China imports everywhere

[Revelene]

The cheap knockoffs can be pretty disappointing. I got a Vivi Nova copy a long time ago, and it was crap, so I never used or recommended them. I ended up with a genuine Vision Vivi Nova recently, the one without the metal tip sticking up from the head, and it has performed very well with everything but unusually thick liquids. Lesson learned.

I believe Altsmoke has opened up stores in Kentucky, and they would be a safe choice in my experience. One other option is to offer to rebuild heads for your friends if they bring the beer lol!

I believe they opened up in Louisville... maybe Lexington. Either way, it isn't local I hate living in the sticks sometimes...

 

[Nikkita6]

Revelene,

I guess the disconnect is that many people don't seem to have the same experiences as you do. I've bought a LOT of different very inexpensive heads from FT. CE4/5/6, EVOD types, most less than $2/ea. Also drippers, gennys, etc. A surprising favorite was their all-plastic Vivi Novas (all plastic except the base, of course) which for less than $3 each give me a great flavor.

I've had very little, if anything that was total garbage. A few items that needed some tweaking (for rebuildables, the first step is always "yank out whatever coil/wick they put on it"). Their EVODs and CE4-styles have never leaked for me (unless you screw the head on too tight, and it winds up unscrewing the inside coil head). I've never gotten a shorted or dead head, and with an occasional cleaning, get very long life from them. In fact, one of the most frustrating things nowadays is that I'm into winding my own coils, but I hate ripping apart a perfectly good one just to try to replace it with something that may or may not be better.

If you want a real power-hitting head, you have to wind your own IMHO. But for what they are, I've had very good experiences with the quality of the Chinese products. I DO read the comments before buying!!!

Your mileage may vary (and apparently does....)

I would like to know what heads you've been having problems with.... Perhaps you've just picked a bad vendor?

In the three years that I have been vaping, the only defective items I have ever received from China were a broken plastic battery case, a crappy pack of Smoktech XL LR cartos, and a useless 510 to Ego adapter ... and I have a lot of gear that I have purchased over these three years.

For those who are having these "crappy quality" experiences on a regular basis, I am inclined to believe that Universal Law of Attraction applies here, "you attract what you believe in, most especially what you fear". No doubt there are QC issues in China, its the nature of mass production and cheap human labor. But if you know how to shop, and do not jump on everything that seems like a good deal, and take the time to understand the products you wish to buy before you buy them, you can avoid the duds.

 

[TheJakeBailey]

But... why? Wire is EXTREMELY cheap. Literally single digit cents per FOOT. The rest of the head is low-grade metal and plastic which is EXTREMELY cheap as well. Yeah, they may end up being slightly more in cost... not by much but it would be enough were people would buy the cheaper one to save a few bucks.

I know it may not happen soon, if ever... but I just hate the idea that if you buy a premade head there is a possibility of it not working and if it does work it does so in a sub-standard way... and you KNOW you are buying cheesy crud when you do...

The answer to this... is this.

The biggest issue is that labor in China is EXTREMELY cheap. I doubt volumes are high enough for these items to make full automation feasible, so there is higher labor cost plus the added cost of better QA. It would not surprise me if that would double or triple the cost of the items depending on whose current prices you compare to.

It's not about the materials, it's about the labor costs. I'm not bagging on you, but how much would you expect to make in a day if you were assembling and wrapping heads as a job? Let's even just say it's minimum wage, so $7.25 an hour x 8 hrs is $58. How many heads do you think you could hand wrap and assemble in an hour if you were good at it? AND, we have to take the time to make sure they were correct? maybe 10? I really don't know, just kind of making a guess. So that would make your labor costs per head, .73. That doesn't include facilities, materials, shipping, etc, etc.

Per wikipedia, the HIGHEST minimum wage in China is $2.96 per hour, with the lowest being, $1.15, and I would guesstimate an average of $1.50 to $1.75. Now your 10 coils per hour cost .18 in labor.

This is why damn near everything in the world is made in China.

 

[wv2win]

...................

The way I see it... someone needs to step it up and make easily accessible, better quality, premade coil setups. I keep seeing APV, mechanical mods, and rebuildables being made with superb quality but no clearomizers or cartomizers?
................................

How many people would be willing to pay $20 for one coil or at a discount, $80 for five coils? Would you want to work in a coil building shop for say $2.00 an hour, so the coils can be competitive with chinese made coils?

 

[Revelene]

How many people would be willing to pay $20 for one coil or at a discount, $80 for five coils? Would you want to work in a coil building shop for say $2.00 an hour, so the coils can be competitive with chinese made coils?

Ah. That would be insane lol