Ecigs at retail/liquor/conveniene stores?

[halonut]

Hello,

I'm just curious. I saw a couple of e-cig starter kits at a truck stop once but other than that I've never seen (or noticed) them for sale at any retail store. You think that they would be a natural for convenience and liquor stores not to mention cigar & tobacco specialty shops.

So is it just me or is hardly anyone selling e-cigs & acessories over the counter? And if not, why not? Any light anyone can shed on this subject would be greatly appreciated!

PS: ECF rocks, best forum on any subject I have ever seen!

 

[Andtyler2]

I saw a couple of e-cig starter kits at a truck stop once but other than that I've never seen (or noticed) them for sale at any retail store. You think that they would be a natural for convenience and liquor stores not to mention cigar & tobacco specialty shops.

So is it just me or is hardly anyone selling e-cigs & acessories over the counter? And if not, why not?

A few smoke shops and convenience stores in Chicago sell E-cig kits and replacement carts. I purchased my first ecig from one and wasn't particularly happy because the quality of the kit was marginal and the price was off the charts. I wish I'd known about this forum back then.

Retail outlets tend to overcharge--maybe because they don't order in large enough quantities and aren't sure of steady demand. That said, I think e-cigs are still a relative novelty in most places and those who might sell them retail just don't know about them. I've talked with several owners of liquor/convenience stores about it and they had never heard of them. So word is still filtering out.

Your best bet is still to order them online. I've ordered from 4 different sites and, so far, they've all offered a good price, relatively quick service, and decent customer service. So unless you are looking for a specialized mod like the Prodigy or Screwdriver (or any model that is less widely sold), I'd find a good supplier who works in your area of the country. It cuts down on delivery times.

 

[halonut]

Thanks for the info Andy. Actually I'm mostly wondering because I am interested in wholesaling kits & supplies to retail outlets as I think perhaps the novelty phase of e-cigs will be coming to an end & as they gain popularity will become more mainstream & widely available.

I've asked everyone who I know who smokes if they ever heard of e-cigs and none of them had. I'll bet if each of them tried it, alot of them would like it...hmmm sounds like opportunity.

 

[highping]

I think the biggest issue keeping them out of the retail environment is that the markup needs to be too high to make it worth it.
The very few retailers that I have seen selling kits are selling them at 2-3 times what you can buy them online for.
If I'm a retailer and a customer buys my kit for 70-80 or even more (I've seen kits for 150) and then goes home and sees they could have bought it online for 40 buck. They are going to feel ripped off and will probably not be a very happy customer.
The other issue is that things die and stop working on e-cigs all the time and that's probably a nightmare to deal with as a retailer.
Not to mention the HUGE loss in cig sales that are going to be a result of every kit sold.

Just some of my theories, but I could be wrong.

 

[halonut]

You have some excellent points, Chuck. I don't think that retailers make much on analogs either. Less than $5/carton I believe and I've never had a log that lasted more than 10 min's before it was useless!

If I was a retailer who could buy kits in a reasonable quantity at about $25/ea & then sell them for $50 ea. AND have someone who would keep coming back for juice every few days I'd be happy.

 

[halonut]

sorry I called you Chuck, highping. That's what you use not your name!

 

[ghost_inhale]

Yea I live in a town (albeit kinda small) with 10+ smoke shops and only 1 of them sells ecigs. That 1 shop only sells Njoy Npros and the only favors they have is regular tobacco and menthol. I am glad I bought the Npro because it introduced me to esmoking which ultimately led me to this awesome forum. Now I have a 510 on the way with lots of e-liquid and I can't wait to get off of MENTHOL! Getting sort of sick of it. lol.

 

[Andtyler2]

I was a menthol analog smoker, too. And though I do use some menthol juice and regular tobacco flavor in my 510, I've also experimented with different flavors--with some surprising results. When I first started vaping, if you'd told me that black cherry would turn out to be one of my favorite nic juice flavors, I would've said, 'no way.' But when I ordered my first ecig starter kit, I also ordered one of the JC 'welcome kits', which comes with a lot of useful little tools and a ton of flavor samples. While I'm not nuts about every JC flavor, going through their sample sized bottles helped me to discover the ones I do like. Other companies also offer samplers and I'm sure others on the forum will have suggestions for you. I've also started to experiment a bit with DIY mixing using eco-pure and VG base. Anyway, there's no doubt you'll find vaping a lot more interesting and pleasurable when you start experimenting with different juice options. It's a whole 'nother world--- beyond menthol. Enjoy.

 

[Araddoman]

I did a google search of places in Iowa that sell any kind of e-cigarette supplies retail. Ended up finding one place about an hour and a half from me. I called them up, and asked "Hi, do you have any e-liquid?" The lady working didn't have a clue what I was talking about and was snippy about it. I explained what e-liquid was and she said that all they sold were starter kits, which I didn't even bother to get the model of.

Safe to say that Iowa isn't exactly rocking in the e-cig industry.

 

[steven]

Haven't seen it done anywhere in the uk.