We're having a silent auction at work as part of our annual charity drive, and one of the offerings is a CAO Sopranos Special Edition Sampler. I have the current high bid on it at five bucks, and will probably win because it's not a huge office and not everyone smokes cigars. But that has to be a huge letdown to whoever donated it, and got me to thinking about what I would donate to a silent auction if I wanted to give something cigar-related.
This silent auction has convinced me that simple packs of premium cigars aren't the way to go for a general audience. It seems unlikely that they will ever go for how much they cost (even when you save money and buy cigars online), which sort of defeats the purpose. You certainly would have to do a better sales job than the one here, which is just the box and a note saying "cigars."
You might argue that if I valued my charitable giving, I should raise my bid to something more in line with what the cigars are worth. Admittedly, that is hard to argue. But I have no idea how old these cigars are, or how well they were cared for by the person who is donating them. For all I know, these cigars have been sitting in the trunk of his car for a year since he won them at the same auction, and it's not like I am going to take them out of their packaging and test them out to make sure that they are fresh.
Which is why if I were giving something to a similar auction, it might be the Pinar Del Rio Sampler with Aluminum Case. It's got something to sell itself besides the cigars, and the case itself is stylish enough that people might bid on that even without the cigars. And at just $25, I'm confident that it would earn enough to justify the donation.
This silent auction has convinced me that simple packs of premium cigars aren't the way to go for a general audience. It seems unlikely that they will ever go for how much they cost (even when you save money and buy cigars online), which sort of defeats the purpose. You certainly would have to do a better sales job than the one here, which is just the box and a note saying "cigars."
You might argue that if I valued my charitable giving, I should raise my bid to something more in line with what the cigars are worth. Admittedly, that is hard to argue. But I have no idea how old these cigars are, or how well they were cared for by the person who is donating them. For all I know, these cigars have been sitting in the trunk of his car for a year since he won them at the same auction, and it's not like I am going to take them out of their packaging and test them out to make sure that they are fresh.
Which is why if I were giving something to a similar auction, it might be the Pinar Del Rio Sampler with Aluminum Case. It's got something to sell itself besides the cigars, and the case itself is stylish enough that people might bid on that even without the cigars. And at just $25, I'm confident that it would earn enough to justify the donation.
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