If the fee is to be per pass it should be very low. The difference between cpi and real insurance is the insurer is making money from selling you regular insurance. In this instance we will have a continuously growing pool of money with minimal oversight. This is not a jab at the managers of cpi, just a general observation. Having that kind of money sitting around ( which has incidentally, never been drawn on) could get pretty tempting for someone to use if they got in a pinch or figured" hell, i can pay this doc bill then just reimburse the fund later". Like i said, just a general observation after ovverseeing the activities of a number of treasurers. Since cpi has never been used over the course of almost a decade, i am not sure having it contantly increase in value is a good thing, especially since most of the current members wont ever use it, as they nolonger run passes. I mean over the last couple years i have prob run as many passes as the rest of the board put together, which says something about the odds of this being put to use. I will caveat by saying i dont have a huge vested interest because i will be running at most one more pass after the abundance of disrespectful passing behavior on this board.
I think Gary has some good thoughts here.I know this has been a labor of love and represents some of the glue that connects the original members with the present crew...but I think it's time to put this concept out to pasture and put it to good use...let's let Rod make CP an even better place and further distance ourselves from the other Cigar Forums!
Like I said, just on man's opinion...and it may hurt, but maybe we should think in a whole new direction.
...3%...?? My pass has a Padron Millenium, an OR Anejo, some six year old OpusX's, and a couple of other pretty much impossible to buy smokes in it.How often do hosts require the box be insured through the shipping agent? If you insure a box for $3, how is it any different to send that to CPI? At least CPI will actually pay out if there is a lost pass.
Keeping money in an acct. is easy enough. Post balance online. Have monthly statements sent to a 2nd party for checks and balances. If you guys want a cash fund then the logistics are easy enough to figure out.
Let's face it, CPI is a trust placed upon another member. And if you don't trust another member with CPI then why would you trust someone else with the cigars you just sent them?
I'm not saying keeping CPI around is the only answer. Hell, liquidating could be viable. But I think asking a 3% fee is not unreasonable.
I agree on the 3% of MSRP b4 starting. In fact, I tend to agree with all of this.I don't think rarity in the equation will work at all....rather, (if we do continue with this) the going rate/ MSRP.
I do think it's fair if the total value of the pass is stated by the host before the pass begins. It would suck if someone did an over-put, putting a $70 Padron Mille for a $45 Opus 22, however, an over-put shouldn't be CPI's responsibility.
The purpose would be to insure the pass for its value when it began, CPI can't be responsible for anything else.
Additionally, the argument that the whole fund would be wiped out if one high end pass was lost/ stolen...well, that might be true....but it's such a rare occurence that I feel it'd be worth it to do the 3%.
Could you wait like 23 days?perhaps those who have been here for at least 5 years AND have put into CPI. Just a thought...