I’ve got a story for y’all:
Semi recently (about 2 months ago) this little bitty store opened up in my little bitty home town. They sell e-cigs. I had already found the PV that worked for me, so I didn’t stop by until today. I only stopped by out of curiosity, really. I expected to find what we all expect to see when we approach a mall kiosk: some dude with a snappy sales pitch selling crappy ecigs at a ridiculous mark-up. I was prepared to give this person a piece of my mind and drive business away from his establishment if that was what I found. I did find crappy equipment; the rest was exactly the opposite of what I expected.
Inside this little shack was an old man (after talking with him I discovered he was 62, but to my credit, he looks a lot older) with practically no inventory…..maybe 20 starter kits? A small amount of prefilled carts, some spare attys, and juice (in 3 different strengths, 3 flavors), not much really. The kits he had were “e health” brand, which I am not familiar with, but from what I could tell it was a 407G or L treaded battery (micro size) with an atomizer and cartridge. The kit came with 2 batteries, 3 chargers (2 for 120 AC, 1 for 12 DC), and 15 cartridges. He wanted 45 bucks plus tax for a kit. Also, as your atomizers die, he’ll replace ‘em……for free. I said, “Wow…..this isn’t what I was expecting at all. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that isn’t a lot of mark up.” (I checked on the price later on, and indeed, the prices where about what you would pay online after shipping).
He replied, “Yeah, I’m not trying to make a lot of money, I’m trying to save lives. “
He started puffing on one of his e cigs at that point, so I pulled out my REO and started fogging up the place. He was curious about my mod, so I showed him how it worked and explained that I use this because the results are so much better and the battery life is so much longer. I asked him about the units he was selling…what’s the mah rating on the battery (*he chuckles* “I don’t know what mah even means.”) What was the resistance rating on the atomizer? (“I don’t know what you mean”) What voltage does the battery put out? (“You’re guess is as good as mine”) .
So here’s this guy that doesn’t really know thing 1 about the products that he is selling, probably retired, just selling e cigs at a price that *might* cover rent and keep the lights on if he’s lucky. This place is practically a non-profit.
I’ve converted a few smokers to vaping, but I never really thought of it as “my good deed for the day.” This guy is a Catholic monk doing what he believes is God’s work. I mean, I started vaping so I wouldn’t die, I never thought that really, when you convert a smoker, you are extending their life span…..kind of sorta saving their life, maybe. It just sort of put a new spin on the whole thing to me……made me think a little anyway.
I let him drip a little of my DIY Mt. Dew and ripe banana, and let him keep the Mt. Dew. I tossed him an ECF business card in case he wanted to do a little research. He invited me back to play chess sometime (“you can see I don’t get a lot of business in here and if I could get a few more cars in the parking lot, it might be good for business”). I’ll probably take him up on it.
Anyway, just thought I’d tell the story. It was interesting to me; maybe it will be to others as well.
Semi recently (about 2 months ago) this little bitty store opened up in my little bitty home town. They sell e-cigs. I had already found the PV that worked for me, so I didn’t stop by until today. I only stopped by out of curiosity, really. I expected to find what we all expect to see when we approach a mall kiosk: some dude with a snappy sales pitch selling crappy ecigs at a ridiculous mark-up. I was prepared to give this person a piece of my mind and drive business away from his establishment if that was what I found. I did find crappy equipment; the rest was exactly the opposite of what I expected.
Inside this little shack was an old man (after talking with him I discovered he was 62, but to my credit, he looks a lot older) with practically no inventory…..maybe 20 starter kits? A small amount of prefilled carts, some spare attys, and juice (in 3 different strengths, 3 flavors), not much really. The kits he had were “e health” brand, which I am not familiar with, but from what I could tell it was a 407G or L treaded battery (micro size) with an atomizer and cartridge. The kit came with 2 batteries, 3 chargers (2 for 120 AC, 1 for 12 DC), and 15 cartridges. He wanted 45 bucks plus tax for a kit. Also, as your atomizers die, he’ll replace ‘em……for free. I said, “Wow…..this isn’t what I was expecting at all. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that isn’t a lot of mark up.” (I checked on the price later on, and indeed, the prices where about what you would pay online after shipping).
He replied, “Yeah, I’m not trying to make a lot of money, I’m trying to save lives. “
He started puffing on one of his e cigs at that point, so I pulled out my REO and started fogging up the place. He was curious about my mod, so I showed him how it worked and explained that I use this because the results are so much better and the battery life is so much longer. I asked him about the units he was selling…what’s the mah rating on the battery (*he chuckles* “I don’t know what mah even means.”) What was the resistance rating on the atomizer? (“I don’t know what you mean”) What voltage does the battery put out? (“You’re guess is as good as mine”) .
So here’s this guy that doesn’t really know thing 1 about the products that he is selling, probably retired, just selling e cigs at a price that *might* cover rent and keep the lights on if he’s lucky. This place is practically a non-profit.
I’ve converted a few smokers to vaping, but I never really thought of it as “my good deed for the day.” This guy is a Catholic monk doing what he believes is God’s work. I mean, I started vaping so I wouldn’t die, I never thought that really, when you convert a smoker, you are extending their life span…..kind of sorta saving their life, maybe. It just sort of put a new spin on the whole thing to me……made me think a little anyway.
I let him drip a little of my DIY Mt. Dew and ripe banana, and let him keep the Mt. Dew. I tossed him an ECF business card in case he wanted to do a little research. He invited me back to play chess sometime (“you can see I don’t get a lot of business in here and if I could get a few more cars in the parking lot, it might be good for business”). I’ll probably take him up on it.
Anyway, just thought I’d tell the story. It was interesting to me; maybe it will be to others as well.
