had some fun with the mall rats

[Keegan1014]

Wife and kids wanted to go to the mall today so I whent along
found a guy selling cigs anywhere ill chew his ear a little/
He put in a new cart and vape away I whent I kept asking him questions
so I could continue to vape on his dollar.
Well I never tried an ecig before and 10 min. of his boreing sales speal
I asked him how much ummmmm 180 bucks then 150 bucks then 99 bucks.
wow what a drop.
anyway I didnt buy it but it gave me a good base line on the e cigs
I liked it.
I watched him for 10 min. a little ways away he sond 3 units in that 10 min.

 

[jruss91]

Lolololololol

 

[BuzzKill]

Well they have a great markup on the product, most likely they are not paying more then $10-15 per unit

!!

LAter
Buzz

 

[indyxlt]

A couple weeks after I got my first 901, I noticed a sign at a popular local cigar shop advertising electronic cigarettes. What they had were about 4 units of what looked like my Joye 306 for $90. A 5-pack of carts was $15. I asked about juice and the guy said "what's that?" As I left, I wasn't bothered so much by the price he was asking, he's got a brick and mortar store and associated overhead. What really bugged me was his lack of knowledge of what he was selling. I just don't think this is the sort of half-a$$ed representation the product needs.

 

[MitchellBeans]

I know its probably fun messing with the mall kiosks, especially if they are obnoxious and overpriced... but consider yourself lucky, as no mall around here has any e-cigs to at least try out before you buy!!

Still, pretty funny

 

[MHR7331]

I think it'd be fun to stand five feet away from a kiosk with a 6v 510 and just vape away...

 

[kase]

I thought it would be fun to do that too MHR7331, but when I finally got to a mall where they had one, those greaseballs just looked sad. I just walked by. It wasn't interesting or amusing, just kind of sad.

 

[dgriego]

We have a mall store that sells e-cigs and juice and attys and batteries and all. I purchased the e-cig that got me started there. It was overpriced but I admit I never would have thought to look online for such a product and I know mall space is expensive. So I am grateful to them for getting me started. It is also nice to know that I can run out and buy a atty if I need one or juice, it costs a little more but is still good to have around for an emergency.

 

[MHR7331]

I thought it would be fun to do that too MHR7331, but when I finally got to a mall where they had one, those greaseballs just looked sad. I just walked by. It wasn't interesting or amusing, just kind of sad.

True, I wouldn't really do that... most likely they're just guys trying to earn a living; I don't think I'm that huge an ... just yet

 

[Robertogee]

I've seen some really cheap e-cigs sold at malls -- at huge markups. Those I've known who've bought the cheapos are inevitably disappointed and turned off e-cigs, thinking they're all the same. They're not knowledgeable about what they're shopping for to begin with, so they're easily taken advantage of. And, frankly, deserve to be.

I enjoy shopping mall kiosks, however. Especially for name-brand stuff (colognes and perfumes, for instance) at discount (not knock-offs).

Most mall kiosks in my area are run by people from non-American cultures -- often Asia and the Middle East -- who are used to haggling.

I LOVE haggling. It's an art, really. More a dance than a battle. Those kiosk-owners enjoy my haggling as much as I enjoy theirs. They recognize I know what I'm doing.

Haggling is an art every American should learn. It's got NOTHING to do with being nasty or offensive and everything to do with being nice, curious, asking lots of questions, taking up their time and being (seemingly) on a tight / fixed budget (the specifics of which you never reveal).

I know what the wholesale price is before I even start, and I know what typical markups are. I won't let myself go more than 10% above wholesale -- or I'll nicely walk away. Result? Win-win. They sell "more" to me (they think) than I was initially interested in buying and I get the price I want. We always conclude with a smile and a handshake and I thank them profusely and promise to return.

When you get practiced at haggling and know what you're doing, you can haggle ANYWHERE. Yes, even in department stores. Sears, Dillard's, Neiman-Marcus, Target; I've even haggled (successfully) in WalMart.

My motto? Never pay retail.

I bought six Christmas gifts of name-brand colognes and perfumes at a mall kiosk not far from an entrance to Dillard's. Retail value at Dillard's? Over $500 before tax. My price? $165 including tax. (Even less than I would have paid at Amazon.)

I stealth-vaped my Vapor King the whole transaction and could have sold the proprietor a kit if I'd had one, so interested in it was he.

Happy haggling!

 

[Madame Psychosis]

It annoys me how many people get burned by an overpriced POS. If I were a kiosk seller I'd get ECF cards printed up and slyly give them to everybody interested.
Then again, I've worked in retail (selling overpriced underwear *cough* by some woman named Victoria *cough*), and you start to hate humanity by about, oh, week three... Kiosks have got to be even worse gigs.

On the other hand, if the mass-market tends to see e-cigs as pricey, maybe they won't be so concerned about kids taking up vaping.

