Dealers first......

[Juggernaut666]

This is why you guys should've made the plan to open up the sell of the P3 both at dealers and online. I called every ProVape dealer in the Dallas/Ft Worth metroplex, EVERY one of them either said "yeah we got one, $300" or "when they come in they'll be....." was quoted anywhere from $280-$300.

That's ridiculous, that YOUR dealers are gouging YOUR customers that way.

Am I upset, yeah, I am. Is it gonna stop me from buying the P3? No. I'll just have to be at your mercy as to when I can buy directly from you, as now I refuse to give these people my money, I would rather it go straight to the source.

Ok rant over..... any chance we could get an estimate as to when they'll go live on the website? [emoji6]

 

[Kloudz]

I feel your pain, I to will wait till I can get mine from the source also.

 

[DoubleEwe]

Is the price not because of Provape setting a minimum recommended retail price for their resellers?

This happens with e-liquids too, five pawns for example ensure that all their resellers sell it for the same price regardless of how much they paid wholesale or want to sell it for.

 

[Juggernaut666]

ProVape said on the P3 thread they are $250.....

 

[DoubleEwe]

ProVape said on the P3 thread they are $250.....

Ohhhh, okay, I now see the reason for your rage!

 

[winder]

Personally, I'd like to see Provape reconsider their new policies.

First off, they don't have an established nationwide retail presence - a big inconvenience for many customers. Expecting folks to drive an hour or more, or to take a chance with an unfamiliar dealer ordering one and then shipping it does not sit well. Especially when, until recently, you could do the same thing from the comfort of your home - without any added cost.

A local shop is owned by a couple of Provari users. But they don't sell them, because 1) high wholesale cost, 2) the demand for expensive mods is a very small percentage of their business, and 3) inventory cost is prohibitive. You can make a lot more money turning a 100%+ profit on MPVs.

So looking at the retail realities, shops are probably not beating down Provape's door.

I think what we're seeing now is Provape's plan to address this. If they could steer (a nicer word than "force") customers into the shops, chances are they'll buy something else while they're there. If you order one, and return to pick it up, the dealer gets 2 cracks at you. It's called incentive to carry your product. On a related note, does anyone really want to hand their P3 to some kid behind the counter for a software update? How popular would it be if Garmin made you take your GPS back to Best Buy for map updates?

So it's going to be interesting to see how all this works out. Will Provape ingratiate more dealers, or alienate more customers?

My own experience started with the Dragon. I was forced (I'll use that word here) to mail order one from an out of state dealer. A sketchy dealer that sent me a unit that looked like it was kicked across the floor a few times. The result? I gave up on owning a Dragon.

I'm not buying any Provape product until they tell me they want my business - by selling it online. I'm not chasing one down, and I'm not paying more than retail.

Don't get me wrong, I really do think Provape makes a great product. I've got a $300+ order in as I type this. But I also feel that perhaps they're taking their customers for granted.

 

[ProV P3T3]

ProVape said on the P3 thread they are $250.....

$250 sounds like a reasonable price for the P3. I purchased mine for $200 from my friends vape shop. It's the best APV I have ever used/owned. I will be purchasing another one when the official release happens (I will be getting the Black one, since I already have the silver Beta). I'm glad Pro Vape has reasonable pricing but I still think it would be worth it at $350. After using the P3 for the last couple months, I can't see myself using anything else.

 

[Juggernaut666]

Totally reasonable, and I'm ready, but for the dealers to be asking more than retail it's unacceptable to me.

 

[woodardjd]

Unacceptable? Really? Vendors would make around $10 per unit if they sold the device for quoted retail. Hardly worth putting it on the shelf.
That's the problem you run into when a manufacturer decides to retail their product as well as wholesale to vendors. The vendor has to sell at
a higher price in order to justify bringing it in to their shop. The public sees it as gouging when that's hardly the case.

