Another B&M rant
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I really like the guy that runs The vaping Shack, the shop nearest me; he's not really "expert," but he truly knows how to get a new vaper setup properly, told everything he needs to know to start and be safe, and he really seems to care about helping people make a smooth transition from smoking to vaping -- I was still smoking when I started going in there, using a cigalike, but I never got any of that "oh isn't that cute" kind of crap from him about a cigalike -- he sold me my first T3S, showed me how the coil fitted in it (he didn't have any spares in stock at the time, or would have sold me a couple I'm sure). He's got some higher-end stuff too, and I'd say it's only slightly overpriced, not drastic gouging, but maybe just enough to allow him a slight profit margin. His prices on ejuice aren't *too* bad, but he doesn't sell any with enough PG to suit me, so I had to stop buying it.
Unfortunately his counter staff is not nearly as informed nor engaging, which is too bad, but his shop has gotten very popular over the year+ I've been vaping, so maybe not everyone objects to elitist cloud chasers with piercings and tats *everywhere*.
Andria
Unfortunately his counter staff is not nearly as informed nor engaging, which is too bad, but his shop has gotten very popular over the year+ I've been vaping, so maybe not everyone objects to elitist cloud chasers with piercings and tats *everywhere*.
Andria
The ones I've been to have been alright, but overpriced as usual. The ones we have locally are tobacco/vape/other stuff shops and I personally have preferred the couple of vape only shops I've been to (not locally sadly) The one I go to locally is a tobacco shop but is more vape/other stuff *stuff* oriented. They seem to have had a lot of employee turnover recently, the two employees that were friendly and helpful are gone and they've had several since. One in particular, I avoided stopping when I noticed their vehicle in the parking lot. Just unfriendly in general and none too helpful. Stopped today and another new employee being trained... Will see how long that one lasts. I wish an actual vape shop would open in town though; I just don't feel all that great going into a tobacco shop. I'm not a tobacco smoker and I certainly don't smoke *other stuff*, and I know enough people around town I don't want to be seen as such.... I'm a vaper and would happily walk into a vape shop. Anyone else feel the same, or am I just weird?
I had some time to kill the other day, so I saw a new location for a vape shop that advertises a good bit, so I wondered in. The first thing I saw was a Sig150, non temp control, for $139.99. 25 feet of kanthal for $12.99.....I wondered back out.
We have one dedicated shop here, guess better then none. Granted the guy seem to take the time to explain stuff although I never could be bothered listening in what he actually tells people.
I left the shop seeing China liquids being sold for 6€+ (10ml) and nothing beyond the average starterkit. Even the local cigarette stores don't dare to ask such prices.
The internet it is for now...
I left the shop seeing China liquids being sold for 6€+ (10ml) and nothing beyond the average starterkit. Even the local cigarette stores don't dare to ask such prices.
The internet it is for now...
I have had so many friends and family members show me the 4-6 month old technology they paid 150% of retail for, and the awful 3rd party ejuice flavors I just never bothered to visit the local B&Ms, would rather wait 2 months for a Fast Tech order and get something cool, lol.
Up until this past year, the only local shop was Sweet Vapes (which was fine: they're good people). Then a couple more opened... then one even closer (run by someone with no clue), and now one in my home town (run by a VERY nice young lady)
Haven't run into too many problems in shops, but have seen a couple that I wouldn't buy from
Haven't run into too many problems in shops, but have seen a couple that I wouldn't buy from
Yes, really. B&M stores have overhead that an online stores don't have and generally don't move the volume that online stores do. Stock price on a particular item generally goes down if you buy higher quantities. Since a B&M doesn't buy as many from a manufacturer as an online store, they pay a higher price initially and thus have to charge more in order to make a profit from it.
This is why Walmart is cheap..... They buy stuff in massive bulk and get huge discounts for it. Most local B&M stores can't compete that way.
Would you rather they had a 50W mod for EVERY flavor in the store?
The local B&M I occasionally go to has little sanitary covers for their testers. They're not meant to be the be all end all for vaping. Just to give you an idea of a juice flavor.
This is a hazard for newbies even online.
Before B&M stores started popping up there were a lot of us that made bad purchases on gear and juice online simply because we had nothing to go on.
