Some of you may have noticed lately that the price of
some "authentic" RDA's have come way down in the last while and the availability has gotten a lot better...repeat "some"
I'm not going to pro-con the whole quality vs. cost vs. morality of the clone industry as that's been done to death, I personally have no issues with clones and if some peeps steadfastly refuse to buy a clone...I take no issue with that either, peeps work hard for their money, how they spend it is up to them (though it would be nice if the "authentic only" peeps would stop being so judgy
)
What I do find fascinating however are the drivers of the clone industry...and basically the ecig market manipulation in general. In a nutshell, if I created an RDA say, and made just enough to send out to influential fanboy YT reviewers to build hype and offer the rest for sale on an extremely limited scale and charged accordingly (aka "lots")...I think it would be pretty disingenuous of me to get all bent out of shape when someone comes along and clones it and sells it for a 1/4 of the price...
As far as I'm concerned, that was a proactive marketing move on my part and I had that coming. It's not like my RDA is really that unique...it's a variation of a common theme made of a very common materials using equipment that is readily available (either to own or hire), the exorbitant price I chose for my RDA was not based on intrinsic worth but market value and my limited run only punctuates that, it's not a question of greed, it's a classic example of charging what the market will bare, I'd be an idiot if I didn't...but that's the gamble that many people that make/made "authentic" vape gear played and lost, and will continue to loose if they stick with that marketing schema in this vaping age (btw, I'll type "patent" but it's not worth the .004 calories I wasted to do so).
The method used (intentional or otherwise) by Rob to "clone proof" his product is quite simple...and while his following of Reonauts is appreciated, the public condemnation of those who would clone his product would really have zero impact...Rob's product simply represents intrinsic worth and with it's "off the shelf" availability (Woodvils notwithstanding
), and exemplary customer service, there remains a very limited market share for the clone industry to exploit and so far, the return wouldn't merit the cost.
The Chalice on the other hand...again, I'm not dismissing the quality or value of this device, I'm sure it's wonderful, but it's not about that...bottom line, if the maker is wanting to avoid being overcome by the clone industry, they're doing just about everything wrong, the machine is primed and ready...as Rob said, Alibaba is a marketer and they are doing nothing more than floating a weather balloon, if there is any sniff of demand that could match their customer's (clone industry) calculated unit price margins...release the hounds, and no amount of tut-tutting will stop it...hell, I'll buy one. I'm not proud
just saying...
