appraisal

kuzi16

so i got a new humidor yesterday.
I dont want to say where i got it but i will say it is a gift. it is a gift with intent. the humidor was made for me personally with the intent of giving feedback on it. part of the feedback is an appraisal of it as far as what it should sell for.

the humidor is hand crafted from oak, walnut, and (of course) spanish cedar

here are some pics. what do you all think:













i have seen other humidors that are hand made without carvings on them sell for $400-$500 but since i am no appraiser, i dont know how to price this out.
any help?

and of course i get to keep the humidor.

Ken Light

I'd start by testing the seal. Failures there mean it's now just decorative box, still worth something, but probably considerably less. IMO the carving is nice but I wouldn't pay more than an extra hundred bucks for it, so I'd figure on normal hand-made price for the capacity +100. Maybe add more if the artwork is customizable, made-to-order for the customer.

Of course, the shorter, more honest, more accurate answer is it's worth what someone's willing to pay.

LiquidChaos66

It looks like a very beautiful piece! Construction looks to be solid and very simplistic for a handmade piece. The carving is very nice (not my cup of tea but still very well done). What is its capacity? Both projected and actual capacity that is. How long did it take to make it? Both for the carving and the actual cunstruction of the humi?

firetruckguy

Wow, just wow........

The first thing that jumped out at me, other than the hand carving, is the latch system. The brass latch is sitting inside the cover perfect, no big gaps, no rough cuts.........dang.

I have sean 500ish humi's that are less well made without the chance to have it carved with the picture of your choice (I would go with a profile of the bear ).

In all seriousness, I would be proud to display this in my front room, I just couldn't bring myself to spend as much as a Browning A bolt...........

kuzi16

the seal is good.

this one is a 50 count of toro sized cigars (including the humidification device)

Vulchor

Tough to say. Beautiful no doubt, tons of craftmanship. Depends on the buyer though. Rugged guy or artsy type looking for a small humidor and conversation piece (who has money) several hundred no doubt. However the casual or even hard core smoker who is more concerned about cigars alone....no diferent than a run of the mill humi or a tupperador.

thedjfish@comcast.net

question is what his or hers time worth? we can guess what it would sell for, but i boils down to whats this persons time involved, materials, etc, then figure his wood work time and value,
figure that out and tack on percentage for profit

Knoxca1

thedjfish@comcast.net:

question is what his or hers time worth? we can guess what it would sell for, but i boils down to whats this persons time involved, materials, etc, then figure his wood work time and value,
figure that out and tack on percentage for profit

The price will be determined by what the buyers are willing to pay for it. The cost of what went into it will determine if the maker will need to change his processes to make the item for less than the selling point.

scooter mcgee

Between $300 to $400, the craftsmanship is quality (fine furniture maker here) I really dig the carving personally, it would fit well in my cabin in New Hampshire. That said, carvings generally don't get back the time you put into them. I would do more inlays and or veneers today for decoration, faster than carvings, with the similar effect.

catfishbluezz

What would I pay? $200-300 maybe... It's still a 50ct, so it does not serve much of a purpose to me. The target market for stuff like this is very small. It's a display humidor really, and given how stingy most cigar smokers are, I cannot see this selling for much. I mean really, if this was over $500, would you rather have this or a cabinet or wineador... There are some nice large humidors that start over $500.

catfishbluezz

thedjfish@comcast.net:

question is what his or hers time worth? we can guess what it would sell for, but i boils down to whats this persons time involved, materials, etc, then figure his wood work time and value,
figure that out and tack on percentage for profit

Consumers don't care about time invested. That's the problem with things like this. Ask any custom guitar builder, they want more for less, and no one ever wants to pay. The people that will are few and far between.

beatnic

Don't how much time or money was put into it. And its' hard to measure love. This artist must love what he does a lot.

danielruas

As someone said before I see this being more of a display or decorative piece since it's only a 50ct. My main question is would this carving be going on all of the humidors or would they be unique are carved for the taste of the buyer, that could increase what someone is wiling to pay greatly.

macs-smokes

I would like to say... beautiful work. The amount of detail will probably price this type of humidor out of my price range. However I help with several fundraising events throughout the year. I'd say if the target audience was present and it was say a silent auction. I would wager a guess of around $2000 could be had. But the humi would have had to be donated to the event.

Beautiful craftsmanship.

Jasonc1982

Usually if something is hand-carved it is more valuable. Beautiful humidor. It's a one of a kind (I assume) so it's really hard to put a value on it. But like the others are saying, you need to check the seal. I'd probably see something like this at a local tobacconist for around 70-100 bucks. You could probably get much much more than that however. Really just depends on how much someone is willing to pay for it.

kuzi16

more info: there is about $150 of raw material in the humidor. the hand carved top took about 20 hours and the rest of the humidor took about 25 hours.

i will eventually tell you all who made it. i just dont want to let the cat out of the bag yet.
no. it isnt me. i dont have that skill.

again i assure you the seal is good. passed both dollar bill test and the flashlight test.

i will be seasoning it in the next few days and adding some sticks in. this is now for sale and was never intended for sale but the artist was curious about what this would retail for. The artist does this as a hobby. wood working has been a hobby of his for the last 38 years.in the past he has made furniture, relief carvings, 3D sculpture, decorative boxes and general kick-knacks. Humidors are a new venture for him and being that he knows i am into cigars more than anyone else he knows he asked my opinion.
since i respect this forum i thought i would in turn get your opinions.
thanks for lookin.

kuzi16

also, this maker can make larger humidors in the 75-100 count range.

as far as the subject matter on the lid goes, it can be changed a bit but it will always ultimately be in the style the he wants to make and they will not be specifically custom made. they are being built for his enjoyment of the process of building, and enjoyment of carving and woodworking. this is more of a theoretical conversation.

on the other hand, if someone was willing to put a good offer in, im sure he wouldnt turn it down.

Rhamlin

It's gorgeous. If marketed to the right people. That is people who don't mind paying for a one of a kind quality piece. I could see 300-400$ but it would probably take a while to get established. So they probably wouldn't be flying off the shelves.

roland_7707

I was thinking 300-400 also. Its not my taste, but it is beautiful work. I can see others paying for that.

MVW67

$250-350, filled with cigars at a charity event $600-$700

alienmisprint

I could see it selling for around $4-500, but I think it would take a little time. If he wanted to sell them quickly/more consistently, I think he'd need to aim for a price point around $2-250.

kuzi16

The artist is my Dad.

he does woodworking as a hobby. For the last 3 years or so he has been mulling over making a humidor. we started discussing it seriously about a year ago. i gave him the main points he needed to hit and a basic construction guide as far as material/hardware goes but he picked out the specifics and created it in his style. believe it or not, this is the very first humidor that he has ever made. the second one he made was a bit smaller (40ct) and for him personally to use.

he does woodworking as a hobby. he isnt looking to make these specifically for retail. what usually happens when my dad starts to make new things is he will make product X repeatedly so he gets better at it. they go all over the house till there are more than my mom can handle and complains to him to do something with them. at this point he usually starts giving them away if they are small enough, selling product X to friends/family who may be interested, and taking them to craft shows to sell.


this humidor that stared this thread is seasoning right now and will probably be the only humidor that is on the main floor of my house and not in my room. in other words, my display humidor. I guess it will act as a smoking humidor. im not sure.

roland_7707

Thats cool that your dad made it. For his first one, I would not have expected those carvings. If my dad made something like that for me I would display and use it also. Thats really cool.