 

[BadTrainDriver]

Unacceptable? Really? Vendors would make around $10 per unit if they sold the device for quoted retail. Hardly worth putting it on the shelf.
That's the problem you run into when a manufacturer decides to retail their product as well as wholesale to vendors. The vendor has to sell at
a higher price in order to justify bringing it in to their shop. The public sees it as gouging when that's hardly the case.

How do you know what a store front pays for a Provari from Provape?
I hardly doubt that's a publicized figure.

Keep in mind, I don't care what a store sells for a Provari...because if it's more than retail from Provape, I'll order from Provape...simple as that.

 

[DougFNJ]

Was this for the satin stainless steel or colored? Provape confirmed $250 for satin and $20 more for colored.

 

[Ryuukon]

Yet another reason why the "retailer first" model has hurt Provape. How many times does Provape have to suffer because of problems like this? Let alone all the "retailers" that sold their beta P3s for hundreds of dollars over retail on Ebay.

Just STOP Provape! Your retailers didn't make you what you are, your CUSTOMERS did! How about rewarding US for a change?!

 

[ENAUD]

WOW, just WOW...Provape decides to release through their dealers first, for whatever reasons they chose. It's probably pretty wise to show a little support for the dealers, ProVari's are admittedly not cheap, and in retail, high ticket items kill your turn rate for inventory. The one store that I personally know that stocks them, told me they are only carrying them for the customers, they don't hardly make a profit on them.
Supporting their dealers, another good reason could be to insure a future market for Provape. What if internet sales on ecigs were banned, hand to hand sales only. With no established dealers, your marketing of product suddenly vanishes, gone, kaput. It could happen folks!
Not taking pre-orders, well, another wise move. Pre-orders on a brand new product could generate a flood of orders that could conceivably not be filled immediately, any glitches in supply, production, whatever would certainly cause a lot of angst and grief from anxious customers waiting for their precious. I don't blame them a bit for not going down that road, again, they've already tried that one before .
Kudos Provape, hope you are around for a very long time, and please, keep the ProVari 2.5 around, maybe add the top cap like I have on my Ti

 

[Ryuukon]

I couldn't disagree more ENAUD.

Dealers were making money hand over fist selling their Dragons online for heavily inflated prices, and the same is going to happen to the P3. The dealers are doing just fine. Perhaps not on the older products since it's generally easier to buy a Provari directly from Provape since you can then get it exactly the way you want it, along with all the accessories like matching extension caps, batteries that you KNOW aren't counterfeit, etc. but that's just the nature of the business where knockoffs and heavy customization abound.

Sure, there is a possibility that internet sales MIGHT be banned. But basing something like this off a pretty big maybe is not a good business plan. And it's not like Provape doesn't already have the resources and infrastructure to switch to a 100% retail solution. They've already got most of that all in place.

As for pre-orders, you can't be serious. Provape could nip that little problem right in the bud with a nice disclaimer at the top of their site saying "All pre-orders will be filled in a first come first serve basis. Orders may take up to a month or more to ship due to availability." Problem solved.

It still doesn't solve the current problem, that problem being the over-inflated prices due to the current "dealer only" market.

This whole "dealer only" phase of roll-out needs to go.

 

[BadTrainDriver]

I say, good for the dealers if they can sell them for more than retail. No one is forcing anyone to buy it, so if they do, make that money. Personally, I can wait. Maybe someone else wants it bad enough to pay over retail. Who cares? Why do you care? Why does anyone care? Why does anyone not care? I've forgot what I'm talking about, I care that little.

 

[ENAUD]

As to the pre-orders I couldn't be more serious. It's already the last week of October with the Holidays fast upon us. People don't always care about disclaimers when they are impatiently waiting. Provape bought themselves some time to ramp up production and inventory in the interim.
In the end. I really don't care, It's their company, and they can run it any way they see fit, it's not like I really NEED a P3, or a Dragon...If I want one, I'll buy it. As long as Provape can sell product as fast as they can make it and ship it, good for them. The only "problem" I see is .... hurt from folks who don't like the way Provape is conducting their business, we all have a choice, buy it, or don't.

