Hardware prices at the local B&Ms

[Javamon]

Are the hardware prices at your local B&Ms out of control?

I understand that a small local shop needs to charge some premium to stay in business. I get it, and I'm willing to spend a certain percentage more to support local business. But, my observations so far are that the local shops are really Stealing from people.

A couple of weeks ago, I was in a shop, and I heard the guy selling to a customer. I made note of what he was selling, the price, and then priced it at home. It was about twice the cost of mail order.

Recently, I have decided that my first mod will be an istick. Mail order, that's 35 to 40ish. Today, one local store wanted 75. One wanted 65.

Again, I know these stores can't compete with mega mail order, but, they are doing themselves a tremendous service with attempting hardware margins like that.
If That's what they need to stay in business, if that is their business model, they will be gone in short order.

I think it does damage to the whole vaping industry.

 

[smacksy]

I agree.. B&M stores are basically a ripoff..consider they want $150 for the IPV3, add CA sales tax its closer to $160+..I got mine online from AtoZ vapor for $109, no sales tax and free priority shipping..saving over $50!

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[erikbal]

My local shop charges $69 for an istick and $150 for the ipv3!

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[retired1]

Try pricing the rent and utilities for a physical location. Add on employee salaries, insurance and taxes. How much of an increase are you going to put into place in order to keep afloat and still make a profit? Because as the owner, you have to eat and provide for your family as well.

 

[smacksy]

Try pricing the rent and utilities for a physical location. Add on employee salaries and taxes. How much of an increase are you going to put into place in order to keep afloat and still make a profit? Because as the owner, you have to eat and provide for your family as well.

That's really not my concern..my worry is I'm retired and on a fixed income..I need to make my money stretch and I do understand the overhead they have but my goal is to stay tobacco free, as cheaply as possible...in other words my needs come first...I do buy juice locally but hardware and devices are too expensive unless I buy them online..

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[Vicshalls]

Thing is the Web people are making money too.

 

[retired1]

Then, by all means, shop on line. But attempting to compare online prices to those charged in a B&M is rather unfair to those that have a lot of extra overhead to deal with.

Yes, there are some stores that are shamelessly over charging. But the majority are just trying to stay solvent.

 

[Danbrooks2k]

Yes, they are out of control.

The one that I now only use for coils or emergency supplies orders directly from fasttech ... and honestly they dont even order what people really want.

a 30 watt hana clone box mod sells there for 120$, they buy them in bulk about 30 dollars each. They sell the MVP2 for about 80$ now. The Atlantis tank 50$ Kanger Subtank 60$ the CF SUB batteries they quoted me 35$ on the phone, 55$ last time i shopped there. They sell house juice at a higher price than I would expect to pay for most mid level online juices like good life vapor or nicoticket. They are the only game in town aside from the mall kiosk, they are far worse.

Now... if you want to charge premium prices but have a knowlegable staff like the vapor lair in houston... I can deal with that. I have seen them sell simple BDC clearos instead of pushing mech mods and drippers...

Honestly I just dont go to B&M stores unless I am in a big city where there are multiple ones to choose and then only to discover a new house juice.

B&M stores are more geared for impulse buyers, first time trying to quit smoking buyers, and people that simply cant wait 14 days for it to arrive from fasttech... aaaaand... to sample juices... and then buy those juices cheaper online if you are like me.

 

[JB69]

First and foremost, you pay for the convenience of a B&M and that's expensive! Additionally, most of the B&Ms around me have an area where you can hangout, vape, BS with other vapers, and learn more about the industry/hobby...that's got to be paid for too. Online retailers offer you none of this.

 

[Javamon]

Try pricing the rent and utilities for a physical location. Add on employee salaries, insurance and taxes. How much of an increase are you going to put into place in order to keep afloat and still make a profit? Because as the owner, you have to eat and provide for your family as well.

Yeah - that's business. If That's the margin they need to sustain the business, then they have a very, very bad business model.

This will turn out just like the PC industry. At one point, there were tons of stores. Now there are none, and the products are sold via mail order and in consumer electronics stores.

