Duxnutz Posted October 16, 2014 Posted October 16, 2014 Howdy all, Anyone ever moved Internationally and brought their substantial cigar collection with them? The Mrs and I are weighing up such a move and I really don't want to part with lots of irreplaceable (aged and rare) cigars if I can help it. Any advice?
polarbear Posted October 16, 2014 Posted October 16, 2014 I'll babysit them for you if you like ;-) Aside from customs issues, which will vary from country to country, when a friend of mine moved back to Singapore with his larger collection we just went to BCF and bought a big esky, bagged all his sticks with a couple of boveda packs each and packed them in with some foam before duct taping the esky shut. His stuff was in transit for 9 weeks before it landed at his new place and his cigars were fine and smokeable as soon as he cracked the lid
Duxnutz Posted October 17, 2014 Author Posted October 17, 2014 I like the esky idea and would be an easy setup minus destination customs req. We're not out the door yet but should know within a few weeks.
Maplepie Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 His stuff was in transit for 9 weeks before it landed at his new place and his cigars were fine and smokeable as soon as he cracked the lid Wot.
Optic101 Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 That should be the time a container needs. You know, some ppl relocate with more than 3 T-Shirt 1
Maplepie Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 That should be the time a container needs. You know, some ppl relocate with more than 3 T-Shirt really? unless i'm thinking of multiple shipments across a long time span... But a container in transit for 9 weeks!? By pirate ship, right?
Optic101 Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 really? unless i'm thinking of multiple shipments across a long time span... But a container in transit for 9 weeks!? By pirate ship, right? Well, they keep the container in a coldstorage for 2-4 weeks to give the cigar some rest.
Optic101 Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 @Dux Relocation with you goods is a challenge but out of personal experience manageable. Whatever is important for you pack yourself as even with the best moving company there are always human working there. I had very positive experience. Most of times, from what I was told, relocation container are "easy" to pass the boarder. I had my whole liquor collection in there and no problems at all. Contact some expat guys in the country/city you are moving too. They can and are willing to help. If you would like to get some more details shoot me a PM. Good luck and enjoy the journey!
Coolio Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 I like the esky idea and would be an easy setup minus destination customs req. We're not out the door yet but should know within a few weeks. Remember that a freight operation flying a 40 y.o. Iluyshin around the Arctic might seem like a good idea at the time Dux! Good luck anyway. Hope you get the gig wherever it is!
Fuzz Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 Leaving our shores,eh? Just remember, the problems not taking out the cigars, the problem is trying to bring them back in! (if you plan on returning). And depending on the country you're moving to, you may be required to pay duties on any goods. Example, my cousin moved to the UK about a year ago and had to pay duty on his wine and spirits collection.
Duxnutz Posted October 17, 2014 Author Posted October 17, 2014 Remember that a freight operation flying a 40 y.o. Iluyshin around the Arctic might seem like a good idea at the time Dux! Good luck anyway. Hope you get the gig wherever it is! Thanks mate. I'm not going anywhere for a while! The Mrs had a crazy opportunity come out of left field. A light airplane and cigar approved man-cave were 2 conditions of my relocation! Time to dig out the number to that Truck Driving school! Leaving our shores,eh? Just remember, the problems not taking out the cigars, the problem is trying to bring them back in! (if you plan on returning). And depending on the country you're moving to, you may be required to pay duties on any goods. Example, my cousin moved to the UK about a year ago and had to pay duty on his wine and spirits collection. That's rough! I've already been through the Whisky/Bourbon stash and there's only a dozen or so I'm hormonal about. I think I'd rather bury my smokes under some sand somewhere than pay duty to the Govt (again!). 1
Fuzz Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 That's rough! I've already been through the Whisky/Bourbon stash and there's only a dozen or so I'm hormonal about. I think I'd rather bury my smokes under some sand somewhere than pay duty to the Govt (again!). Yeah, it really sucks. He paid duty to get his booze into the UK, and when he comes back to Melbourne, he'll pay it all over again!
theholmesmob Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 My recollection (moved from the UK back to Australia over ten years ago with the contents of a small house) was that the International Packing firm had to detail every item on the container's manifest........however, if it's not on the list then it wasn't in the container. At that time I had a desktop humidor with a 20+ cigars which was packed without listing the contents i.e wooden box. A few bottles of important wine were packed and not listed......Would be advantageous to get friendly with the person detailing the manifest! Like mentioned previously....doubtful they will empty a container contents on the off chance of finding cigars......
PapaDisco Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 It all depends on where you're going. When I moved from the U.S. To Vietnam, the customs guys opened EVERYTHING, and nothing got put back. There wasn't a single pair of socks or underwear that didn't get a sweaty handed fondle. And every subsequent package got an equally thorough going over: Christmas wrapping destroyed, etc. Now this was before my cigar phase, so I don't know if they would or wouldn't let those in, but they would definitely find them. My CD collection was almost confiscated until they agreed that it was for 'personal use'. Search online for expat forums relating to the country you're moving to, they all have them, and ask for relevant experiences with importing cigars.
subport Posted October 17, 2014 Posted October 17, 2014 When I moved to Iceland from Hungary around a decade ago I had not a huge cigar collection, but they did NOT even open the container. Also had some photography equipments came later. I did contact post office and customs before the move and I got 6 additional months when I could receive anything from my country without paying VAT. You know the rest of the story... of course I used it ;-) I had an official paper from customs not to pay VAT
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