I work in a cigar lounge in the US and i have a Question

[Puffdaddytino]

Okay so as the title says I'm an employee at a cigar lounge in Florida and I have an idea to try to drive more customers in but i don't want to present this to my boss without it being solid. 

Since there's an embargo we cannot sell Cuban Cigars BUT I'm pretty sure we can gift them right? Would it be legal for us to do a giveaway? All I can really find is Yes its legal to have them and gift them just no selling.

Would it be possible to do a raffle Style giveaway? For example " With purchase of $100 or more you'll be given a raffle ticket for the giveaway (No purchasing raffle tickets as this would definitely be a no no) what are your thoughts? Slippery Slope right? 

[Habana Mike]

Hmmm. It was legal to bring in Cuban cigars for a couple of years there.

Not sure of the legal position today regarding transferring them though believe one could argue all their cigars were brought in during the "special" time....

[NSXCIGAR]

Cuban cigars are totally prohibited from being brought into the US by any means or for any purpose since 9/24/20. So even possession would be illegal let alone trading or gifting.

Between 10/14/16 and 9/23/20 it was anything goes. Everything from that period is legal and I'm sure you could gift/trade it. 

Before 10/14/16, almost the same situation. Legally authorized US travelers could bring back a box or two each trip and it would be impossible to prove any given box of cigars wasn't brought in legitimately. 

[Ken Gargett]

1 hour ago, Puffdaddytino said:

Okay so as the title says I'm an employee at a cigar lounge in Florida and I have an idea to try to drive more customers in but i don't want to present this to my boss without it being solid. 

Since there's an embargo we cannot sell Cuban Cigars BUT I'm pretty sure we can gift them right? Would it be legal for us to do a giveaway? All I can really find is Yes its legal to have them and gift them just no selling.

Would it be possible to do a raffle Style giveaway? For example " With purchase of $100 or more you'll be given a raffle ticket for the giveaway (No purchasing raffle tickets as this would definitely be a no no) what are your thoughts? Slippery Slope right? 

i have not read the specific US legislation but i suspect it would be very many years since someone could get around a law like that. 

[garbandz]

if it was pre-embargo it would be fine.

why not gift out some Opus or some other high dollar sticks.

 

[BrightonCorgi]

Give it a go, why not?  I would consider 10 count boxes so you could have more winners for the investment.

I don't think that may be the best way to use Habanos cigars for business, but each to their own.

 

[tjkoala]

 

12 minutes ago, garbandz said:

why not gift out some Opus or some other high dollar sticks.

 

This, it’s not worth the headache. Keep in mind that you’re in Florida and there’s a lot of people in that area that don’t have the same affinity towards Cuba. You’re better off doing Opus, Davidoff, or Padrons.

[Fezztone]

Your  other issue is that even though it's not sold as a raffle ticket, it is an opportunity drawing for something of value and generally illegal unless you're a non profit. I think you'd have to give everyone that walks in the door a ticket to participate even if they don't spend a cent for it to be ok.  Would you get caught?  probably not. Not  sure what the penalty is either. 

[Habana Mike]

37 minutes ago, NSXCIGAR said:

Cuban cigars are totally prohibited from being brought into the US by any means or for any purpose since 9/24/20. So even possession would be illegal let alone trading or gifting.

Between 10/14/16 and 9/23/20 it was anything goes. Everything from that period is legal and I'm sure you could gift/trade it. 

Before 10/14/16, almost the same situation. Legally authorized US travelers could bring back a box or two each trip and it would be impossible to prove any given box of cigars wasn't brought in legitimately. 

If it was legal to bring them in during that period, Cuba or elsewhere, how is possession illegal now? Asking for a friend......

[Ken Gargett]

why not use Hamlets? 

that way you have the Cuban connection and no chance of offending anyone or breaking any laws. 

[NSXCIGAR]

47 minutes ago, Habana Mike said:

If it was legal to bring them in during that period, Cuba or elsewhere, how is possession illegal now? Asking for a friend......

A box code after SEP 20 would be a sign. Otherwise it would be quite difficult.

I never said it was likely anyone would ever get in trouble for this. I doubt anyone has ever been prosecuted for simple possession of CCs nor will they ever be.

[Habana Mike]

43 minutes ago, NSXCIGAR said:

A box code after SEP 20 would be a sign. Otherwise it would be quite difficult.

I never said it was likely anyone would ever get in trouble for this. I doubt anyone has ever been prosecuted for simple possession of CCs nor will they ever be.

Got it. So any box prior to that, regardless of code (because it you're lucky you "found" earlier before or during that period) should be cool.

Moral of the story don't trade cigars produced post SEP 2O.

[westg]

It's great that you are thinking of ideas to keep things going onwards and upwards. My first thought and only my 2cents is that you would be giving away cigars that cannot be purchased and discredit every other cigar you sell there. Best of luck to you 

[NSXCIGAR]

2 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

A box code after SEP 20 would be a sign. Otherwise it would be quite difficult.

I never said it was likely anyone would ever get in trouble for this. I doubt anyone has ever been prosecuted for simple possession of CCs nor will they ever be.

Correct. Any CCs brought in before Sep 20 could have been brought in legally in various ways. It would be virtually impossible to prove a given pre-Sep 20 CC was illegally imported. Maybe someone left their box of legally imported CCs on a park bench and you found it. 

