A local guy has some Cuban cigars he is looking to sell. If I can verify they are real, is there any reason not to buy if the price is right. Sorry if this seems like a silly question but I recently started smoking cigars and don't have much experience.

Prolly Real Cigars, but, not genuine Habanos.

Pass & find someone local who knows what he is doing & not looking to turn a profit.

And Sancho Panza should know!

Is this a guy selling them to thin his own collection? Or a guy with some sort of "hook up"?

If he lets you, feel free to message me or post photos (band(s), caps, boxes, etc).  Usually not difficult to identify the fakes with solid photos.

Unless you know this person personally I'd say it's a 98% chance they are fake. Even if you know this person, unless they are experienced and have been smoking for a long time chances are they could be fake too. The Cuban cigar market it flooded with fakes.

A couple easy sings of fakes:
- no Cubans come in a glass top box.
- cumbans should have a triple cap.
- cubans are sorted so that they are uniform in color by box. If they are all different shades they are probably fake.
- if the price is too good they are probably fake.
- the construction should be excellent and the wrapper should be fairly free of vaines. Small vaines are fine.
- nobody has a hook up in the country. It's a communist country that runs the industry. People get inteouble for stealing them.

Sancho Panza Non Plus & Cubita Coffee = Breakfast of Champions!

Cuban Cigar sales are illegal in the US.  COC#4 - Posting comments or links in support of illegal activities