 

[tj99959]

I'm lucky to have one of the larger players from the early days here where I live, and their prices are the same on line as they are in their three B&Ms. This also makes the other shops in the aria toe the mark if they want to compete.

 

[OlderNDirt]

Try pricing the rent and utilities for a physical location. Add on employee salaries, insurance and taxes. How much of an increase are you going to put into place in order to keep afloat and still make a profit? Because as the owner, you have to eat and provide for your family as well.

I'm not sure about other locations, but here most local vape shops are individually owned (or maybe one owner has two or three shops). I am comfortable in stating that there per unit cost is considerably higher then any online outlet, making their profit margin after the overhead stated likely smaller then the online outlet. They may actually make less profit selling an item for $75 then an online outlet selling the same item for $45. I don't fault anybody for buying where they can most afford it, but the downside is the probability of having far fewer local vape shops, something I would hate to see.

I too make some online purchases, but have also spent more locally at shops I really like and want to see around next year and the year after. But time will tell.

 

[MrStik]

B&Ms support your local economy. If you love to see shopping centers with for lease signs, and halfway empty shopping centers and malls, by all means support the online dealers.

Prices are fixed upon a projected bottom line numbers on an income statement. A specific total of revenue is required to sustain the business after expenses and desired profit is factored in.

I once was about to place an online order. Then I made it to checkout and I laughed and cancelled my order. The prices were cheap, but what was laughable was their shipping prices. In this day and age, if you are going to charge my ANY shipping at all, it best get here in 2 days. Nothing more. If you want to deliver it USPS ground and expect me to get it in a week, you should be paying me for the time it takes for the package to get to me, not the other way around.

 

[officer196]

For me it depends on the shop. I have seen some that have had very reasonable prices for a B&M and others where their markup is ridiculous even for coils. Don't get me wrong, I understand they have overhead, but if their overhead is so high that is double, even above higher than double for retail price, then that business owner made a bad decision from the get go in picking and negotiating their cost and location, sorry, but that is the owners problem, not mine, he chooses the location, I choose where I want to drop my money. Its his job to pick a location with rent and utilities cost that makes sense for his business model, not mine.

As far as mark-ups, the only markup that I find truly ridiculous is the cost of e-juice when you see how much it really costs to make. It would be one thing if their juice was being mixed in a certified clean room/lab, but lets be honest, that is not the case with most B&M.

 

[Trailz]

I support my local B&M. I bought the istick 20W and YiHi SX Mini mods from them. I knew I could have gotten the istick for $20 less and decided to buy it there. The SX Mini was only $10 more than I could get it for anywhere online. I do buy their house brand juice and Jimmy the Juice Man.

They have a great staff who spend the time to answer questions and help with builds as long as other customers don't need assistance. You have the choice to support them or not, I do where I can. I'm not spending $5 for an atlantis coil when I can get 5 for $12.95 online.

I don't scoff at their pricing, I simply buy elsewhere when the price is too high. If it's a resonable difference, I buy locally.

 

[Krashman Von Stinkputin]

Are the hardware prices at your local B&Ms out of control?

I understand that a small local shop needs to charge some premium to stay in business. I get it, and I'm willing to spend a certain percentage more to support local business. But, my observations so far are that the local shops are really Stealing from people.

A couple of weeks ago, I was in a shop, and I heard the guy selling to a customer. I made note of what he was selling, the price, and then priced it at home. It was about twice the cost of mail order.

Recently, I have decided that my first mod will be an iStick. Mail order, that's 35 to 40ish. Today, one local store wanted 75. One wanted 65.

Again, I know these stores can't compete with mega mail order, but, they are doing themselves a tremendous service with attempting hardware margins like that.
If That's what they need to stay in business, if that is their business model, they will be gone in short order.

I think it does damage to the whole vaping industry.

Don't know why people get so bent out of shape at the hardware pricing at their local BM's

You have the upper hand;
1) You can buy the same products on the internet for less
2) You are not required to buy anything when you visit a BM

I have used this to my advantage to NEGOTIATE better pricing by kindly and simply stating: I understand you have overhead and I'm willing to pay a little more for the convenience you provide, however I can buy 2 of those on the internet for the price you are asking. I'd rather just buy ONE from you.

