How are the B&M Shops in your town?

[JBrill]

2 shops locally here that are within a short distance.

One is a headshop that a couple of the people know their stuff, but they have a very large markup and I would not in any way shape or form purchase from them as far as hardware. And no longer their liquids as another shop that recently opened up doesn't get them from China.

The newest shop that opened up has a sample counter and sells a lot of different liquids from different mixers. They use a disposable tip cover so you don't have to worry about the spread of anything. I've not checked out their hardware as I didn't have a need for anything.

 

[Joka]

Exactly why I don't go to the one local shop by me anymore. MSRP for an MVP2 is $69.99. They are charging $95. If there is close to a 50% profit built into an MSRP how do they justify selling at that price.

My shop has the MVP v2 for $53 the whole starter kit

 

[Asmo6]

I have a shop that just opened a few miles from my house. Two women run it, and they were really good at getting me started. Their prices aren't bad. I paid $40 ish for the VV3's. It's like $13/30ml. They have some good juices, and some that are meh. But they are better every time I go in. They carry mostly innokin stuff and ego's, ego twists. Lots of Kanger's and Iclears.

BUT;

When I went back to get my woman set up they didn't have the VV3 she wanted. They gave her the store one until hers came in. Didn't love a couple of the juices I bought. Went back after hours and they tweaked them to make them better.

You could step up a little there. Maybe an SVD or something like that. But they don't really get into a lot of crazy stuff yet.

You can also taste anything they have and they use the little covers. Plus they make each flavor in almost all the popular nic levels and usually are pretty good about keeping them all on hand and somewhat steeped before you buy them.

They're super new, and mainly geared to starters. But have been nice.

 

[Mark Anthony]

I don't have any here in my neck of the woods.........

 

[SinisterRaccoon]

A bit disappointed in the local b&m here....stopped in to buy a bounty of juice, waited patiently for 15-20 mins before speaking to the man at the counter.... I saw their juice online at $22 for 30ml, which I was ok with for what I wanted... But instore it is $25...no budging on matching their own online price he said. Is this common business or am i just used to stores matching prices... Especially their own... I spent my money online elsewhere.

Sent from the depths of insanity

 

[gangstafish]

I have Fluid Vapor near me. Rob knows his stuff and the people that work there are nice and know their stuff. The prices are good too. And you can shop on there online store. That's where the Cyborg comes from. And their juice is good. I am happy with their products and service.

 

[Kingsley1065]

I visited FOUR shops in my area today searching for a good vanilla juice.............. Three of the shops were sh#t, one pretty good. The problem is the juice is just not that good. When I got home I put my order in at Mount Baker. The one shop that has decent juice is just not a well run place, sloppy, unfinished.

I'm a rookie at this and prefer to sample juice before I make a purchase.

 

[Ay Dee Jay]

There is only one shop in my town "smokeshop" that carries PV's mostly just Tsunami but they're prices are a bit ridiculous. I only shop there for hookah supplies mostly and occasionally e-juice. I wanted to buy a tank system as I just bought a new mechanical off line and all they had were Ce4's and wanted $10 a piece! So I passed on that. However I just discovered a vapor shop about 25 mins away that just opened in Oct. They make all there Eliquid in house and are decently priced the best part is they're website, always free shipping!!! Check them out Welcome to JJVapes - Ecigs, Electronic Cigarettes, E-Cigs, E Cigarettes

I made the mistake of buying a CE4 without even asking the price at a Smoker Friendly. It was $9, 3X my new favorite B&M, but they claim they swap everything out for a year no questions asked, even atomizers and such, so we'll see about that. I'll be back to get my $9 worth!

 

[Ay Dee Jay]

A bit disappointed in the local b&m here....stopped in to buy a bounty of juice, waited patiently for 15-20 mins before speaking to the man at the counter.... I saw their juice online at $22 for 30ml, which I was ok with for what I wanted... But instore it is $25...no budging on matching their own online price he said. Is this common business or am i just used to stores matching prices... Especially their own... I spent my money online elsewhere.

Sent from the depths of insanity

It costs a ton of money to operate a store so it doesn't seem totally unreasonable and they can sit there and watch their cash flows between the two to see what works best -- what you would normally expect is that they'd actually jack up both prices to something comfortable rather than lowering it online, so at least they're honest about it.

I can't imagine buying a lot of juice from a B&M with so many established Gods of the Internet with years of expertise, but I'm sure there are some good ones out there and a lot of established easy to follow recipes.