That being said, you gave your friend good advice and he should have stuck with it and not fallen to sales pressure.
How about supporting the local economy?
How about not giving every dollar we have to GiantCorp?
How about when you do find a decent shop, you find a good bunch of guys who aren't just interested in selling you something but make sure you are happy and know how to use the gear you bought properly?
Hmm!? I wish you would have used the camera or video recorder in your phone to
document this incident.
Regards
Mike
I have no vape shops close to me so I don't worry about going to them anymore. A $15 bottle of juice ends up costing $25-30 or more with gas figured in. I can get anything/everything I need through mail order and save a boatload of $$$. The last shop I was in had chuff caps for $9.95 each. I ordered 10 for $10. 'Nuff said.
To further clarify... I understand that a B&M store has overhead. Rent, utilities, paid employees 8-12 hours a day 6-7 days a week. I am happy to pay more in person than online because I am generally impatient and I want it now... not in 3-5 days. Selling a subox kit that can be found for 50ish online for 115$ is an insane mark up... I simply wont pay it. There is a shop an hour from me that sells the istick 100 watt for a mere 50$... I honestly think they could charge 60$ and that would still be a reasonable mark up. I understand overhead... I do not accept outrageous price gouging.
I don't expect every shop to have a 50 watt box mod and a lemo drop for trying flavors. But a shop filling CE4 clearos with high VG juice is just cutting their own throats. I have seen shops that allow you to use your own dripper, that have clone subtanks with the 1.5 ohm coils or even long barrel atomizers.
The behavior the store displayed with my friend/coworker is what is damaging the reputation of B&M stores. Its not grumpy old dudes like me out on a smear campaign... they do it all by themselves.
Finally... I do support local business... I shop at the local farmers markets, local charity thrift stores, I pay a little extra at my local hardware store and grocery store instead of using home depot and walmart... wanna know why? because they have earned my trust. I can walk in and find helpful employees at my local ace hardware that can help me solve plumbing emergencies and they don't charge me 75$ for a cut off valve that should cost 5$.
I WILL NOT SUPPORT A LOCAL SHOP that mixes house juice in unsanitary conditions, has employees handling nicotine that have no idea what they are doing. Just because you can drip some juice onto a Clapton coil and wear a wool cap and nerdy glasses does not make you at all knowledgable about juice, equipment, safety or anything else. Price gouging, tricking customers into buying outdated gear just so you can get rid of it... and unsanitary conditions... I HOPE YOU GO OUT OF BUISNESS...
Willie B, I appreciate your concern for local shops... My GF and I drive an hour to the one shop we know of that is absolutely hands down a great place to visit. We pass up a dozen shops that we wouldn't pee on if they were on fire to visit the one really impressive one. I go because my GF is new to vaping and likes to try juice and look at mods and tanks. I have little interest in any of it... but I never leave without buying a battery or small bottle of juice... they work so hard, and have prices so fair I almost feel guilty not to support them. For my normal purchases I buy of the trade forums, and coils in bulk however I find them the cheapest... even my favorite 22$ a bottle of juice sold on the trade forums 40$ for 5 bottles.
That's not to bad a mark up for a B&M at all. It depends on how many you order.
An online shop is probably ordering 100 at a time. A B&M maybe 5 to 10.
On a brighter side I have noticed hardware from the long established company's is
coming way down in B&M's here. Vision spinners for $19.99. Standard EVOD battery's
for $9.99 and EVOD Mega tank + battery,$29.99. EGO's prices are starting to drop too.