Most mall kiosks in my area are run by people from non-American cultures -- often Asia and the Middle East -- who are used to haggling.

I LOVE haggling. It's an art, really. More a dance than a battle. Those kiosk-owners enjoy my haggling as much as I enjoy theirs. They recognize I know what I'm doing.

If you're dealing with people coming from cultures where haggling is normal, then yeah, it's fine, but I should think the undertrained, low-wage types on commission at mall kiosks would be frightened/angry/confused by haggling. I'd rather leave them alone. Besides, shopping around online gets you a better deal anyway, unless you feel locked into one of these models. (Sunk-cost fallacy...)

Haggling is, indeed, a dance. But I've witnessed too many cases where the ugly Yankee tourist thought s/he was blending in, but s/he was really just being a complete aggressive ...... to some street seller and still didn't get a great deal. (You're right, I guess; Americans don't know the art. But it's the trade-off for living in an information-dense, standardized-chain-retail economy. Bargain hunting substitutes for bargaining.)

 

[devonschmoker]

I have to admit that I got suckered a long time ago. Since then I have poked at my share of kiosks and squeezed about 30 free carts off of them. Also I might point out that their cost at the bulk rate that they buy them is about $9 a kit, even factoring shipping. If they were not so greedy they would still be allowed to do business in this state (Oregon). Now because of SE and Njoy it is now illegal to market or sell electronic cigarettes within the state of Oregon. I hate them now… If I walked up on a kiosk now I think I wouldn’t leave until I had all redirected all of their potential customers to online stores.

Now for a quote response..

When you get practiced at haggling and know what you're doing, you can haggle ANYWHERE. Yes, even in department stores. Sears, Dillard's, Neiman-Marcus, Target; I've even haggled (successfully) in WalMart.

My motto? Never pay retail.

I bought six Christmas gifts of name-brand colognes and perfumes at a mall kiosk not far from an entrance to Dillard's. Retail value at Dillard's? Over $500 before tax. My price? $165 including tax. (Even less than I would have paid at Amazon.)

Yes! I love negotiating. One of my best deals was for my bed. I negotiated the price from about $3900.00 to $625.00 including delivery, setup, bed frame, and mattress protection.
That is by far one of my best negotiations.

 

[AshHole]

As my nickname suggests, I can be a real pain. I really hate when retail outlets, or ANY outlet tries to push overpriced good on an uninformed public.

I have run mall stores in my past and unserstand that malls are expensive. (Most people really dont know HOW expensive it can be). I know that you must maintain high margins.

I understand as business owners they have overhead and need to cover costs, but I refuse to believe that 500% (although nice) margins are neccesary to a business model.
I also detest when these same vendors have a schpiel that are laced with BS and outright lies.

I enjoy doing "drive-bys" of these kiosks/stores and listening and using their juice too when I can. When they start whipping out the BS and showing no support: $175 2 batts 1 atty and a charger, NON RETURNABLE - one even claimed "FDA approved" and "no anti-freeze"... "legal anywhere in the world!" - A $8 loss of an atty and cart or two should be swallowed as cost of sales especially when they are making $80-90a sale.

When these scheyters come into my sights, its no-holds barred. I will vape their product, act excited and get a lot of people around ask pricing questions and all Then I whip out my fully charged 510 and make plumes of vapor and explain that "...this only cost me $40. I can get 30ml of liquid (you dont have liquid?) for $18. Why are your carts 30?


Now on the other hand, if they are offering a decent kit for around $70-90 and seem knowledgeable and offer support I will politely mention that this is a good idea,, that I am a user...

 

[antgod]

We have a mall store that sells e-cigs and juice and attys and batteries and all. I purchased the e-cig that got me started there. It was overpriced but I admit I never would have thought to look online for such a product and I know mall space is expensive. So I am grateful to them for getting me started. It is also nice to know that I can run out and buy a atty if I need one or juice, it costs a little more but is still good to have around for an emergency.

We have a few in my area thats how i got my start,still new to this only 2 weeks ,but is good to have one close fo ran emergency

 

[Keegan1014]

I just wanted to try one out
and its free so I shot the pooo with them and burned one in the mall
came home and looked to see if my V4L was shipped.
I do not like salespeople not to poke fun but around here there very pushy,
cause most people dont question them but I do and most have no idea what there selling.
but there are very honest ones too and there never there when I come in.

 

[zerohalo]

If you're dealing with people coming from cultures where haggling is normal, then yeah, it's fine, but I should think the undertrained, low-wage types on commission at mall kiosks would be frightened/angry/confused by haggling. I'd rather leave them alone. Besides, shopping around online gets you a better deal anyway, unless you feel locked into one of these models. (Sunk-cost fallacy...)

I think this only works in the case of the owner running the kiosk. I've found some great deals in kiosks in Copley (Boston), but I can also recognize when someone is hawking their own ware. I probably love shopping too much for my own good, though.