Hello, and thank you in advance for your help with this question (about pipe tobacco longevity/viability), and your expert input for my little "Estate" dilemma here...
I am reaching out to you because I am helping a friend with this, and believe I was just about to be taken advantage of locally, so I am respectfully requesting your experience, insight, and thoughts on this...
Here is my situation:
My best friend passed away about 4 years ago (not tobacco related), leaving his surviving 45-yr-old wife, with among other endless things, to deal with a measurable & (somewhat valuable) pipe collection, and I'm figuring about $600-$800-ish (Retail) in various premium pipe tobaccos, and all of which she has now recently asked me to liquidate for her. I must add here that I am a real estate broker who doesn't smoke pipes; and although I used to smoke cigs and cigars, I truly know nothing about pipe tobacco, and am at a loss here... And because of that, I believe I was (also) just about to be taken advantage of by a local shop-- Which (wanting to do right by my friend and his wife, and basic due diligence for my task), is why I am reaching out to you, for honest & objective thoughts on this....
My question is this: Do I just kind of "dump all this old tobacco out on my lawn" (lol), and then "sell the empty tins for a dollar apiece on Ebay"...?-- Or is there maybe something more valuable here...?
The pipe tobacco is all in un-opened tins, and many are the "larger" size (3.55 oz,) with foil-sealed pouches inside. There are also unopened med & smaller tins, some wrapped in 5-pack stacks from the maker.
Knowing these were now 5-6++ years old, I initially made an uneducated "assumption" that all of this tobacco was (by now) "bad/dry/unsmokable", and was (effectively) without value...
The local smoke shop I took the collection to here in Tampa (for evaluation and advice), made an offer on my friend's collection of pipes-- and said to me that "the tobacco "Was old and bad by now"-- "You know, it dries out or rots and gets moldy, so at 4-6 years old plus, it has little value anymore".... "But maybe some people will want to try it, or probably just want it for the tins, so we'll need all that old tobacco thrown in, if you accept our offer on the pipe collection".
It made sense, sort of-- but they seemed overall a little pushy, and a little "low-ball-ly" for what all I had brought in, even to me), so I left and came home.
But I still don't have a Clue what to do regarding all of this pipe tobacco-- or if it's even any good... Or if maybe some is and some isn't... ?
However-- When I got home I went online and found some (years-old) "Pipe & tobacco" forum postings, that basically all said, "If the container is unopened, and it's stored in a dark cool place, it could last 10+ to even 30 years, or almost indefinitely", "Except for the aromatics, which decline quickly after about 2 years".
So.....Dilemma...
What is the truth, is there any value here, and if so, what the heck can (or do ) I do with all these nice sealed tins full of this 5-10-yr-old fine pipe tobacco?(?)
There are about a dozen of the larger/3.55 oz "W.O. Larsen" tins with foil-wrapped pouches inside ("Signature" and the 1864"), then some single midsize-to-smaller 2oz+) "rounds" (with names like Wessex Brigade, Old Ironsides), several still-wrapped 5-pack sleeves of bright red square tins of Orlik Golden Sliced 1.75 oz; And a still-wrapped 5-pack sleeve or two of Mac Baren Navy Flake tins, and then a few still-wrapped stacks of the smaller rectangle white & blue 1.75 oz Dunhill Light Flake tins.
There are no visible dates on anything except for the Dunhill, showing Jan 2012), and on one other, dating 6/09. Oh, and a Mac Baren Cube (is silver, but not marked "silver" on the cube, if that helps to date it), with a sealed foil pouch inside...
I believe (all of) the tobacco would have been purchased from between early 2008 to mid-2013, and since then has been stored undisturbed the entire time, in a large cardboard box, in the bottom of a closet, in a modern (and constantly) air-conditioned/climate controlled home here in Tampa, Fl.
The one WO Larsen pouch I felt/squeezed seemed nicely compact and moist, and I have shaken all of the rest of the tins, (and found maybe 3 total, (all singles), which shook "dry" so I marked and put those aside), but the rest of them were "quiet" when I shook them, (or just did a "thud" like a wet solid), and as best I could tell, seemed like they were all solid/moist inside...
So..
Now that this tobacco has gone from being "Likely Compost/throw-away", to "Maybe/possibly worth $500 bucks or more for her", I guess I'm needing to know.. Are the W.O. Larsen tins with the foil pouches still good, have any value, and what about the rest of the tins...? Anything useful, special, or of any value?
And... not being a licensed/legal tobacco retailer, (and even though it was all bought retail locally so the appropriate taxes were paid at purchase)--- is it even Legal for me to Sell it on (say) Craigslist or Ebay ?-- (or to anybody else who I don't personally know) except for perhaps a licensed tobacco shop/store?
In all regards and once again, thank you-- I am appreciative of your time (and apologize for this if it was the "long way around" lol); Just wanting to get this done properly, (and behind me) as quickly and responsibly as I can for her; Any light you can shed on this or any experienced advice you feel may be helpful to me on this, I am (so) grateful for any of your input..