 

[Juggernaut666]

Alright, I'm over it, local dealer sold me one for under retail.

 

[woodardjd]

How do you know what a store front pays for a Provari from Provape?
I hardly doubt that's a publicized figure.

Keep in mind, I don't care what a store sells for a Provari...because if it's more than retail from Provape, I'll order from Provape...simple as that.

Sorry for not getting back sooner. You're correct. The wholesale price isn't publicized. However, having worked for a retailer, I was given that information when I inquired as to why employee, military and certain other discounts didn't apply to Provaris and other high-end hardware. The margin is so thin that there just isn't enough room to offer a discount. The only reason retailers carry any high-end gear is as a convenience to the customer.
Starter kits, juice and other consumables is where the profit lives. Counterfeits also, if you're so inclined. High-end gear only serves to bring new customers through the door. And it serves that purpose very well.

 

[Ryuukon]

As to the pre-orders I couldn't be more serious. It's already the last week of October with the Holidays fast upon us. People don't always care about disclaimers when they are impatiently waiting. Provape bought themselves some time to ramp up production and inventory in the interim.
In the end. I really don't care, It's their company, and they can run it any way they see fit, it's not like I really NEED a P3, or a Dragon...If I want one, I'll buy it. As long as Provape can sell product as fast as they can make it and ship it, good for them. The only "problem" I see is .... hurt from folks who don't like the way Provape is conducting their business, we all have a choice, buy it, or don't.

With the pre-orders if people fail to read the great big in your face text, that's their problem. No one would fault ANY manufacturer/retailer for people getting anxious when it is spelled out in HUGE plain text that there WILL be delays, and the manufacturers/retailers would NEVER be held at fault because of it. Time of the year does not matter. Look at the ridiculous popularity of FastTech and their extremely long shipping times. People will happily accept delays when it is spelled out to them.

If Provape wanted to take pre-orders RIGHT NOW for a product that won't ship until 2016, all the power to them. Kickstarter does it all the time. If people want to throw a fit because they read the text, paid the pre-order, but suddenly want to whine because they don't want to wait, that's their problem. They signed up for it, they paid for it, they can deal with it. That will NEVER reflect badly upon Provape if they make people fully aware of the delays.

And unlike you, I DO care what Provape does, and how they handle their business, especially their customer service. Not their RETAIL service, the ones they have been pandering to for the past 2 major releases, and the significant minority of their business model. I care about their CUSTOMER service, the service to the people that actually helped build Provape into what it is today. You know, that thing they are normally known for next to their rock solid product? The reasons that most, if not all of us, own Provari's to begin with? I also care when the CUSTOMERS are put in second place, again, versus their RETAILERS. See what I'm saying here? Hope the caps are noted.

I don't want a company that I care a lot about to push aside the reasons that made them great to begin with.

And finally, ".... hurt" is nothing but derogatory. This isn't Reddit. I would hope that you would be more civil in the future.

 

[ENAUD]

And unlike you, I DO care what Provape does, and how they handle their business, especially their customer service. Not their RETAIL service, the ones they have been pandering to for the past 2 major releases, and the significant minority of their business model. I care about their CUSTOMER service, the service to the people that actually helped build Provape into what it is today. You know, that thing they are normally known for next to their rock solid product? The reasons that most, if not all of us, own Provari's to begin with? I also care when the CUSTOMERS are put in second place, again, versus their RETAILERS. See what I'm saying here? Hope the caps are noted.

I don't want a company that I care a lot about to push aside the reasons that made them great to begin with.

And finally, ".... hurt" is nothing but derogatory. This isn't Reddit. I would hope that you would be more civil in the future.

I apologize for the derogatory comment, that was a spur of the moment act of foolishness, and wrong.
Put like you did, I can't help but agree with you, and yes, I too felt kind of put out by their choice with the release. My intent was to try to bolster support for their decision, even though I disagreed with it, total foolishness on my part, it would appear. I am done now.