and limited releases, before they reach the site
- Two humidification refreshes a year
- Complimentary gift wrapping
- A direct line by email
Not sure where to start, or what to spend the first credit on? The Cigar Finder narrows the whole humidor down by strength, wrapper and size, and the cigar sets are the shortest route to knowing what you like.
How the credit works
Credit is issued on the same date every month for as long as the membership is active and paid. It is yours to spend, not a rebate you have to earn.
- It applies to any order, with no minimum.
- It combines with your member pricing, so the discount and the credit both land on the same order.
- It does not combine with the first-order welcome offer or with promotional collections. One offer per order.
- It is not valid on humidors that ship by freight.
- It is good for 60 days from the day it is issued.
- It is never redeemable for cash, and it does not survive cancellation.
At Connoisseur the credit alone comes to $1,740 over a year. At Aficionado, $780. At Enthusiast, $300. It arrives whether you order that month or not.
Paying yearly or monthly
Both are real options. They are not the same.
Yearly
Paid for the year, a membership costs about 5% less than the same twelve months paid monthly, and every single benefit is live from day one. Expedited shipping included.
Monthly
Everything starts immediately except expedited shipping. Two-day and next-day become available after six consecutive paid months.
Why the six months. Overnight and two-day freight is by a wide margin the most expensive thing we move, so it goes to members who have been with us six months. Until then, an Aficionado or Connoisseur paying monthly still ships free by ground on any order inside their monthly allowance, with full member pricing, full credit and full access from day one. Nothing else waits.
Cancelling and rejoining restarts the six-month count. Paying for the year skips the wait entirely.
What is included, and what is not
All of it, in plain sight. A membership you have to read twice is not a membership worth having.
- Free shipments cover packages up to 15 lb and $3,000 declared value. Above either figure, standard rates apply to that order.
- Monthly shipments do not carry over. They reset each month.
- Continental US only. Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico ship at published rates.
- Expedited delivery depends on carrier cut-off times and overnight coverage at your address.
- Every cigar shipment needs an adult signature at the door, at all four levels. That one is never waived.
- AFIDANO and RACHING humidors ship by freight. They are excluded from free shipping and from member pricing at every level, always.
- Member pricing does not combine with the welcome offer or with promotional collections. One offer per order.
- One membership per household and shipping address. Memberships are not transferable.
- Members must be 21 or older.
Questions
Is this a subscription? Will cigars show up at my door every month?
No. Nothing ships unless you order it. The Circle changes what an order costs and how it travels. It never chooses for you.
What happens to my credit if I do not use it?
Each month's credit is good for 60 days from the day it is issued, then it expires. A new one arrives on your date the following month for as long as the membership is active and paid.
Can I use my member discount and my credit on the same order?
Yes. Member pricing and monthly credit work together. What neither of them combines with is the first-order welcome offer or a promotional collection, where it is one offer per order.
Why can I not use two-day shipping right away on a monthly membership?
Expedited freight is the most expensive thing we ship, so it is reserved for members who have been with us six consecutive paid months. Everything else in your level is active from day one, and free ground shipping covers your orders in the meantime. Paying for the year removes the wait.
What if my order is bigger than a free shipment covers?
A free shipment covers up to 15 lb and $3,000 declared value. Go past either figure and that order ships at standard rates. Your monthly shipments are not used up by it.
Does membership cover humidors?
Most of them, yes. Desktop and electronic humidors that ship by parcel are covered by member pricing and by your monthly shipments, within the weight and value limits. AFIDANO and RACHING cabinets move by freight and sit outside both, at every level.
Can my household share one membership?
A membership covers one household and one shipping address, and it is not transferable. Anyone in the house who is 21 or older can order on it.
What happens if I cancel?
Benefits end with the membership, and any unspent credit ends with it too. If you rejoin on a monthly plan later, the six-month count toward expedited shipping starts again from zero.
Join
The Circle
Free shipping every month, member pricing across the store, and credit that arrives on its own.
Email us and tell us which level you want. We will set the membership up and confirm it with you before anything is charged.
The Circle is for adults 21 and over. Please enjoy responsibly.