Advice for selling cigars
 

Hi folks. My dad, a cigar smoker for 60-70 years, recently passed away and my mom is interested in selling about a dozen boxes of Don Diego cigars he had.

So far, I haven't had much luck figuring out how to legally sell them. The boxes are all sealed, so I'm sure someone would be interested in them. There are 4 boxes of Lonsdales and 7 boxes of Petite Corona (25 count each).

We'd be interested in selling them below retail obviously, so it'd be a good deal. Thoughts?

Thanks in advance.

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

Welcome to the forums. Have the cigars been kept properly? How were they stored?

This would be the biggest question around these forums. If they haven't been properly stored, sealed or not, nobody would really want them. Craigslist would be your answer in that case, if you had no morals of course.

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

Dad never had a humidor, so unfortunately they have been sitting on a bookshelf, but the packages are all (obviously) sealed. The tobacconist said that the humidity around here is about 50% (no hard winter here in California means no extra dry, heated homes) so they should be fine if we put the boxes in a closed tupperware container along with a damp sponge for just a little bit to "revive" them.

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

It will take a lot longer than "a little bit", if at all, to revive cigars that have spent years on bookshelves. :2

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

Oh, they haven't been there for years. Just a few months.

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

That's good news. Maybe the tobacconist you spoke to would be wiiling to purchase them at a discount and revive them for his inventory?

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

Send me a few and I'll check them out for you.

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

Yeah, just a few months. Dad had been smoking cigars for 60-70 years -- not from these specific boxes. :)

The tobacconist wasn't interested, unfortunately.

I totally understand the uncertainty of buying from an unknown source, so I suppose if someone is interested, I might suggest buying one box and if the person is satisfied with the quality, they could buy the others. I'm not going to open a box, though, to send out samples. They have been sealed for your protection. :-)

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

The source isn't the problem, the problem is that they haven't been kept properly. Honesty is a good thing on your part, however, you won't find anyone interested in paying for dry cigars around here.

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

You'd have to open one box regardless just to see if they were dust or even eaten away by critters, the fact that you won't open a box just to check them and you would want someone to buy one is... odd.

I'm not saying to send out samples, I'm saying so YOU can check the box and see what you are selling, but doesn't seem you really care what you are selling someone... just my :2

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

FYI, just a clarification of the rules here at Cigar Asylum. It takes a modest combination of time and participation to earn access to our "Want to Sell" Forums...you don't even have the privildge to sell cigars to our members here yet.

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

Understood. I really was looking for advice on what I should do to try to sell the cigars. Wasn't really posting for sale. Thanks.

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

In reference to your original post, there are no restrictions on private sales of cigars. As long as sold to someone over the age of 18 there are no limitations or legalities to consider. Retail price on your boxes is around $75-90 a box. But often cigars are discounted 25% or more by online retailers. :2

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

I guess I hadn't really thought about that. I know Dad was a cigar enthusiast for decades, and I know that the boxes were purchased within six months, so I presumed the cigars were smokable (if properly rehumidified). I certainly know no critters got to the boxes (or they would have had to have been amazingly talented to have replaced the plastic packaging so exact).

As I said, I really was just looking for information. Not trying to foist crud on anyone -- I have to assume the cigars are of decent quality.

Thanks.

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

As your buyer will have to assume, if you don't open the boxes for inspection....and therein lies the problem. ;)

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

I think the critters (beetles) that most would be worried about would already be in the box. If a box of cigars is left above 70 degrees for a length of time tobacco beetles can hatch in the cigars and turn cigars to dust rather quickly. Unlikely but still possible.

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

When I first started smoking cigars, it was Don Diego that I loved. They're a very mild cigar, not too different from a Macanudo. Why not smoke them yourself? :sh Introduce yourself and hang around; you might find a cool new hobby and a bunch of new friends.

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

X2

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

Welcome and sorry to read about your father's passing.

I bet someone here would buy for 20 cents on the dollar based on lowest average price. Generally, revived cigars are not never like ones that have always been properly stored. That being said, at attractive prices, many are willing to take that risk.

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

Please don't encourage him (or anyone else for that matter) to circumvent our rules.

Tom has already pointed this out.

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

OP, you're never going to get the answer you're looking for here.

Find a friend or coworker that smokes cigars, and give them each a box and be done with it.

You'll be happier in the long run.

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

On the contrary, Chief. He's found many good and valuable answers.
Surprisingly, even yours.

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

Seriously indian, how do you have the time to read EVERYTHING posted here?

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

I'm highly motivated to keep the garden free of weeds.

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

I'd suggest trying Craigslist.
The problem you'll find with selling them is that cigar buyers follow a rule of thumb called "trust your source". Cigars need to be maintained properly at all times to remain in good, smokable condition, so they have to trust the folks implicitly that are selling cigars. It doesn't bode on you, personally, at all. It's just that we have to be critical of the care chain of cigars. Had your local tobacconist bought the cigars for sale, he'd have violated that trust that people have in him in a big way.

You're doing well to tell the truth. The period of time the cigars sat on the shelf, they're sealed, all that is very important.
Someone might take a chance on them for the right price, or if you'll guarantee them. That's why finding someone local with Craigslist might work. If a guy can pick up a box and try them out, he may come back for more. Despite that, you'll probably not get but 25% of their value for someone to "take a chance".
If you have suitors that want to try the smokes, give them a few. If they're satisfied, you might command a higher price.
Overall, you don't have a lot of value there, unfortunately. You're in a position that's not at all unlike trying to sell food that's gone past it's sell by date.

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

One option you have is to throw all the cigars in a cooler with some humidification and a hygrometer and rehydrate them -- slowly. A month or three. After the cigars are rehydrated you could donate them to our troops overseas. There are people here who can help you with that and it would be a really cool gesture.

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

I would throw them in a cooler with hcm beads set at 55rh (based on your ambient humidty) and bring it up slowly over the course of a couple months. the longer the better. i rehydraated some cubans too fast once. split about 50% of the wrappers. these guys didnt lose much if any flavor though. they were sealed as well.

I would rehydrate them as mentioned above and try one or two yourself. Get to see what your dad was into. and then you can tell potential buyers you have tried them. then at least people know they dont have construction issues as a result of the storage. who knows maybe you will get into the hobby meet some cool people and hang onto the cigars and keep them. smoke one on your dads birthday every year or something. if you try em and dont like them then you can sell em.

Respect to you for being upfront man. The world needs more people like you.
My condolensces on your loss as well.

Re: Advice for selling cigars
 

Not opening, inspecting and photographing before trying to sell over the internet is asking to be exploited. I learned this the hard way when I sold a brand new blu-ray player and the buyer filed a claim saying it was damaged and insisted on a partial refund. It looked as though he took sand paper and scratched it up. Even if you could sell here, I doubt you would have that problem, but the advice to open them first is good.

The troop donation and smoking them yourself ideas are good. You may also try to sell them in a garage sale?