Anti B&M

[Zealous]

I won't say that I'm "anti" B&Ms. I do like some of the juices local vendors make. However, when I started vaping there were no B&Ms anywhere so my vaping choices have been made with the idea of self sufficiency in mind. That being the case, I don't really "need" anything my B&Ms sell other than juice.

But the B&M closest to me isn't that outrageous as far as pricing goes. Their evod heads are more expensive than what I'd pay online. But I've bought maybe 3 from them ever & those were just to tide me over until things I ordered online arrived. In this area I think they are very useful.

 

[MustangSallie]

...

...B&M (what does that even stand for by the way?). ...

...

B&M stands for Brick and Mortar, i.e. physical location as opposed to virtual or internet. I didn't see anyone else answer your question, my apologies if someone did and I missed it.

 

[crxess]

B&M Does NOT have to mean Unreasonably High Prices.
Does not matter how much per Sq.Ft. Leasing runs. You Make your Business Plan and Factor all of this in.
If you cannot be competitive, you either re-work your plan or you jump in and eventually lose everything invested.

No, an actual Brick and Mortar establishment is Not going to compete with a on-line only Business. This is to be expected and a reasonable price difference is also to be expected.

Don't Be FOR or AGAINST the B&M's
Be Smart
If Prices are out of line - Walk out and don't go back unless you hear they have adjusted for fair market pricing.
Get what you need on-line until you can Find a Good/Reputable/Fair B&M to deal with.

We went from -0- in a 50 mile radius to 5 in just the last 6 months.
3 Are a total Joke with pricing approaching 2x expected B&M retail
1 is Reasonable but has only lower end and little of that
1 is Right in pricing, has decent selections and Knowledgeable Staffing

Wonder who will survive?

We also have a local, 6th shop just opening.
Sounds like they intend to do things right.
Advertized for a month for experienced / Knowledgeable persons for full/part time.
I'll give them a few weeks to get settled and check things out.

 

[Nikkita6]

That's right, I'm against my local B&M stores. They charge far too much for what I'd like to purchase so I scour the interwebs for deals that make my wallet happy.
Sorry, but getting something right now isn't worth the extra dollars to me. I'll be ok waiting for something I find more reasonably priced.

I don't have any local B&M's, but if I did, I would never shop there ... To be fair to B&M's, as a rule there will always be a higher mark up on products because they do have higher overhead costs (rent & utilities), but even with that considered, I still think that many go overboard with pricing. And I also believe that some B&M's prey on "newbie ignorance".

I will forever be a patron of online vendors

 

[havok333]

I tend to make most of my purchases online. I look for free shipping if I can find it sometimes I have to hold off ordering until I need enough stuff to qualify for free shipping.

In Ohio I have been pleased with the prices at Alt Smoke in Columbus and Cincinnati (Eastgate). Groove-E-Juice in Kent, OH for juices.

I do the very same thing buy mostly online and bundle things to try for free shipping. In SC we do have Vaping Zone and eCig Charleston that I've made purchases from. The former where I got my first mod, and the latter for ego equipment. Almost got a Bolt in Charleston years ago but held off and got SB from your Altcig instead!

Sent from my XT1049 using Tapatalk

 

[sdennislee]

B&Ms with juice bars are a great resource when you want to sample juices before buying. I always purchase a few bottles from them to say thanks for letting me come in and sample. After that I order the juice online.

 

[Myk]

We went from -0- in a 50 mile radius to 5 in just the last 6 months.
3 Are a total Joke with pricing approaching 2x expected B&M retail
1 is Reasonable but has only lower end and little of that
1 is Right in pricing, has decent selections and Knowledgeable Staffing

Wonder who will survive?

That is a really hard call with so many fools thinking "you get what you pay for" always applies and are convinced a $30 Vamo isn't as good as a $100 Vamo.

I don't know who they get them from but I do know Joye's MMP allows for some nice profits. That is one thing I will not consider from my local because it is over MMP. Maybe it's their distributor or maybe it's them, either way, they need a different plan if they want to sell Joyetech to me.
Their Innokin prices are in line with what is expected.

