Evidently not an investment...

[prodigy]

I'm the same way. I might have a box or 2 I haven't opened. Mostly the reasons being I want them to acclimate for several years. I also love the online humidor. I have over a dozen boxes waiting for their time to shine. If I had them, I bet all of them would be missing at least one stick haha

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[joeypots]

I put full boxes away knowing that sampling ROTT or in the first few years generally doesn't give me a good sense of the box. I let and trust the vendor, mostly our host, look the stock over. I'll sample at a given time for the box depending on past experience and have at it when it's to my liking. Unbroken boxes stay that way to age, selling is possible but the time involved doesn't make it seem like a good investment. Even if I get double the price I paid for a box of CORO, for example, I don't think that's a fantastic return for the money, time, and most of all patience, I have expended. I'd rather soke them and share them with friends than take a profit. 

[Silverstix]

I look at it as an investment for myself, not a financial investment. That’s what the stock market is for. I look forward to 3-5 years from now cracking open a box of cigars I’ve stored carefully and getting that satisfying enjoyment out of something that I’ve invested in.


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[ElJavi76]

The easiest way to ensure you have full boxes is to buy several boxes of the same stick. I have multiple boxes of Connie A, HUHC, HUPC, ED Conde Bélicosos, Vigias, Party E2's, Siglo IIs, Topes, PLMC... You catch my drift.

If you really like a smoke and you want to know what it's like to age it yourself, your only recourse is to buy more than you can smoke. I bought two boxes of Vigias here and finished burning thru one. Rather than opening the second one, I bought another box which is fresher but it's the only way to ensure I'll have aged Vigias in 4 or 5 years. 

[JGD]

I’ve sold some of my cigars in the past. Usually they were expensive singles (Davidoff, Dunhill, Che, etc) that I had bought on the secondary market and held with the intention to smoke for a while but for some reals. Couldn’t bring myself to do it (this was back when I was in law school, and money wasn’t always flowing). I never turned much of a profit on those though, and just used the money to buy boxes to stock my humidor with. 

[earthson]

Considering I buy multiples of good runs of favorite cigars, I can easily justify boxes as potentially being investments, if I age and then sell them for profit. But an aged box of my favorites is worth so much more as smoking stock than simply doubling and tripling my investment.

I suppose if I was a globetrotter who could score rare stock from LCDH worldwide, that would be the investment side. Who wouldn't want 10 boxes of La Escepcion SF that were purchased as MSRP for investment purposes?

[Hammer Smokin']

the people who were going to buy one of those 10 boxes, to smoke, but couldn't' because someone else bought them to sell at an inflated price?

(to simply answer you question)

[ayepatz]

Let's not hijack this thread by having a go at flippers. That's a thorny issue for many on both sides of the argument, and such discussions never end well.

My point was that, despite my best intentions not to touch a box, I just can't help myself and have to dive in and see how they are doing.

I was surprised, when I looked at my inventory, that I do not have an untouched box in my collection at home, and that includes multiple boxes of the same cigars (although I'm not counting the locker here, as that officially doesn't exist, if you take my meaning...?).

 

[Engineer99]

I buy boxes simply because it's more cost effective than smaller quantities. I have a spreadsheet that inventories my stock and everything is out of sight until a box reaches the 5 year mark. Granted, I have several that have reached that mark and a ton with 4 years, but I somehow still can't bring myself to crack them. I'll have to at some point since my once considerable storage has reached capacity and I always seem to have a bird or two in the air.

On occasion, I'll go for a quarter box or so, just to try out something I've yet to sample, or to have a few favorites on hand until I bust a box open. It's funny how it's actually cheaper to have a few cubans shipped from halfway around the world than it is to drive to the B&M and pick up a similar quantity of quality NCs. That's Taxifornia for ya.

[soonerwings]

The easiest way to ensure you have full boxes is to buy several boxes of the same stick. I have multiple boxes of Connie A, HUHC, HUPC, ED Conde Bélicosos, Vigias, Party E2's, Siglo IIs, Topes, PLMC... You catch my drift.
If you really like a smoke and you want to know what it's like to age it yourself, your only recourse is to buy more than you can smoke. I bought two boxes of Vigias here and finished burning thru one. Rather than opening the second one, I bought another box which is fresher but it's the only way to ensure I'll have aged Vigias in 4 or 5 years. 

A fellow law school survivor? Fist bump.


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[ElJavi76]

5 minutes ago, soonerwings said:

 

A fellow law school survivor? Fist bump.


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Not a lawyer, but isn't my argument convincing? I'm sold. Don't know about you guys. 

[mtd057]

So far in my CC journey, I have not been able to keep out of a new box.  Everything is still relatively new to me so I enjoy the experience of having one ROTT.  My intention is that as I build my inventory, I will have more willpower because I will have more to choose from. That's the intent anyway!