Thank you,
BJS, Tampa
I am reaching out to you because I am helping a friend with this, and believe I was just about to be taken advantage of locally, so I am respectfully requesting your experience, insight, and thoughts on this...
Here is my situation:
My best friend passed away about 4 years ago (not tobacco related), leaving his surviving 45-yr-old wife, with among other endless things, to deal with a measurable & (somewhat valuable) pipe collection, and I'm figuring about $600-$800-ish (Retail) in various premium pipe tobaccos, and all of which she has now recently asked me to liquidate for her. I must add here that I am a real estate broker who doesn't smoke pipes; and although I used to smoke cigs and cigars, I truly know nothing about pipe tobacco, and am at a loss here... And because of that, I believe I was (also) just about to be taken advantage of by a local shop-- Which (wanting to do right by my friend and his wife, and basic due diligence for my task), is why I am reaching out to you, for honest & objective thoughts on this....
My question is this: Do I just kind of "dump all this old tobacco out on my lawn" (lol), and then "sell the empty tins for a dollar apiece on Ebay"...?-- Or is there maybe something more valuable here...?
The pipe tobacco is all in un-opened tins, and many are the "larger" size (3.55 oz,) with foil-sealed pouches inside. There are also unopened med & smaller tins, some wrapped in 5-pack stacks from the maker.
Knowing these were now 5-6++ years old, I initially made an uneducated "assumption" that all of this tobacco was (by now) "bad/dry/unsmokable", and was (effectively) without value...
The local smoke shop I took the collection to here in Tampa (for evaluation and advice), made an offer on my friend's collection of pipes-- and said to me that "the tobacco "Was old and bad by now"-- "You know, it dries out or rots and gets moldy, so at 4-6 years old plus, it has little value anymore".... "But maybe some people will want to try it, or probably just want it for the tins, so we'll need all that old tobacco thrown in, if you accept our offer on the pipe collection".
It made sense, sort of-- but they seemed overall a little pushy, and a little "low-ball-ly" for what all I had brought in, even to me), so I left and came home.
But I still don't have a Clue what to do regarding all of this pipe tobacco-- or if it's even any good... Or if maybe some is and some isn't... ?
However-- When I got home I went online and found some (years-old) "Pipe & tobacco" forum postings, that basically all said, "If the container is unopened, and it's stored in a dark cool place, it could last 10+ to even 30 years, or almost indefinitely", "Except for the aromatics, which decline quickly after about 2 years".
So.....Dilemma...
What is the truth, is there any value here, and if so, what the heck can (or do ) I do with all these nice sealed tins full of this 5-10-yr-old fine pipe tobacco?(?)
There are about a dozen of the larger/3.55 oz "W.O. Larsen" tins with foil-wrapped pouches inside ("Signature" and the 1864"), then some single midsize-to-smaller 2oz+) "rounds" (with names like Wessex Brigade, Old Ironsides), several still-wrapped 5-pack sleeves of bright red square tins of Orlik Golden Sliced 1.75 oz; And a still-wrapped 5-pack sleeve or two of Mac Baren Navy Flake tins, and then a few still-wrapped stacks of the smaller rectangle white & blue 1.75 oz Dunhill Light Flake tins.
There are no visible dates on anything except for the Dunhill, showing Jan 2012), and on one other, dating 6/09. Oh, and a Mac Baren Cube (is silver, but not marked "silver" on the cube, if that helps to date it), with a sealed foil pouch inside...
I believe (all of) the tobacco would have been purchased from between early 2008 to mid-2013, and since then has been stored undisturbed the entire time, in a large cardboard box, in the bottom of a closet, in a modern (and constantly) air-conditioned/climate controlled home here in Tampa, Fl.
The one WO Larsen pouch I felt/squeezed seemed nicely compact and moist, and I have shaken all of the rest of the tins, (and found maybe 3 total, (all singles), which shook "dry" so I marked and put those aside), but the rest of them were "quiet" when I shook them, (or just did a "thud" like a wet solid), and as best I could tell, seemed like they were all solid/moist inside...
So..
Now that this tobacco has gone from being "Likely Compost/throw-away", to "Maybe/possibly worth $500 bucks or more for her", I guess I'm needing to know.. Are the W.O. Larsen tins with the foil pouches still good, have any value, and what about the rest of the tins...? Anything useful, special, or of any value?
And... not being a licensed/legal tobacco retailer, (and even though it was all bought retail locally so the appropriate taxes were paid at purchase)--- is it even Legal for me to Sell it on (say) Craigslist or Ebay ?-- (or to anybody else who I don't personally know) except for perhaps a licensed tobacco shop/store?
In all regards and once again, thank you-- I am appreciative of your time (and apologize for this if it was the "long way around" lol); Just wanting to get this done properly, (and behind me) as quickly and responsibly as I can for her; Any light you can shed on this or any experienced advice you feel may be helpful to me on this, I am (so) grateful for any of your input..
Thank you,
BJS, Tampa
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