Edit: with Alien Visions selling for $16/30ml at this point (picked up three different ones the other day) $20+ juice at a B&M or their online store seems crazy but I'm wondering what they're selling. Can you tell us more and share the URL? I know there's a ton of overpriced juice just for the sake of there being a market but I'm curious about whether they're making it, reselling, etc. My rule of thumb is that your juice needs to have a "Coke-Pepsi-NSA-Level" security clearance wrapped around its recipe (or be a well-executed clone of one of those where YOU now have your own secret recipe) and be staggeringly good before I'll buy anything more than a $3-5 sample.

Edit 2: I totally overlooked the 15-20 minute wait. Either they're killing it with business and need to be devoting some of that online+$3 markup to staffing, or they need some customer service skills. I would've made more of a stink about that to be honest. It can be hard to manage a bunch of customers asking questions and browsing for long periods but you just have to juggle them appropriately, help someone for awhile and then let them think and look around until they've made a decision vs. doing the "one at a time" cell phone store nonsense.

 

[dieselrick]

There are five in my area 1 is the reason why I started vaping they were extremely helpful and had a large variety of house blend juices some of which were worth a try others were worth trying but couldn't vape all day they had two branded ego style setups and a decent mod selection the other is roughly the same but more setup for vapers to come in and hangout some decent juices and mods they run a 50/50 PG/VG ratio which personally I liked more than the 70/30 of the other store both were extremely helpful and had pretty competitive prices I plan to try one of the others on Tuesday it is just not as convenient I am about 20 minutes outside of the city so relatively close

 

[muzikmom68]

There are a bunch of shops here in Raleigh, NC. I only buy juice from them when I run out. I find it much cheaper to order online. I am on a budget and vape a lot of juice as well, so I try to get the best juice for the best price. I don't order from China because of the shipping time. I have found Madvapes here in NC to have really good prices.

 

[1wildman]

Several in Columbus. Altsmoke is my favorite. Buckeye Vapors is ok. Haven't made it to the Vapor Station yet.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Schwiggiddy]

I didn't read the whole thread, but I read enough. One factor that many people are missing is how expensive customer service can be. For example: A customer buys an Ego kit for say 30 bucks or whatever the MSRP is. Well the battery falls apart or the threads strip out in a couple weeks. Do you replace it for the customer, knowing she is going to buy more stuff? Well you have to factor in the price of returns into your overhead or you may not get anywhere. It's not like these devices work properly 100% of the time for beginners. Also, many retailers will include things like 18650 battery and charger plus a bottle of juice that doesn't come in your online purchase of a Mod. The price may seem higher but you are paying for same-day service.

I however have no sympathy for outrageously priced gear and no-nothing clerks. If that's what I'm looking for, I'll just go to the mall.

 

[Passat]

Meh they are decent around here. Typically the 2 that I go to often most tend to rip off new vapers quite too often. However I recently discovered a tobacco shop that is tobacco/vape right next to the library. Not to mention the employees actually know what they're talking about with vaping. I got a 4 evod heads for $6, what a steal! Their juice is meh but I did notice some halo juices which are decent to my liking.

 

[Cap'nTripps]

Man, the E cig business is just really taking off in the UK right now;in my small town alone, there 4 stands and 2 shops. I use one called vaper trails, and luckily they're not greedy with markups; I brought an Evod tank for £5.99 which is just about the same as any site I've used. I think they're a chain store, and it's a nice shop-there's a "vaping" lounge, where you can try new products and liquids, and they've even got the decor looking like an old style tobacconist store, with E-cigars in little humidores. They mostly sell the higher quality kit there, and they blend their own proprietary liquids which aren't cheap, but are the best I've ever used, hands down.

Ironically, for all these new shops and stalls, I rarely see anybody vape in my town.

 

[konextu]

We are lucky to have ALOT of good shops here in St. Louis. So many on both sides of the river but tops are definitely vape-one, 510, and 3d!

 

[chawk]

I don't have one

 

[HighEnergyProton]

There are a few shops near me and one stall type thing in the mall. Prices vary, but the information provided is mostly good. I see a lot of old folks going into them and often am queued because the retailer is going through the steps with them(which I'm obviously happy to wait for) They seem to be geared up to answer most questions and if they don't stock a certain item they will source it for you and often have it by the end of the day or the next morning. In Dublin (which is a bigger city than where I live) there are a lot of them around with the same sort of service.

 

[keyman]

Just one here other what they sell at the smoke stores and the selection was not the best.

 

[RattlerX]

I bought a few things from the local B&M but like most of you I find they are WAY overpriced. I am all for someone making a living but do I have to put your kids through school?

I shop on-line…I shop way to much on-line….My wife asked me today if I ordered things every day since the mailman brings more packages every day. I kinda laughed but the answer is YES. I order stuff almost every day….lol I think I have twice as much as the local B&M now.