 

[spookyluke]

I live in Australia. We have no vape stores you can walk into. Limited number of Australian online vendors. Nicotine is illigal to sell here so all e-liquid has to be imported. When I want to buy something I have to expect to add $25 for shipping. Really sucks if you just want to try a new flavor. I can't justify shipping fees that exceed the price of the product. If I wamt to make a purchase I have to add it to the list and wait until the list is long enough to make a order. Then hope that I can get everything I want from the same vendor. Then expect to wait 14-21 days.

 

[8dragon9]

I do the very same thing buy mostly online and bundle things to try for free shipping. In SC we do have Vaping Zone and eCig Charleston that I've made purchases from. The former where I got my first mod, and the latter for ego equipment. Almost got a Bolt in Charleston years ago but held off and got SB from your Altcig instead!

Sent from my XT1049 using Tapatalk

Are you.far.from charleston?


sent from the s4 of DOOOM

 

[Hulamoon]

I can't say I'm anti B&M. While experience and forums like this will save a lot of money, many folk will have their first purchase of an "e-cigarette" from a store, even if it's the local 7-11. And because of availability, that may well be their Eureka moment when they realise that they could possibly kick the smoking habit.

As has been said before payroll, rent, utilities et al has to be taken into account and is the price of convenience. There's still a lot of folk who prefer not to use the web for our hobby and like the hands on approach. Admittedly there are a lot of stores where these are sold and the clerk hasn't got a clue which is a shame.

But! On a very positive note, B&M's are businesses. And, because they represent money and taxes may well be the forerunners in holding up OUR collective vaping rights when Pfizer paid politicians across the country are right now slithering through anti-e-cig legislation.

So do give them some support when it is possible to do so, because many of them are very pro-active in keeping our rights alive on the State level. e.g. In Hawaii recently Volcano e-cigs went ALL guns a-blazing to turn over at least 2 (Pfizer and cronies sponsored) committee bills which were originally thought to be all-in-favor slam dunks for forwarding to the House.

One of those bills was to ban all flavored tobacco - including e-cigarettes, which would essentially have killed Hawaii vaping rights. E-cigarettes were removed from the bill. That's Huge.

 

[jwag1973]

I'm not anti-B&M, I'm anti price gouging! If you couple that with the arrogant employee's who seem to think all customers are oblivious to anything vape related, their not for me! I believe I've got more knowledge regarding gear than most employee's in these shops. I've yet to find an acceptable juice here locally, not to mention they try to charge premium prices for a detestable product. That said, a couple B&M's have fair pricing on coils and tanks, I'll buy from them happily. Everything else is online. If B&M's want my money, they'd better work as hard for it as I do!

 

[2coils]

I'm not anti-B&M, I'm anti price gouging! If you couple that with the arrogant employee's who seem to think all customers are oblivious to anything vape related, their not for me! I believe I've got more knowledge regarding gear than most employee's in these shops. I've yet to find an acceptable juice here locally, not to mention they try to charge premium prices for a detestable product. That said, a couple B&M's have fair pricing on coils and tanks, I'll buy from them happily. Everything else is online. If B&M's want my money, they'd better work as hard for it as I do!

I've been told from a couple of shops around here, because of advanced ecigs still being a niche market, its extremely hard to find knowledgeable help. That isn't to say, one cant be trained, but I kind of see their point. One can definitely tell if a shop is opened by experienced vapers versus a shop opened by someone who is "just looking to cash in".

 

[sean5340]

I have a B&M very close to my house. They sell ce4's, protanks, ego VV's and evics. I've purchased from them paying about 20% more than I could have. It's not a real big deal but the lack of knowledge amazes me. Not one person that works there even vapes.

