Cuban Tourists - Selling Cuban Cigars in Canada
So a busy Carribbean tourist season is just wrapping up and in Canada that means people going to, and coming back from Cuba. Cuba is a wonderful place, I have been myself, and loved it. However I find it ironic that a communist country turns people into entrepreneurs. By this I mean that every able walleted man tries to bring cigars back and sell them at a profit. I don't know if this should irk me as much as it does, but it does none-the-less. Every few days I get a call at the shop from someone asking if we buy Cuban cigars. The answer of course is "YES..., but not from you!".
From a vendor's point of view we simply cannot do this. Most importantly the guy selling these probably has fakes. If he doesn't have fakes then he paid more for them then we will anyway, so he's SOL (As vendors we can get cigars for the same price as those who go to Cuba directly, sometimes cheaper. And since real cigars cannot be purchased for $25 a box like the guy on the beach is offering, the seller won't make any money off real boxes at the prices we would be willing to pay).
I say that he 'probably has fakes' because if he knows enough to get real smokes, he probably would want to keep all 50 that he is legally entitled to bring back into the country. Regardless, by purchasing cigars only from the one and only legitimate distributer in the country I can guarantee authenticity. This cannot be done if I buy from a tourist.
Secondly, it is a federal offence to sell tobacco this way. Tobacco has duties, and if those arent' paid you are cheating the tax man and the tax man doesn't like to be cheated. So we simply don't do it. The government doesn't like tobacco much as it is, so we try not to egg them on!
The moral of the rant is that you need not call reputable cigar stores with your offers. If you pick up cigars in Cuba, smoke them. That's what they are meant for. Or give them to friends (real cigars for good friends, give the fakes to people you don't really like!). If you are a real smoker you will save more money smoking them then you will make if you sell them.
Read my post on the authenticity of cuban cigars, and fake cubans. But, there is no substitute for knowledge and experience - that means no shortcuts dude.
From a vendor's point of view we simply cannot do this. Most importantly the guy selling these probably has fakes. If he doesn't have fakes then he paid more for them then we will anyway, so he's SOL (As vendors we can get cigars for the same price as those who go to Cuba directly, sometimes cheaper. And since real cigars cannot be purchased for $25 a box like the guy on the beach is offering, the seller won't make any money off real boxes at the prices we would be willing to pay).
I say that he 'probably has fakes' because if he knows enough to get real smokes, he probably would want to keep all 50 that he is legally entitled to bring back into the country. Regardless, by purchasing cigars only from the one and only legitimate distributer in the country I can guarantee authenticity. This cannot be done if I buy from a tourist.
Secondly, it is a federal offence to sell tobacco this way. Tobacco has duties, and if those arent' paid you are cheating the tax man and the tax man doesn't like to be cheated. So we simply don't do it. The government doesn't like tobacco much as it is, so we try not to egg them on!
The moral of the rant is that you need not call reputable cigar stores with your offers. If you pick up cigars in Cuba, smoke them. That's what they are meant for. Or give them to friends (real cigars for good friends, give the fakes to people you don't really like!). If you are a real smoker you will save more money smoking them then you will make if you sell them.
Read my post on the authenticity of cuban cigars, and fake cubans. But, there is no substitute for knowledge and experience - that means no shortcuts dude.
posted by Adam Henderson @ 8:25 p.m.
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