Buying local (B&M) Vs the Internet

[Riff]

I know the internet will always undercut B&M prices. I know that one huge advantage of a good B&M is that ability to hold and examine X and even the possibility of walking out with X in your pocket. So why do i feel so upset that my local B&M "almost got me" to pay $50 for a full size Nautilus? Is it because they ran out of stock and I was able to walk away? Is it because for the same $50 I could get 2 online right now? Is it that I just wanted a new tank that day and got disappointed to go home empty handed?

I like my local B&M. They haven't really done anything to get my ire. I kinda wish they had tried to be more pushy when I first went in there, my starter kit left me wanting and was replaced within 3 days. They have good suggestions on juice, and a good range. They have helped me ease into the idea that there are wider juice flavors than I had ever imagined. That said I find myself drifting away form them with every purchase. They are woefully undercut on almost every major piece of tech in the place, almost every thing can be bought online for less than 50% of their asking price. They are getting less willing to talk flavors, they just want to talk Mod building.

Sadly it's starting to feel like if you aren't one of their inner circle of friends they just don't have time for you anymore.

Does this mirror anyone else's experience? Is it just the staff here or does this happen often?
Do you but online, or in a nifty B&M?

 

[Robino1]

I buy online. Simply for the fact that when I first started vaping, there were barely any B&M places. Now that I have my grove, a B&M just isn't something I have a need for.
I did just visit one not long ago. My first ever. It was a cool experience, talking vape stuff with someone in person instead of in the forum...

 

[*deleon517*]

We have more vape shops here then one can count on both hands. Sadly all the brick and mortar ones are priced gouged double or triple the internet. The one in my local mall is probably the most reasonable with pricing on standard stuff, plus have a lttle of everything from ego-t's to mechanical options which are very well priced for non internet business. Just depends on the market in your area, and how much competition there is to push the price lower or higher.

 

[Equilibrium]

.... "Does this mirror anyone else's experience?"....

Not in my case. I have a great local B&M that I buy all of my stuff from. With the exception of wicking material and kanthal. Their prices are in line with the online vendors too.

Regrettably.... I'm not sure how much I will buy from them from now on. With the exception of juice. The Reo "bottom feeder" that I'm using now has completely ruined every other mod I own. And as far as I know, you can only get a Reo from reosmods.

I will continue to buy juice from them though. They have some great "in house" juices that they mix. The guy that owns the place is great and very knowledgeable.

 

[Vapiing pet]

I'm all about supporting local businesses. But I can't in this case. We bought our itaste vv 3.0s locally and fell in love with vaping and the shop we purchased them from....until we went home and researched online costs. Our fault, we should have researched BEFORE going in. Once we started to see how much we overpaid. ..Well my .... still hurts. I know these B&M places have overhead etc. but I can't justify spending twice the amount to support them. I have bills to pay too

 

[dannyrl]

I pretty much only use B&Ms to sample juices and examine hardware before buying everything online. As much I feel bad for just going in to give my money to someone else, in-store prices just aren't worth it for me. I do occasionally buy a few bottles of juice if the staff is nice and really easy to get along with, but for the most part, I do all my vaping business online.

 

[Fattlestar]

I wish I didn't have to order online. I prefer the convenience of walking into a shop, finding what I was looking for, and walking out right away able to use my new stuff. But the prices are just too out of control in B&M shops. Well, where I live at least. 2x the cost on everything. I just can't pay that. I'd rather support the local economy, but it would literally break me. So I can't.

 

[nyiddle]

Yeah. My local vape shop has reasonable prices on everything (they more or less match online prices, and the convenience of walking out with a device rather than waiting for it in the mail really appeals to me).

That said though, I'd rather buy most stuff online, juice, devices, whatever. It seems more convenient, and unless the shop gets in something that I was about to buy online (happened with my IPV3), I don't really frequent it as much as when I started vaping.

I know the juices I like, and too many times I've gone into the shop only to find that they're sold out at my preferred nicotine level, or they're sold out of the juice entirely. There have even been situations where I call and say, "Hold a few bottles of x, I'll be in within the hour" and I get there to learn that I spoke with a different employee, and they didn't hold the juice I wanted. ALSO, and this is something that vape shop owners/employees should take note of: I have RARELY seen variation in size of bottle at any vape shop. Usually they'll only carry one size, and it's usually the smallest available size.

I realize it saves/makes them more money, but I know what I like at this point, and I don't want to buy 3x 15mL bottles, especially given the savings I get straight from the juice company buying 1x large bottle. Y'know? I have gone into shops, sampled the juice, and then gone home and ordered the juice online. If I know I like it, I want to pay the best price to get as much as possible.

 

[cwoodnola]

There are a couple of B&M shops in my area. One is a high end shop the other more of a discount kind of place. The high end shop makes some great in house juices and has special pricing for regular customers. I buy all of my equipment from them. I am not into clones and I can see up front what I am getting. The other plus is they are nice people who have a lot of information on vaping and I now count them as my friends.

 

[leekeylee]

My local vape shop here in the UK is not bad on price compared to the internet, I expect to pay a few £ more for stuff as they have the overheads of running a shop. I do enjoy going in and having a chat with them about all the new bits I have discovered and comparing latest mods/tanks etc. that I may have got online. They were blown away when I walked in with my iStick the other day.

I usually out of courtesy more than anything pick up a few bottles of juice from them when I go in especially if they have some new flavours in worth a try but as a whole I buy from the internet.

 

[bigbrown]

I think it's preference...

I'm more of a shop till you drop literally, I think i'll find myself in about 20-30 online sites only to find minimal savings with codes... then finally not end up getting anything for another few months!