Regards
Mike
I feel the same way about B&M stores I been to a lot all over I been to South Korea, Guam, Hawaii, California, Florida and Japan. it just about the same song a dance with the high prices the only shop that had fair prices was in Japan they had a Doge V1 for 45$ once converted from Yen. I was blown away to see it and it was real not a clone this was a few months shy of a year ago. Everywhere else I been to was crazy high prices for authentic and clones. some shops don't even tell you it's a clone you just have to know what you're looking at. there was a shop in Guam that tried to sell me a Plume Veil V1 for 50$ and I was happy. Till I asked to see it out of the case I knew it was too good to be true. the guy grabs a black box that says atomizer on it and when I saw that I knew it was a clone probably from fast tech. I didn't buy I was just sad that it wasn't advertised as a clone very misleading. To top it off the worst of the worst was in South Korea the shop was full of ego pen style mods and CE4 they had some other tanks an vape stuff but that’s just what stood out to me. That’s not that bad part I know that every country has there laws and regulations it was the juices so first off no nicotine no big deal I understand. It was the fact that when you bought the juice you got the nicotine in a separate little eye drop bottle to mix yourself I was blown away. Not cause you had to DIY it because it was 100mg nicotine and the guy told me yeah just drop some in your juice and taste it and add more if you want. I just didn’t believe what I had heard just think some guys is going to vape the nicotine or add to much and get sick. So at the end of the day you will only get me in a B&M if I am on a trip and I wants to see how things are there or it’s a Vape 911 type deal where I am out of juice. Since I DIY some I don’t really buy a lot just the few that I really like that I got to have. so at the end of the day B&M are important since that’s where newbies will go to get setup and ask questions. I just want them to get it together and be professionals it's not all about clouds bro. it's about getting off the analogs and changing life's.
Have 3 in my area 2 of them I will never go back into
The 3rd I am there a couple times a week reasonable prices knowledgeable staff & friendly
Clean place & they do free tastings with disposable tip protectors
The 3rd I am there a couple times a week reasonable prices knowledgeable staff & friendly
Clean place & they do free tastings with disposable tip protectors
The vape shop closest to me gives everybody a drip tip when they come in. The juices are all on stands, labeled, in aerotanks with no mouthpieces on them. It's a tiny shop, but the two people who work there are friendly and helpful. I don't buy a lot there, but if I need something now, or just want some different juice, I'm OK with spending a few bucks more than I would online.
To what end? I reserve my phones memory for pictures/vids of friends and family.
Sent from my LGL34C using Tapatalk
Drip tips!That's the only thing that ever gets me into a vape shop anymore.
Andria
I usually narrow my choices down to a few, go hit the shops to fondle and grope then go how and order the winner online. I will occasionally buy a new tip if the packages are sealed....Most times they are not though.
I'm not going to rude.
This is related to how my one local vape shop loses my sales routinely.
They do have a great taster setup, multiple iStick 40s, large supply of disposable drip tips, and a rack of Nautilus tanks with every juice they have in stock, so they swap the tank, you insert your personal tester drip tip, and test away; no horror story there. The employees are generally friendly and knowledgeable enough, but their hardware prices, ugh. At least 70%-80% over online prices. My usual exchange with is a call/message to ask if they have X in stock and, if so, how much... thank you for your time. Now, let me go order the exact same thing along with wire, drip tips, batteries, etc. for *less* than they just quoted me. And I don't have to make a 15 minute drive (and back again), someone will stick it in my mailbox within the next week.
In the abstract, would love to support them more, it's a reasonably well run operation and, as this thread shows, that is by no means the norm
, but since I started DIYing haven't bought juice since early August (which was the last time I had any reason to set foot in the shop).It just seems as though they don't understand the shaving razor model. Yes, they have overhead. Yes, they can't reasonably buy 100+ pieces of every piece of gear out there. However, when the overwhelming majority of revenue is from juice, which is marked up to the sky just about everywhere so the consumer accepts it, why would you ever want to push your customers online? Sell the hardware for a reasonable mark up and you create more repeat juice customers, which is where the majority of profit comes from to begin with. Send a new vaper searching online because they can't really believe product X costs $75 where they find it for $40 and you risk never seeing that customer again.
75$ for a $15 clone they bought wholesale for $9 isn't "covering overhead".
It's taking advantage of new vapers.
I won't support blatant thieves, Facebook businesses without a biz lisc, unprofessionalism or overpriced vendors.
You don't get a pass to rip people off just because you own a vape store.
If people would stop supporting these poorly ran shops, we might actually start seeing a few that are ran with professionalism and honesty.
What's your integrity worth?
It's taking advantage of new vapers.
I won't support blatant thieves, Facebook businesses without a biz lisc, unprofessionalism or overpriced vendors.
You don't get a pass to rip people off just because you own a vape store.
If people would stop supporting these poorly ran shops, we might actually start seeing a few that are ran with professionalism and honesty.
What's your integrity worth?
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