Habanos Cohibas

First post and dumb question.

I bought a box of 25 of these in the Dominican Republic (still here) for a friend, now a former friend. He doesn't want them now because he says they're too much money. I have no idea but I think I got a good deal according to others. The box is sealed with a stamp. The store won't take them back, or, rather they will with a 1000 peso ($40) penalty. My question is can I sell them in the US? Should I bite the bullet and pay the $40 penalty? I'm hesitant to dispute the charge because international credit card rules generally don't side with the consumer, at least that's my experience. I'll be back next week. Thanks, glenn

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Roberto99

In my opinion, it is easily verifiable they are not cubans so you haven't broken any law. Which of course may just be a technicality. If it seems there is no way to get a refund and they are willing to trade, get some authentic dominican cigars for trade, at least they would be worth the money you paid for them. IDK maybe this shop is selling fake dominicans too. But maybe you can pick up a box of Fuentes or something. You're not the first or the last to get suckered in on fake cuban cigars.

gsusser

No, the guy no longer wants to give me $40. I'm screwed. I did some investigation and it seems like a waste to file a complaint with Dominican tourism. They turn the other cheek.

The question remains, what do I do with the cigars. Garbage?

catfishbluezz

gsusser:
No, the guy no longer wants to give me $40. I'm screwed. I did some investigation and it seems like a waste to file a complaint with Dominican tourism. They turn the other cheek. The question remains, what do I do with the cigars. Garbage?

They are probably made with dog droppings and shouldn't be smoked lol. There is a chance they are smokeable, but not worth the risk. I woudl make your buddy pay for them.... If he did his due diligence, he could've easily determined where to buy them legitimately.

Gray4lines

Well, sh!t. Sorry you got stuck with them

mmccartneydc

Sorry to hear this, personally, I think this just goes down as a lesson learned. Wish we could have helped prior to these azzes taking your money!

gsusser

I ended up exchanging the bogus cohibas for fuente rothschilds. I brought the tourist cops in with me and I guess that motivated the exchange. I still would have rather had my money back, but I didn't want to get into an argument. The guy said they cost a little less than the "cohibas" and threw in some other cigar. I gave it to one of the cops. I have no idea if I got a fair deal. All I want is my $225 back, haha.

Anyway, I want to sell them and I'm here for advice. First off, are you allowed to sell tobacco on the internet? I ask because of the taxes. If so, what's the best place to sell them, or am I already here? haha If interested, I'll upload photos later when I'm back in my hotel.

Thanks to all you tobacco fiends for your help.

Gray4lines

gsusser:
I ended up exchanging the bogus cohibas for fuente rothschilds. I brought the tourist cops in with me and I guess that motivated the exchange. I still would have rather had my money back, but I didn't want to get into an argument. The guy said they cost a little less than the "cohibas" and threw in some other cigar. I gave it to one of the cops. I have no idea if I got a fair deal. All I want is my $225 back, haha. Anyway, I want to sell them and I'm here for advice. First off, are you allowed to sell tobacco on the internet? I ask because of the taxes. If so, what's the best place to sell them, or am I already here? haha If interested, I'll upload photos later when I'm back in my hotel. Thanks to all you tobacco fiends for your help.

Good for not giving up. Hopefully you at least got some good, real cigars this time. I've had fuentes, but am not sure exactly which you received.

Yes, you can sale online, no big deal (on forums at least...kind of like a trade between friends kinda thing... I do not know what ebay policies, for example, are).

If you do it on this forum, it's courtesy to give prices via "private messages" and not post them publicly (as this is, after all, hosted by a retail company).

However, if you decide to keep them or cannot sell them. Simply put the box of cigars (or "dump" the cigars out into) in a gallon ziplock bag, or big enough tupperware container and buy a 67%-69% boveada pack to humify them. Boveadas are like $4... well worth it to keep them humidified, otherwise you have an expensive box of good-for-nothing dried out leaves.

