TORO POS vs CigarPOS
Independent Tobacco Retailer vs. Private Equity Roll-Up Strategy
The honest comparison: tobacco-focused since 2013 vs. multi-vertical acquisition platform since 2021
The Fundamental Difference
✅ TORO POS
Built and owned by tobacco retailers. We make money from software fees. We want you to succeed so you stay with us long-term.
Zero investors. No board pressuring us to increase credit card margins. We’re retailers helping retailers.
⚠️ CigarPOS
Part of Quilt Software – a private equity-backed acquisition platform that buys and consolidates POS companies across multiple retail verticals.
CigarPOS is one of 8+ acquisitions under the Quilt umbrella, including BottlePOS (liquor), POSNation, Rain Retail, and others. Founded in 2021 with a rapid acquisition strategy.
Understanding Quilt’s Acquisition Strategy
Quilt Software was established by PSG (private equity firm) in 2021 to consolidate specialty software and payments solutions. Their strategy: acquire existing POS companies across different retail verticals and integrate them into “Quilt Unified Operations” (QuiltOS).
🎯 Their Roadmap (From Their Website)
- Acquire vertical-specific POS companies (they’ve done 8+ already, more coming)
- Consolidate operations into their proprietary QuiltOS platform
- Standardize across verticals – the platform “learns” new industries automatically
- Currently serving 20,000+ stores across liquor, tobacco, pet supply, musical instruments, jewelry, and more
- Exit strategy: Scale to sell to larger private equity or strategic buyer
❓ What This Means for Tobacco Retailers
The roll-up playbook: Acquire companies, consolidate operations, cut costs, increase prices, maximize profits for investors, then sell to the next buyer. You’ve seen this in other industries.
Key questions to ask CigarPOS: Will your tobacco-specific features survive when you’re integrated into QuiltOS? What happens to pricing when the next private equity firm buys you? Are you focused on tobacco retail or scaling for an exit?
Who’s Really Calling the Shots?
💡 What Is Private Equity?
Private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) firms invest large sums of money into companies with one goal: maximize returns for their investors. They’re not building businesses to last generations – they’re building to sell.
The typical timeline: Invest → Grow aggressively → Sell within 3-7 years → Move to the next deal. The investors who funded PSG (Quilt’s backer) expect returns, not long-term partnerships with tobacco shops.
How they make money: Not just from software fees – primarily from credit card processing margins. When they control your payments, every transaction you process puts money in their investors’ pockets.
⚠️ The Critical Question
When a venture capital-backed company controls your payment processing, who are they optimizing for – you or their investors?
- Will they keep your rates low, or gradually increase them to hit growth targets?
- When the next private equity firm buys them, will your contract be honored?
- Are tobacco-specific features a priority, or just one vertical among dozens?
- What happens when they need to “optimize” (cut costs) before the sale?
🏪 The Mom and Pop Store vs. The Corporation
TORO is the mom and pop store. We’re tobacco retailers who built software for ourselves and other tobacco retailers. No investors breathing down our necks. No exit strategy. No pressure to maximize payment processing margins.
Quilt/CigarPOS is the corporation. They’re a private equity-backed acquisition platform that happens to serve tobacco (along with liquor, pet supplies, musical instruments, jewelry, and more). Their mission: grow fast, scale across verticals, deliver returns to investors, exit.
You’ve seen this story before. Local hardware store vs. Home Depot. Independent bookstore vs. Amazon. Independent pharmacy vs. CVS. Sometimes the corporation wins on price and convenience. But who do you trust to still be here – focused on your industry – in 10 years?
Pricing Transparency: We Show Ours, They Hide Theirs
TORO’s Transparent Pricing
Card Not Present Rates: Same 2% rate for phone orders and online orders. No markup for CNP transactions. This is nearly unheard of in the industry.
CigarPOS Pricing: Contact for Quote
CigarPOS does not publish pricing on their website. As fellow retailers, we find this frustrating. Here’s what we know:
Methodology: Since CigarPOS doesn’t publish rates, we’ve calculated industry averages from other tobacco-specific POS systems. We believe transparency matters, even when competitors choose to hide their pricing.