I've had some say NO and that's perfectly fine! I walked out with my money.

But I've had several say YES and I've bought several MODS, Tanks, coils this way. I've also traded for stuff.

BTW: The prices they charge will not destroy the vaping industry. It may destroy that particular BM. But another one's opening up a mile down the road. And the price another pays is irrelevant to you if THEY receive the VALUE THEY were seeking. I guarantee that for that "GREAT DEAL" you got on that last car you bought, there were a dozen people who bought that same car CHEAPER than you.

 

[Krashman Von Stinkputin]

Are the hardware prices at your local B&Ms out of control?

I understand that a small local shop needs to charge some premium to stay in business. I get it, and I'm willing to spend a certain percentage more to support local business. But, my observations so far are that the local shops are really Stealing from people.

A couple of weeks ago, I was in a shop, and I heard the guy selling to a customer. I made note of what he was selling, the price, and then priced it at home. It was about twice the cost of mail order.

Recently, I have decided that my first mod will be an iStick. Mail order, that's 35 to 40ish. Today, one local store wanted 75. One wanted 65.

Again, I know these stores can't compete with mega mail order, but, they are doing themselves a tremendous service with attempting hardware margins like that.
If That's what they need to stay in business, if that is their business model, they will be gone in short order.

I think it does damage to the whole vaping industry.

That's really not my concern..my worry is I'm retired and on a fixed income..I need to make my money stretch and I do understand the overhead they have but my goal is to stay tobacco free, as cheaply as possible...in other words my needs come first...I do buy juice locally but hardware and devices are too expensive unless I buy them online..

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Then it appears your "problem" is solved.

 

[chrisKRAWLER]

My local b&m authetic devices are priced competitively with inline prices, clones are 70 for a mod, 20-50 an atty. I support them because they keep great products and are awesome people. I buy thier authentics and have a great buisness relationship with them.

 

[smacksy]

Then it appears your "problem" is solved.

Didn't have a problem in the first place..
No problems = No worries either.. Lol

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[Danbrooks2k]

Don't know why people get so bent out of shape at the hardware pricing at their local BM's

You have the upper hand;
1) You can buy the same products on the internet for less
2) You are not required to buy anything when you visit a BM

I have used this to my advantage to NEGOTIATE better pricing by kindly and simply stating: I understand you have overhead and I'm willing to pay a little more for the convenience you provide, however I can buy 2 of those on the internet for the price you are asking. I'd rather just buy ONE from you.

I've had some say NO and that's perfectly fine! I walked out with my money.

But I've had several say YES and I've bought several MODS, Tanks, coils this way. I've also traded for stuff.

BTW: The prices they charge will not destroy the vaping industry. It may destroy that particular BM. But another one's opening up a mile down the road. And the price another pays is irrelevant to you if THEY receive the VALUE THEY were seeking. I guarantee that for that "GREAT DEAL" you got on that last car you bought, there were a dozen people who bought that same car CHEAPER than you.

I like the cut of your Jib sir...

Its not that I have never bought at a B&M, as a matter of fact I plan on a trip to Houston in 2 weeks for some more Tattoo work. I will try a few shops in the area. A good B&M shope will expose you to new juices and products you arent familiar with. If I taste a juice that is simply to die for I am going to buy a bottle right there on the spot. If I see a great deal on an item ( like when one store had all of its pyrex carto tanks and all cartos on clearance ) I will most likely spend some money. Maybe get a few coils if I am running low.

But most of us working joe ham n' eggers know what we need and order online pretty regularly. I know my juice needs for 6 weeks is 360ml and i have been getting it from steamjuice.us for 60$. If I buy fancy B&M juice its out of desire, not out of need.

I do like to buy a bottle of juice from each B&M I visit... but in the areas close to where I live the house juice is awful and I already know what tribecca tastes like.

Houston B&M shops are much better because they know you can just drive up the road to the next one.