Post-Sep 20 was the only period in history where a CC could be proven to be illegal because for the first time there is no longer any legal avenue to import any Cuban product. Any Sep 20 or newer CC is ipso facto illegal. But without the cigars in the box or some other objective proof of age it it impossible to enforce. 

In other words there is virtually zero chance handing out CC singles as gifts or promotional items would get someone in trouble even though technically, by the letter of the law, it is illegal. 

[Edicion]

It's a great marketing idea just the circumstances makes it difficult to execute it properly. I would try with some high end NC like others have suggested. 

[BrightonCorgi]

People break the law all the time with little consequence, just do the raffle and see how it ends up. 

[RichG]

Potentially murky legality aside, why would you give away a promotional product to your clients that can be perceived as superior to the products you sell?

While not directly parallel example, this strikes me as if a Hyundai dealership did a raffle for a Mercedes Benz.

I don’t see how this helps your business at all. I agree with others who say do promotions with NC cigars.

[dominattorney]

I agree with the sentiment that you should not do it. There are many reasons. The best one is that the government doesn't like to be poked. They get wind of it and don't like it,  technicalities be damned. Your business becomes a target. 

Also customers wind up looking online for ccs rather than coming to the brick and mortar. 

Here's two free promotional ideas that you can take to your boss.

1 if you have a lounge. Raffle off a free years membership. 

2 regardless of whether you have a lounge, do a blind tasting ala FOH but for nc cigars. (For the uninitiated remove the bands from 3 sticks and mark them 1, 2, 3 and then sell the 3 pack sampler and have the participants try to guess what cigar they're smoking. Prize to the person who guesses the most correctly and discounts to anyone who guesses any correctly at the shop.  You can do 5 sticks if the spirit takes you, but it's more work.). It'd be impossible if it were truly blind because of how many NC brands there are, so maybe do 3 or 5 cigars and give a list of 10 to 15 brands that any of them could be with the sampler. I bet that gets folks talking about your shop in a good way that keeps them coming back through your doors. 

[RichG]

1 minute ago, dominattorney said:

 

I agree with the sentiment that you should not do it. There are many reasons. The best one is that the government doesn't like to be poked. They get wind of it and don't like it,  technicalities be damned. Your business becomes a target.

 

All it takes is one dissatisfied customer reporting you.

[Cigar Surgeon]

If you want some great ideas, I strongly recommend picking up Dave Garofolo's book "David vs. Goliath". I was the GM for a retail chain of tobacconists that reached 20 stores at its height and I can tell you this book is 25+ years of condensed retail turnkey wisdom.

 

[jonahs_whale]

Agreed with going with an NC option or the blind tasting idea is also great. From a marketing perspective, while this strategy of giving away CCs could potentially create a lot more brand awareness, it doesn't lead to conversion into products sold as others have mentioned. If you were the type of company that needs a lot of brand awareness and pure engagement is sufficient to generate revenue, then this would be a great idea, but as a B&M I'd imagine you need actual conversion to cigars sold, which this strategy may actually lead people to search for CCs instead of buying NCs from you

[taylorgov2]

I agree with doing a giveaway for a few higher end NC sticks that you actually carry in the store. I would think the best idea for a promotional event is to not only satisfy your customer, but also at the same time, hopefully drive in repeat business in the future from the people in attendance. Not just a 1 time thing. To me, the best way to do that is to do a giveaway for the higher end NC cigars that you carry in the store so that if and when that customer comes back to your store, they perhaps would actually BUY one of those sticks. You could even do a 1st-3rd Place raffle drawing as well with a certain % OFF All Cigar Purchases for an allotted amount of time you decide to hopefully bring those customers who win the drawing back in to your store to buy something again. Your markup will still easily cover any of the discounts you give and you probably guarantee future sales from that customer. Perhaps create a great relationship with that customer and they will continue to come to your store to buy more after the discount has expired.

 

1st Place - X # of Opus/Davidoffs/Padrons & 30% Off all cigar purchases in store for 3 months or even up to 1 year 

2nd Place - X # of Opus/Davidoffs/Padrons & 20% Off all cigar purchases in store for 3 months - 1 year

3rd Pace - X # of Opus/Davidoffs/Padrons & 10% Off all cigar purchases in store for 3 months - 1 year

[Puros Y Vino]

1 hour ago, Cigar Surgeon said:

If you want some great ideas, I strongly recommend picking up Dave Garofolo's book "David vs. Goliath". I was the GM for a retail chain of tobacconists that reached 20 stores at its height and I can tell you this book is 25+ years of condensed retail turnkey wisdom.

 

Full disclosure.  This is the same guy who said all Cuban marcas come from the same factories and that they only change the bands right?

As for the OP's dilemma.  Maybe order in some Desnudies as prize giveaways?  Maybe they have some CC tobacco? Maybe they don't?  One thing for sure. It's not something your average B&M client has access to or even aware of.

[BuzzArd]

20 minutes ago, Puros Y Vino said:

Full disclosure.  This is the same guy who said all Cuban marcas come from the same factories and that they only change the bands right?

Yep.   Same guy.  I can’t imaging what he saw that day, but that’s his assertion.  
 

I will say he does possess some serious marketing talent.  

[Puros Y Vino]

1 minute ago, therealrsr said:

@Puros Y Vino 

 

LOL. I think the answer is no to Cuban tobacco.  But given Hamlet's talents with blending. I'm sure the Desnudies are "Cubanesque". Some of Hamlet's more recent RP releases have more of a CC than NC aroma, taste to them.