⚠️ Card Not Present Rates: Unknown – likely 3-4% (industry standard markup)
Note to CigarPOS: If these estimates are incorrect, please contact us at thrive@torocigarpos.com and we’ll update this page immediately. We’re not trying to disparage you – we’re retailers who believe in transparency. If you publish your pricing, we’ll happily link to it.
See our Industry Average Calculation Methodology to understand how we estimate rates when companies won’t publish theirs.
The Business Model Difference
| Category | TORO | CigarPOS |
|---|---|---|
| Ownership | Independent tobacco retailers | Quilt Software (PE-backed roll-up) |
| Founded | 2013 – Tobacco only | 2021 – Multi-vertical platform |
| Business Model | Software fees only | Software + processing margins |
| Focus | 100% tobacco retail | Part of 20,000+ store portfolio (liquor, pet, jewelry, tobacco, etc.) |
| Pricing Transparency | ✅ Fully published | ❌ Hidden (“$ . . .” on website) |
| Price Stability | No increase since 2013 | Unknown – new to market |
| Acquisition Strategy | None – not for sale | Active (8+ companies acquired) |
| Exit Strategy | Long-term tobacco retail | PE playbook: scale and exit |
Both are valid business models. But when choosing your POS system, ask yourself: do you want a partner focused on tobacco retail, or one focused on scaling a multi-vertical platform for an eventual exit?
TORO’s Card-Not-Present Advantage
Most POS systems charge 3-4% for phone orders and online sales. TORO charges the same 2% rate as in-store transactions.
You save $150/month = $1,800/year
This alone can pay for your TORO software in less than 3 years
Why TORO Costs More Upfront
Yes, TORO costs $5,000 upfront. That’s more than most competitors. Here’s why:
🤝 White Glove Onboarding (2 Months)
- Almost daily check-in calls with CEO and Lead Developer for first 2 months
- One-on-one training on your specific products and workflows
- Inventory setup assistance – we help you build your catalog correctly
- Direct access to decision makers – no tier-1 support gatekeepers
- Custom configuration for your shop’s unique needs
📊 Quality Over Growth
We only onboard 2 stores per month. Not because we can’t handle more – we choose this limit to ensure every customer gets white-glove service.
CigarPOS is backed by venture capital. Their investors want growth. We’re retailers. We want customers who succeed and stick with us for decades.
💎 No Price Increase Since 2013
TORO launched in 2013 at $5,000 + $119/month.
That’s still our price today. Zero increases in 13 years.
When was CigarPOS’s last price increase? Ask them.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | TORO | CigarPOS |
|---|---|---|
| Multi-Pack Inventory | ✓ | ✓ |
| Age Verification | ✓ | ✓ |
| E-Commerce Integration | ✓ | ✓ |
| Card-Not-Present Same Rate as In-Store | ✓ | ✗ |
| Published Transparent Pricing | ✓ | ✗ |
| WhatsApp with Processor Executives | ✓ | ✗ |
| Retailer-Owned (Not VC-backed) | ✓ | ✗ |
| 2-Month Daily Onboarding with CEO | ✓ | Unknown |
| Limited Onboarding (2 stores/month) | ✓ | ✗ |
The Bottom Line
CigarPOS is a solid system. They understand tobacco retail and have features that work. But ask yourself:
- Why don’t they publish their pricing?
- What are their card-not-present rates?
- When a VC-backed company controls your payment processing, whose interests come first?
- Do you want to be customer #487 this month, or one of 2 stores getting white-glove service?
TORO costs more upfront because we invest in your success. Daily check-ins with the CEO. Direct WhatsApp with processor executives. Same 2% rate for phone orders. Zero investor pressure to squeeze margins.
We’re retailers helping retailers. Not a tech company chasing investor returns.
Ready for Transparent Pricing?
See the difference between retailer-owned and investor-backed systems.