Buying online: heat in transit, packaging, and returns
The cigars are usually fine. The journey is the variable.
Online retailers generally store better than small shops; the risk is the two to five days between their humidor and yours. Everything worth knowing about buying online is about that gap.
Season matters more than retailer
Summer heat and winter freezing both do damage, and a parcel sitting in a depot over a weekend experiences both extremes. Many good retailers offer temperature-controlled shipping or will hold an order until the weather changes — asking is normal and worth doing.
What good packaging looks like
- A rigid box, not a padded envelope.
- A humidity pack inside a sealed bag with the cigars.
- Boxes secured so cigars cannot move in transit.
- No branding that announces what is inside.
Do this: open the parcel, check for cracked wrappers, then put everything in the humidor unopened and leave it two weeks. Judging a cigar the evening it arrives is judging the courier.
Returns, honestly
Most retailers will replace visibly damaged cigars if you photograph them on arrival. Almost none will take back cigars you disliked, and that is reasonable. The photograph is your only leverage, and it takes ten seconds.
A word on borders
Import rules and duties vary by country and change; some jurisdictions restrict Cuban cigars specifically. Check before ordering across a border rather than after — the retailer will not be the one paying the charge.
Two weeks, counted for you
Add the delivery as a lot with the date it arrived and Ligero counts from there: just arrived under two weeks, resting up to sixty days, ready after that. The waiting period stops being something you have to remember.
Read next
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