I'm not sure if I agree with you. A no-brainer starter kit for the price of a carton of smokes most places isn't overcharging. I probably "overpaid" for my first starter kit, but it worked, it was simple to use, I didn't have to go to a university to learn how to use it. '5 year old' technology' in one person's eyes is still modern - and preferable - in others.
I haven't shopped at V4L for maybe 2-3 years now, but I get regular emails from them, and I appreciate being kept on the mailing list. I just placed an order for some new auto 808d batts and figured I'd try their newfangled cartomizers (when did we start buying cartomizers in ohms anyway?) I think it was 6 bucks/batt and 8 bucks/pack of carts - all on sale. And Gabe gave me a free shipping coupon. (thanks, Gabe!) That's about a month's supply for me. Plug and play works.
Most of the tanks nowadays seem a step backward, fluctuating tank pressure as much a pain with glassos as it was with syringe tankos. I think it's good that there are 400+ brands of post-and-ground rebuildable and blast-proof dripomizers. But after 3 years of catering to the drippers and watt chasers, where's the blastproof attnys? People didn't look beyond the 401/510/808/901 because the atomizers were crap, well, maybe the 510s were, but it was mostly batt life and delivery systems that needed improving. Flashlight mods solved the batt problem but it seems the atomizer turned hard-left and dripping for flavor morphed into cloud chasing. Back to V4L carts - which operate just fine regardless of air pressure and which deliver nicotine first and clouds second. Or did, we'll see how the 'new' ones fare.
Is the markup at the hobby store any less than at an e-cig store? I think the mistake some other stores are making is they are leaving in the dust the tried and true low watt group, and the novice, uneducated, and ever-growing potential user of the middle-aged variety, looking for the plug and play they saw on TV and not looking for an education in physics. Some stores try to outdo each other selling overpowered smoke machines to a very small hobby crowd - a crowd that really has little to do with smoking cessation or harm reduction, imo, and a crowd that for the most part encourage each other not to support forum suppliers but a Chinese website or three. Is 'e-cig store' even an appropriate term for those stores dedicated to the watt-chasing hobbyist? If not, how can their momentary success be compared to those that are e-cig stores and that do maintain their identity?
I don't know too many old folks who want to fog out the tv with two breaths - or fiddle with teensy little coils and teensy little silicon threads and such. Needle nose bottles are already enough of a pain. Give me a battery, give me a cart or two, give me a shiny pcc and I'll call it a satisfied day.
and I'm not sure that Morandir would say that they are gonna get it straightened out, anymore. I think we are watching a death spiral; Rocco and Morandir both predicted it a while back. I hope they are wrong cuz V4L has some juice flavors I can't seem to find anywhere else, and if they go under I hope they give us advance warning so that we can stock up.