 

[Cool-breeze]

I rarely buy online. I hate paying for shipping (which isn't always an issue) and I really HATE that a company has my money when I do not have my product. I enjoy the experience of hanging out with other vape heads and my area has at least 7 different companies within a 15 min drive. Not all of them are good places but enough are. To be fair I bought a topper 2 months ago and before that the last thing I bought was my REO in June. I guess my point is if you don't buy gear non stop its easier to justify the B&M prices for connivence of "I want it now!". Another reason I like B&M is returns have always been easier, IMO, than dealing with an online business. I can't say I've seen the inner circle group you mentioned per say. When I'm in a shop I get the customer service I expect.

 

[wonner]

I really love the touch and feel aspect of local shopping and I have two very good B&Ms. Both are very competitive on price.

I buy most of my stuff from them.

But neither can afford the huge inventory of online stores, and some of the latest and greatest hardware is only sold through exclusive online dealers.

I shop wherever I need to get what I want, but will also go local if possible.

 

[FallenRawToast]

There are 3 BM's close to me, and wanting to support local business. I tried them all out.

The first should be driven out of business, I watched them set up brand new vapers with Mech devices, really low ohm coils, and sent them out the door. No explaintion on ohms law, or batteries or anything... I just think that is criminal.

The 2nd is "lounge" type, but it is really just a place the owner and his cronies can see who can blow the biggest cloud. If you want something that isnt for massive cloud chucking, they either dont have it or try to steer you away to something else far more sub-ohm'ing. You get judged as inferior if you have a regulated device.

The 3rd place, has a decent selection, a nice tasting bar....yet... they are never open on time, always closing early, and I have seen them charging $50 ofr a clone that is $10 on FT. Overhead, certainly is not 500%. Oh and to make it worse, the main owner..all she wants to talk about, is her provari. Sure great device, but it doesnt fit everyones need, so if she is the only one in the shop, and you are looking for some sales help, she is totally useless.. unless you want to talk provari.


So.. yeah I would love to support BM's, but I get everything online pretty much. There are some really nice BM's further away from me, and when I am near them I do buy some juice and maybe a topper occasionally, but I only get over in their direction and have the time once every few months.

 

[wshanncap]

I personally wish we had a vape lounge in my area. All we have are the tobacco dealers who are trying to recover their losses to people wisely switching to vaping. And unfortunately they are priced thru the roof and don't have a clue about the gadgets they sell. My experience with a B&M while I was away for the summer was great. The Planet Vape in Charleston South Carolina actually helped me move from ecigs to vaping. The owner even sat down with me and taught me how to build coils, test resistance, and so on. They have get-togethers and cloud contests and just all sorts of fun. I really wish we had a shop like that in my area. But since we don't I do all my buying online. If a good, friendly, helpful vape lounge would open near me I would give them some of my business because I do believe in supporting local mom and pop shops.

 

[Alien Traveler]

I hate shopping. Any shopping. So, no B&M for me.

 

[Steven G]

First setup came from a B&M and after checking online was not to highly priced. I when back for my first upgrade and feel I was treated fair with the ability to taste different flavor liquids its a plus. That being said my next upgrade is an MVP 2 which will be purchase online. Having been bit by the oh look at that bug I can see more online purchases though I will still buy from my local shop the service is really great and nice friendly people

 

[sketchness]

I want to like the B&M's near me but so far just haven't really found one I click with. If I go in and sample juices I will buy something as a courtesy unless all their flavors are just bad (this has happened a time or two). I will buy coils and batteries local because I want to see what I am buying in this respect. I am with others on here about overall pricing. You can mark it up a few bucks I understand. But 10.95 for a 15ml bottle of average sauce isn't going to keep me coming back. And I finally had to break down and order online for a longer style drip tip. I ordered 5 of differing styles (two different vendors), to try and find one I like, even with shipping I will have saved $3 compared with the only one I could find locally that i sort of liked. This after being very descriptive with one shop (I had kinda liked) about what I was looking for, they referred me to a shop about 20 miles away or online. I am still looking for that one shop in my area where i can refer converts to, with a simple statement: Go to xyz those folks at that shop are awesome they will take care of you. I have CASH to spend on a monthly basis that is significant, but it has all been flowing to online vendors.

Mod selection and pricing is a joke with its very own punch line. Sigelei 100watt = 139-150 locally. I would have paid 125 plus tax to touch one before buying. Instead I got one online for $99. 60-70 for mvp2's um hell no. Mech mods out the yang all overpriced 30-50 bucks. This is at 8 different stores mind you. The lone store that has good prices on hardware is also the place where the sony batteries are fakes LOL.

Anyway. This truly isn't a rant, it is a prayer to the Vape Gods. Put in a good brick and mortar store in Sacramento. And could you make at least one of the clerks over the age of 30? Thanks that is all.

 

[Brynglas]

My local B&M swears he will match any internet price.
I've had a couple of tanks from him and fair play he did match the price i said i had found,didn't even ask me where.
He doesn't deal with high end,so it's no good me going in saying "i've found a P3 for a hundred bucks".
Only one problem with B&M, NO vape mail.

 

[Jdurand]

Interesting,

I just went to my first B&M this weekend. I also noticed I could get a ton more for my money online. The prices even for juices were way out of line even with Halo juices. They did do their best to make us feel welcome and allowed me to try as many flavors as I wished. I felt kind of bad and at least purchased a couple bottles of juice from them, but no way could I justify the price on mods, tanks etc... I did notice there was a "base" of regulars there, and I did feel somewhat like an "outsider", but I chalked that up to being sort of out of my element. I guess if I was going there more often, made a few purchases and spent some time talking with the guys, I could pick up a lot of the knowledge that I'm looking for. I can see the benefit of this if I wanted to start building coils or mixing DIY juices. I don't know how the B&M's will compete for hardware though.