Companies Monopolising E-cigs ......

[banjo]

I think whoever has the money to get the exclusive deal gets it.Just like every other business.Its about money and profits.Cant blame anyone for trying to make money.

Glad to hear so much sympathy for the "market", and so little concern for the consumer. Perhaps you would feel different if one of the tobacco companies, because they have the money, and realize the potential profit to be made with eCigs and related products, secured exclusive rights to the majority of the products we now have access to - "Just like every other business. Its about money and profits." When everything is reduced to "money and profits," we all, as consumers, lose, and only those with the most money win........

 

[Pav]

Is it me, or is it a bit too soon to be worried about monopolies in the ecig market. It's not regulated at all for anything as far as I know (correct me if I'm wrong here). I've often wondered about the US sellers. Do they operate as a normal business and pay taxes to the Govt? Are they following whatever trade regulations there are with the Chinese goods being brought in? Or is this still a relatively under the table operation? (I'm referring mostly to hardware and juice that comes in from China and is rebranded and sold here, not the homegrown US modders and juice makers.)

Perfectionist, I guess you're saying you want the govt to step in and stop US sellers from signing exclusivity agreements with Chinese manufacturers? Is this correct? In light of the FDA trying to ban them altogether, why would they do that?

Or do you just basically think it's unethical for V4L to try and get exclusive rights to sell one (out of many) catromizer designs. You're more than welcome to your opinion, but practically speaking, what do you think should be done?

 

[cozzicon]

Dude, perhaps you should have studied at the London School of Economics like I did ...... or at least you might want to think about going on a refresher course !!

Seriously I can't believe you actually tried to justify a complete contradiction AGAIN !!

If you were a Doctor about to perform an operation, you'd say the following to your patient :
a) well if you survive the operation, it's good because you can live a long and fruitful life full of love and happiness !!
b) but if you die during the operation, it's still good because you'll no longer have to suffer the torture of existence and go directly to Heaven !!

I salute you once more Sir, for being an accidental comedian !!

Maybe you could answer the question in it's simplest form = Do companies like exclusive agreements because ......
a) it is best for the Consumer
b) it is best for the Company



As to your second more sensible point, the market (as I am correctly identifying in it's widest scope) is being manipulated by the biggest players for their own self-interest ...... Tobacco and Pharma (with the blessing of the Government as they need the Tax Revenue these industries generate) are doing everything they can to cripple, sorry, to "regulate" Vaping as it is effectively a threat to their long-term profits ......

Now seeing as E-cigs have been "banned" in so many other countries ...... do you consider this to be a "free-market" that is (in your opinion) "working" ??

Out of curiosity, do you foresee this fight against the "regulation" of Vaping in the US being successful ?? If indeed this "regulation" is passed, do you see it being applied in a fair and reasonable manner, or do you feel it could be too restrictive and possibly even destructive to Vaping in America ??

You haven't used a single concept or term from any economics I've studied (Keynesian, Monetarist, New School, whatever). So I cannot offer an intelligent response.

Nice baiting however. People who haven't studied this stuff might think you know what you're talking about. Bravo.

To your request for an opinion:

I think trying to predict the future is a dicey matter- not to be attempted in a light hearted manner.

In general, I think it's too late to put the genie back in the bottle.

 

[Elendil]

I think whoever has the money to get the exclusive deal gets it.Just like every other business.Its about money and profits.Cant blame anyone for trying to make money.

Have to agree with this. The rant reminds me of the people complaining a couple of years ago about people paying huge sums to the Elmo doll on ebay because those buyers were depriving their children of the change to have a merry Christmas...........

Money talks. Welcome to capitalism. i wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[v1John]

Well Big pharma took Economics.
Capitalism welcomed big pharma.

If I as a consumer care for a business the way the business cares for my wallet, then I rather just let the big pharma sell the ecigs.

 

[Abe]

This has been going on with Joye products for a few years, the UK market has handled it pretty well I think.

 

[D103]

I have to agree, at least in part, with the concern about monopolies. Monopolies are destructive and end up being abusive to all consumers. "Exclusivity deals" are just one of many ways that monopolies can begin to take over an industry. One only needs to look at the long time descent of our economy and the ever increasing trend of large corporate mergers creating industry monopolies and coporations "too large to fail". The recent "egg/salmonella" problem has been determined to be due, in part, to the way the whole egg industry has changed from smaller "private" egg farms to large-scale corporate egg farms found to be guilty of numerous health and safe practices violations.
Concerning V4L, I'm not aware of what exactly took place - I am just speaking to the wisdom of remaining mindful as passionate consumers to do what we can to encourage the E-Cig industry to remain as fair and competitive as possible.

 

[Nobodyatall]

Crusade ?! Likewise, does the fact that you're defending V4L mean you have some kind of ulterior motive too ??

Dude, it's merely an Internet thread where someone posted an opinion, not a declaration of War !! This is a discussion board, so feel free to agree or disagree or to completely ignore ...... and I don't have a "beef" with V4L in particular, as you can see I didn't put their name in the thread title ...... I'm talking generally about this kind of business move, and wondering why consumers don't seem to have any problem with it ...... just having a debate bro, that is all !!

Oh, a debate? How excellent!

Then by all means, please feel free to respond to the points I made, rather than the humorous frippery I tacked on purely for entertainment value.

To be clear, I've never done business with V4L and may never. However, I DO support their right to make whatever legal business arrangements they can to strengthen their competitiveness. Which will likely force others to do the same. That's normal in a FREE MARKET.

I am most NOT the sort of person who would walk into a McDonalds and demand a Whopper, or into a Chevy dealer and demand to be able to buy a new Mercedes. Nor would I protest if a given car dealer made exclusive arrangements to become a Chevy dealer, or complain that auto manufacturers, etc. have made "nefarious monopolistic agreements" to control the distribution of their products, to the detriment of the consumer. In fact, presenting the idea that anyone has attempted to monopolize the "vaping market" in any way would appear to be something of a misrepresentation in the same way that alleging that Sony is trying to monopolize the TV market would be.

Again, I do not see any substance in your complaints or arguments that do not solely rest upon some mysterious factors which must only be known to those who studied at the London School of Economics or wherever you alleged to have studied.... unless the subject studied was socialism.

Care to elaborate?