[soonerwings]

Not a lawyer, but isn't my argument convincing? I'm sold. Don't know about you guys. 

LMAO. I clicked/quoted the wrong post. That’ll teach me to post while smoking and drinking.

That being said, I like the way you think.


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[JGD]

1 hour ago, soonerwings said:

 

A fellow law school survivor? Fist bump.


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Haha I’m guessing that post was directed at me. Survivor is the right word. I still get anxious around the convention center that I took the bar in...

[Moogypug]

I don’t invest in cigars. I invest in the experience and the relaxation that cigars bring. I go through my stock regularly. I have also cut back on purchasing limited edition stuff because the return in my investment in the form of elevated experience do not really match the financial premium I pay for the extra band. Cheers! 

[Sir Sooty]

22 hours ago, ayepatz said:

I was just now going through my cigar inventory spreadsheet (yes, I am that nerd) and I’ve realised that I don’t actually possess a full box of anything.

Evidently, I just can’t leave them be.

Chances of flipping a box or two? Nil.

Am I alone in this, or are there others out there like me?

Well I see this as a positive, in that your cigars are meant to be enjoyed and you want to test their progress as they age. I do get envious when someone posts a box of 2007 RASCC or whatever they bought...i just wished had the interest in cigars and the foresight to lock away a few boxes when I was 10 years younger!

[Sir Sooty]

8 hours ago, ElJavi76 said:

The easiest way to ensure you have full boxes is to buy several boxes of the same stick. I have multiple boxes of Connie A, HUHC, HUPC, ED Conde Bélicosos, Vigias, Party E2's, Siglo IIs, Topes, PLMC... You catch my drift.

If you really like a smoke and you want to know what it's like to age it yourself, your only recourse is to buy more than you can smoke. I bought two boxes of Vigias here and finished burning thru one. Rather than opening the second one, I bought another box which is fresher but it's the only way to ensure I'll have aged Vigias in 4 or 5 years. 

Say you manage to buy 3 boxes of Vigia, 16/17/18 box codes.

Do you age the 16 and 18, and smoke through the 17?

After that, then what? It's now 2019 and only 2018 box codes are available, what's your next step? Buy 2 boxes and smoke which? How do people play this?

[soonerwings]

Haha I’m guessing that post was directed at me. Survivor is the right word. I still get anxious around the convention center that I took the bar in...

Right? The law is SO much better after you pass the bar and get to purge all the crap you don’t care about.


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[jfire]

I don’t buy to sell. But when I was able to get:
500 USD for the first 6 Tatuaje Monster series boxes (empty) I sold them
375 USD for a unused OR Ceramic Tatuaje ashtray I sold it.
A few CC REs I had that were extra boxes. I sold them in just a couple years of holding ..... For Double.
I will probably sell a first edition MRN book. The prices are skyrocketing on it. Maybe not this year but next. Who knows.


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[ElJavi76]

4 hours ago, Sir Sooty said:

Say you manage to buy 3 boxes of Vigia, 16/17/18 box codes.

Do you age the 16 and 18, and smoke through the 17?

After that, then what? It's now 2019 and only 2018 box codes are available, what's your next step? Buy 2 boxes and smoke which? How do people play this?

I had two 2017 boxes and smoked one. Bought an '18 box and left one '17 untouched. I'll burn the '18s and let the '17 age. With the Connie A's I've got 4 sealed boxes. I'll probably burn the youngest two and because those are easily attainable reg prod stuff I'll replace the two that I burned once they're gone. 

My idea came from watching so many guys (who did this years ago I might add) post to the daily cigar thread. Smoking a 1997 Cohiba x. Smoking my last 1993 Upmann x. I'm like wow I'd love to have a box of 20 year old cigars that I aged myself. So I told myself I'd buy more than I can smoke and start this little system to age one or several boxes of select stuff. 

Currently my oldest partial boxes are from 2013. I hope to continue this game.

[JGD]

9 hours ago, jfire said:

I don’t buy to sell. But when I was able to get:
500 USD for the first 6 Tatuaje Monster series boxes (empty) I sold them
375 USD for a unused OR Ceramic Tatuaje ashtray I sold it.
A few CC REs I had that were extra boxes. I sold them in just a couple years of holding ..... For Double.
I will probably sell a first edition MRN book. The prices are skyrocketing on it. Maybe not this year but next. Who knows.


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Man, speaking of boxes held for an investment, in years two and three of the monster series people could make 3-4 times what they spent on a box. I’m not sure how it is now, but at least it used to be crazy!

[bmf30180]

Being a relative newbie to the CC obsession, it would make more sense for me to buy sample packs of even 5 fiver as I try to determine what I like and what I want to stock.  But, I am always fearful of finding something that I really enjoy and having trouble finding them again.  So, I mostly buy boxes.  And, If I do enjoy them, I add them to my shopping list.  This method also helps me start to build some stock for aging (at least that' how I justify it.)