Originally posted by bitchass
all i can say is bring back as many cigars as you're allowed (usually 50) and sell them for as much as you can!
i had my parents bring me back 2 boxes of 25 MonteCristo for about $115 per box and each one could easily sell for $350 canadian... except i like smoking them with my friends.
If you can find a buyer this is good, but most of the time cigar dealers wont trust any cigars brought over from tourists. This is due to the amount of counterfit cigars. The ones on the streets have all the same burned stamps as the ones from the habanios. Not all but some of the counterfits are made with banana leaf or third rate tobacco which has been know to carry bugs and could destroy all cigars in a humidadour (sp?) if placed with the rest. Lastly cigar shops can get finded big time, it would be like a bar not buying boose from the LCBO, if caught they can have their licenses taken away.
Next why the hell did your parents buy the box from the habanios... I cant believe you paid $115 for a box of Monte Cristo's, if they werent #2's you got ripped off huge!!!
If you have a good understanding of cigars only buy them on the street, if you know what to look for you can get actual orginals of good quality counterfits for cheap. When I was there I got a box of Romeo and Juliets #4, Monte Cristo #4 (the safest bet I might add), Paratago #4 and of course a box of Cohiba #2. When I took them to friend of the family that was a cigar dealer, he told me that only the Cohibas were counterfit, but good ones at that. And I only paid $20 a box for all of them!!!
You can make big money selling them individually to dumb drunks. Back in the day when I worked at Peel Pub Id sell them for $15 a piece, I sold half and kept the other half to smoke. I made 750 from 40... its good math
If you do buy off the streets here are some things to look for
1) Go to a habanios first and look at all the boxs, this way you will know what to look for on the streets.
2) Each box should have two stamps, a blue and a red, and a wood burned stamp. Check by running your finger over to ensure it is wood burned. These are the seals from the factory, also customs wont let you bring over the cigars if they dont have these stamps.
3) All the cigars should be perfect. The shape should be symetrical, and all the cigars should be the exact same length.
4) The labels should be off good quality. You can tell a fake when the labels are printed on some ghetto ink jet printer!!! The labels should all being facing up, perfectly, not one of the angles will be off on a true box. Look at where they glue the label together, if there is any over-lap they are fakes. Ensure that all the labels are at the same level, when you look at the row of cigars the labels should make a perfectly straight line.
Next only buy from people on the resort. They have the best jobs in Cuba and wouldnt want to do anything to jeopordize it. If the sold some fakes you could report them and they'd go to jail for selling cigars illegally. Thus they are more than likely to have real cigars. Never buy them if they have them barried in the sand, I have scene this many times, and they are always damaged by the humidity.
Be prepared to do lots of walking!!! When I got mine I walked to a few other resorts with my guide untill we found the perfect cigar.
That is all, my novel ends here =P
