I am fairly new to smoking cigars and have a few questions

I found a few different cigars that I really liked at my local tobacco shop, Partagas, Punch and Romeo Julieta Reserve.

The Partagas 8-9-8 cigars are my favorite (smoking one now) and my local tobacco shop was asking $234.00 a box. They claimed the box was about 3 years old. I looked online for cigar prices and found Thompson’s Co and the price for the same box of cigars was $150.00.

After looking at a few online catalogs I noticed that prices are drastically lower online. I know you could probably get some counterfeit cigars online but this company looks trustworthy.

Is it a good idea to buy cigars this way?
Has anyone had bad dealings with that company?
Why are the prices so much lower?
Last but not least, I know that an aged cigar is better than one that is not but how can I tell how old they are?

Thank you for any answers you can provide me with.

Richard