 

[Bramble]

I live in Australia. We have no vape stores you can walk into. Limited number of Australian online vendors. Nicotine is illigal to sell here so all e-liquid has to be imported. When I want to buy something I have to expect to add $25 for shipping. Really sucks if you just want to try a new flavor. I can't justify shipping fees that exceed the price of the product. If I wamt to make a purchase I have to add it to the list and wait until the list is long enough to make a order. Then hope that I can get everything I want from the same vendor. Then expect to wait 14-21 days.

wow

Is it that complicated and expensive to get a pack of cigarettes??

 

[Bramble]

B&M Does NOT have to mean Unreasonably High Prices.
[...]

For sure. I'm getting Evod tanks for $6, and replacement heads for $1.50
Juice runs $5+ for 15 mL

I think it's because we have 5-6 stores in town and each of them also has online sales (at least for now).

I did buy my glassomizers online because I found them for half the price as the stores. As much as I love Virgin Vapor and MBV I do buy most of my juices locally.

 

[Simply Red]

Consider this. A B&M store buys direct from KangerTech. KT will sell you 5 Evods for $23.00 Lets say, for this example, the B&M buys 20 - 5 lot batches (that's how they sell them) of the KT Evod. That store will pay $13.00 for the same 5 lot batch. I'm leaving tax and shipping out for simplicity. Ok. Lets do some math:

5 evods/23.00=$4.60 ea

20 lots x 13.00=$260 per 100 evods
260/100=$2.60 ea

The B&M (around the corner from my house) charges $14.50 FOR ONE EVOD!! That's (about) 5 1/2 TIMES WHAT THEY PAID FOR IT!!

Look, I understand profit, overhead, wages, insurance, rent and so on and so forth but, $14.50???!!! Get real!!

Needless to say, I don't go to that B&M anymore.

Ok. Rant over.

 

[Pathogenius]

I have nothing against people asking whatever they want for whatever they sell. What I can't understand is why they turn me away when I try to negotiate a lower price. I tell them the cost they paid for it. I agree to not ask for any after sales support. The response is always a lie.

"We can't do that"...

Doing that to me then costs them far more than what they would "loose". How can they be so shortsighted?

Again I don't begrudge anyone for that, I just think it's tragic and foolish, and suggests of a hit and run attitude.

Also complicating the issue is the fact that we are about to have it all taken away because of both web sellers and B&M's in your face storefronts bringing it all out into the open. We could have dragged this out for a long time under the radar Japanese style. Again, I mean no hostility here, I've taken care of my needs for years to come, I just think it's a tragedy.

 

[hardcyder]

I am so lucky having a B&M within 20 minutes. Can get what I need and dont mind them making a buck. Good people, doing a public service whether they realise it or not. Let em make a buck and give em a tip. Support your local shops.

 

[Roccov]

I have yet to have an excellent experience at any B&M. Not everyone is an experienced vapor and should not be treated as one nor should new vapors be misinformed. I had once been asked to leave an establishment when trying to explain to another customer that was looking for an initial starter setup that the dual coil dripper setup on the mech they were trying to sell them might not be the way to go. “Initially I said” I did leave but was able to give the other customer my e-mail if they had any questions. Well $300 and two over drained 18650′s later they did have a few. I owe my understanding and concern for safety thanks to my time on the forums and particularly the testing efforts and post of some of the best and brightest here. There is just not the focus on these things at many, not all, Vape shops. There should be. Enjoy the day!

 

[erazzz]

Certain things I buy exclusively online (like attys, they are marked up beyond belief locally). Certain favorite juices of mine are also something I buy online because they aren't sold here.

I don't usually mind paying the markup for other things though. The store I go to has been a place that I've been buying things from for years (back when I used hookahs). Love the owners, don't mind keeping them in business. They aren't marked up too bad either. Before they started carrying ecigs I tried another local store. TERRIBLE PRICES, TERRIBLE JUICE. $10 for 10ml, couldn't even vape the flavorless stuff. Not only that, it had stuff floating in it so I chucked it in the trash. The employee knew nothing about juice and couldn't even tell me what flavor it was.

I've been to 2 great B&Ms that I would buy from anyday. But, at the same time, I've been to some really cruddy ones that make me understand why some people only buy online.