Cigars drying out when shipped

[Senor Perfecto]

Living in SoCal, it's freaking hot here in the summer, and dry as hell. I am actually afraid to order sticks delivered to me from May to October, since they may find themselves baking on my doorstep (or in the back of some panel truck) before I have a chance to rescue them into my humidor.

Which raises the issue of online retailers: do they have an obligation to protect your purchase while in transit by including some humidification?

Are there some retailers that will do this for you without asking? Does tossing a mini Boveda into a sealed bag cut so deeply into their margins that this is an unreasonable expectation? Where would the line be, dollar amount-wise, where you'd expect them to do it for you? If you spend $100? $200?

Have you ever purchased a humidification device (Boveda or otherwise) and asked them to open it and seal it in with your sticks before they box them up?

 

[irie]

I have had this same problem when ordering online and have also become a bit more selective of where I am ordering from based on transit/time of year. In all honestly had just as bad of luck with sticks arriving dry when its freezing cold back east as when its hot out west. I know a few retailers that ship orders with bovedas but they are definitely the minority. While it would be nice if more of them did I understand its not cost effective by any means. If its really a concern buy locally or ship express/2 day depending on where its coming from. In my opinion its a small expense to have sticks arrive in decent shape. I stopped buying from a one online retailers entirely after receiving several orders back to back that arrived very dry and with damage because of how dry they were. In my opinion shipping them back is more hassle than its worth for only 10-15 cigars. Plus I would rather support a local business or if I must seek out something online I spend a few extra bucks to keep it in transit only a few days.

 

[GoingPostal]

If the online vendor is willing to ship USPS (postal Service) they can request "hold for pickup" service. No charge for the service but that would mean you'd have to go down to your local office and pick it up. I know some office don't have the most convenient hours.

 

[StogieNinja]

Almost every large vendor (Famous, CI, etc) keeps their stock wet enough that 3-7 days in transit isn't enough to damage or dry out their stock. Even after a week in shipping, most stuff I get from those large vendors is plenty wet. I tend to buy my boxes from smaller vendors (mainly because the domestic boxes I purchase tend to be limited availability), and so they typically come sealed, which helps prevent all the moisture from disappearing.

Then again, I also live in WA, where our climate is pretty mild, and a box could spend two days in my mailbox and generally speaking suffer no ill effect.

 

[Senor Perfecto]

I also live in WA, where our climate is pretty mild, and a box could spend two days in my mailbox and generally speaking suffer no ill effect.

Or even improve

I have a bit of humidity envy at the moment.

 

[CWS]

A quality vendor will seal the package and include some type of humdification.

 

[herfdog]

How do we know if the vendor is quality enough to include humidification?

 

[Speedbump]

How do we know if the vendor is quality enough to include humidification?

You don't, they may state it somewhere on their site, but in most cases it is a case by case basis

 

[Craig Mac]

Emerson's ships packs/singles with Boveda packs. Sealed boxes usually are left as is.

 

[mthhurley]

New Havana Cigars seals everything (even 5'ers) with humi packs.

 

[Rexinator989]

I believe cigar.com ships with humi pillows.

 

[sofc]

How long does it take for cigars to be shipped to this country ? Are they humidified through that transport?

 

[sean]

I see what you are getting at Ara, but to be fair, the ambient RH in my neck of the woods had been in the single digits lately... I'm sure the rest of Southern California is experiencing similar moisture levels. It is surely low enough to make some people wonder and others think twice about skimping on the cost of faster shipping.

To the original poster, don't stress too much about it. If you are truly concerned, use the cash you are saving to spring for speedier delivery or just buy local. Also, you can search (i would but the search on tapatalk blahblah...) for a thread where a brother dropped a thermometer that recorded temps into a ups box at tracked the temp-swings a box experiences from door-to-door. If cigars can survive that, a few days in less than ideal RH can't be that bad.

 

[NCost]

Emersons and Top Quality both place humi packs in their packages.