Roberto99

gsusser:
I ended up exchanging the bogus cohibas for fuente rothschilds. I brought the tourist cops in with me and I guess that motivated the exchange. I still would have rather had my money back, but I didn't want to get into an argument. The guy said they cost a little less than the "cohibas" and threw in some other cigar. I gave it to one of the cops. I have no idea if I got a fair deal. All I want is my $225 back, haha. Anyway, I want to sell them and I'm here for advice. First off, are you allowed to sell tobacco on the internet? I ask because of the taxes. If so, what's the best place to sell them, or am I already here? haha If interested, I'll upload photos later when I'm back in my hotel. Thanks to all you tobacco fiends for your help.

If they are the line that is sold here, they are worth a little more than half of what you ended up paying for them but the good news is that the fake cohibas were worth nothing,so in that respect it was a good trade. Sounds like those guys are good criminals. Ebay doesn't allow tobacco sales but people get around it by selling 'cigar bands' (the cigars just happen to come along for the ride). There are some websites that "trade" cigars out there. The easiest thing might be to bring them into a local cigar shop when you get home and see if they will make a deal with you. But yes, put them in a ziplock bag before you leave the islands so they don't dry out!

Rhamlin

The Cuban govt would be most interested. They prosecute counterfeiters with a vengeance from what I understand.

Sweetleaf69

Rhamlin:
The Cuban govt would be most interested. They prosecute counterfeiters with a vengeance from what I understand.

Nice! That was better than what I was thinking... Which involved some gasoline soak fakes, a match and the front doorstep of a cigar shop....

Rhamlin

Sweetleaf69:
Rhamlin:
The Cuban govt would be most interested. They prosecute counterfeiters with a vengeance from what I understand.
Nice! That was better than what I was thinking... Which involved some gasoline soak fakes, a match and the front doorstep of a cigar shop....

Lol . That would get their attention

gsusser

Thanks to everyone for helping out, a world totally unknown to me. I'm back in the USA and am ready to sell the cigars and beat up my boss. [Ironically, I quit and this is my last week coming up - I took a vacation to use up my vacation time.]

Some other questions. What info do I need to specify when selling? The only meaningful info on the box that I can see is that they're A Fuente Rothschilds. There's also ____ Reserva but the stamp is covering the ____. There are 25 cigars in the box (which is sealed with plastic and the Dominican stamp). I don't see anything else that would be helpful, but then again, I don't know what is useful.

Also, if I were to put them up for sale here, would I do so in this section? What other forums are recommended to sell them. I'll also check with the tobacco store near me to see if they want them. I'm not looking to make money, just minimize my losses, haha.

[Just my 2 cents, but if the Cubans really cared about counterfeits, I think they would be pursuing more drastic action with the Dominican government. It was only after getting involved with my situation did I learn how widespread counterfeiting is in the DR.]

Once again, thanks!

thedjfish@comcast.net

your sort of at a loss all the way around, the A.Fuente rothschilds sell for about $125 here at c.com,
not sure if theres a difference from getting them here or in the dom rep., maybe there is, maybe not, none the less you got a good smoke in the exchange the A.Fuentes are a good smoke,
keep em' and enjoy,

gsusser

I got ripped off. I will sell them for the going rate or maybe less. Is this the place where I say they are for sale? However, the owner of my local tobacco shop says he pays $45 for them and sells them for $200! He has none in stock though.

blurr

Thats a bit hard to believe hes grabbing boxes even at wholesale of Fuentes for $45, also hard to believe hes finding people to pay $200 for a box. I think he's stretching it in both directions on that one, severely below on his "buy" price, and severely above on his "sell" price. Don't deal with someone who owns a tobacco shop and is bs'ing you that much in my opinion. There is a forum here called "trades, passes, and bombs". That would be the place to post if you have an interest in searching for a buyer. Good luck to you sir, hope you recuperate at least some of the lost money. I don't know how you didn't beat down that shop owner in the DR.