How much should I support the "Brick & Morter" stores?

[Recycled Roadkill]

I bought my EVOD starter set and a couple of vapes from my local vape store. Premium liquid there is $22 bucks for a 30ml bottle but can be purchased online for $16. They also charge $2 bucks for the replacement coils (not a bad price in itself) but I found replacements on ebay that ran $1.39 each when 25 were purchased. (Suicide Bunny's "Derailed" if you're wondering about the vape.)

When I asked about quantity discounts at the local store I was told "No discounts."

So yeah, I can be kind of cheap but I'm feeling just a little bit guilty about this. BTW, I know there are much cheaper vapes out there but I really really like the Derailed.It's described as something like cinnamon and banana flavoring in a cream base.

 

[Jsucool76]

I always buy liquid from my local B+M, but its only $10 for a 30ml, and if you buy 10ml bottles its buy 4 get 1 free. I would never buy mods or anything there because they're more expensive than buying online, but things like tanks and replacement heads are comporable to online retailer prices (may be $2 more expensive, but if you add shipping costs to online orders its about the same, but with instant gratification)

If you can get stuff cheaper than I would shop online, but the positive about a B+M store is you can try out liquids before you buy them, and (at least at my local store (BocaVapes in south florida) the employees are really friendly and quite knowledgeable. That is part of what you pay for.

 

[MissLiss]

My first instinct is to say completely support our local B&Ms but they sound not so friendly. That may be because I found a really great one that I go to now and the owner has a real "value the loyal" mentality, like on the fly discounts and real customer service. I might recommend checking out some others that are hopefully in the area. And if not, hell open your own!

 

[Kaisen]

There's no right answer. Only you can place a value on convenience, advice, and relationships. They have added quite an expense to make it more convenient for you.....they are (presumably) nearby and have a live human being there to assist you. They can charge a little more for that convenience, and it costs them a little more to provide it. If you don't see value in that, do business elsewhere.

With legislation looming that may impede online business, it may be best to invest in a local relationship.

 

[el Jexican]

I buy my hardware from the local store and my liquid online because their liquid is lacking in the flavor department.

 

[JWLuke]

I support my B&M as much as possible. Most things can be had online cheaper. I like to see and touch before I buy. It's also hard to put a price on convenience and expertise. I'm luckier than a lot of people on this forum in that I have a store that 3 miles from work and they are all very knowledgable. The only thing I have bought online is Bobas Bounty juice. I will also be ordering my provari online. They make their own juice and even customize it how ever you want. If their prices were way to high for what I think I should spend I would definitely buy online.YMMV. My two cents for what it's worth.

 

[Tbone2299]

I agree if you can spend a few bucks here and there at the local shop you should. Never know when something may come up where you can't wait to have something shipped and with no support your local shop won't be there to help. B&M shops will generally be a few bucks higher because they have much more overhead than internet stores.

 

[wbart]

I have had a similar dilemma it boils down to how much will you pay for convenience. My price is 10 dollars, any more than that I am going online shopping

 

[RubyRoo]

Agreed with all of the above. I think that keeping it local is important to our local economies. I feel good about shopping at a local B&M even if it's a little bit more expensive than online. I'm not going to buy EVERYTHING there because there is no way a single store can sell all of the stuff I like (at least not for me) at a reasonable price. I think it's important to buy at least a few things there like juice, tanks, coil heads, eGos, things like that.

 

[Snicks]

I give all my support to my local B&M's especially my favorite shop but for things they don't carry I order online.

 

[victoriadon]

I try to support the local B & M due to the fact that if I have question about flavour profile of a juice or how to best step up the next level of my vaping experience. If I have a problem with an online purchase it can be a pain trying to get a solution with the local shop I walk in get it dealt with. I don't mind paying a premium.

 

[Christopher Horsley]

I usually buy everything except for mods and rbas at the local B&M. The store is pretty small and doesn't stock a lot of variety in mods, but they're growing fast lately, so that may change in the near future. I'm happy to pay a few extra dollars for an actual store i can drive to if i need something NOW or i want to see something in person before i buy it. The badass customer service does help though

 

[FlamingoTutu]

If you are lucky enough to have a local B&M you should support it (reasonably) for the reasons given above. If you don't and it disappears you only have yourself to blame. Wondering what the landscape is going to look like if the FDA bans internet sales. Yikes.

 

[permafrying]

My friend works at the store In my. Home town and his mom owns it so I was getting my. Juice from there. They're pricing on most things is ridiculous and all there pvs are volcano so there's not a whole lot I'd buy from em. And they charge like 7 bucks a pop for evod coils. They're. Suppose to be getting some mods in and I told em to get rebuildables so dunno

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2

 

[Mickey1]

It seems like nothing will save our economy anymore. I would have liked to go and see the stuff locally but I don't have any B&M in my area anyway. Fasttech is the way to go.

 

[Kaisen]

Even if the FDA doesn't ban internet/online/mail-order sales (they may not have the authority), they might be able to mandate face-to-face age verification upon delivery, which USPS and FedEx can accommodate.....for $5.15 per delivery, on top of normal shipping fees. Would you pay an extra $5+ to order online? Or does that put a B&M store at an advantage?

I live in MN, and the law here as of July 1, 2013 is that a private individual that orders online must pay 95% tax on anything that ships into the state that contains tobacco derivative, including tobacco-based nicotine. So if I order $50 I liquid from Mt Baker Vapor, I must notify the state and write them a check for $47.50 in tax. If I walk into a B&M store, they already paid the 95%. You can bet that more states will follow suit, regardless of the FDA's position.

 

[UntamedRose]

I do 99.9% of my ecig shopping Online. I buy basically all american mods..and either DIY my juice or buy USA made only. Unless it's kale, yellow squash avocados kinda stuffs. It's not that much more economically a plus to buy local IMO. Need to look at where it's Produced more then whom is selling if your wanting to keep the money "local"

 

[knightwolf123]

I'm in San Antonio and very fortunate to have 3 or 4 locations to choose from. I did start my vaping journey with the local B&M by getting educated and making my initial purchase. Since then I've made many many purchases online.

However, when I need something and I need it now like last week I wanted to get a protank 2 but didn't want to wait for shipping , I bought it at B&M and paid $27 plus tax. Sure I paid allot more than I should have but I wanted it and felt ok about paying that because I was supporting the establishment.

Now for juice and most hardware I still buy online but if I need a coil or more of my favorite juice I know where I can go.

Sent from my HTCONE using Tapatalk 4

 

[SoCalMichelle]

I give all my support to my local B&M's especially my favorite shop but for things they don't carry I order online.

Have you tried the local ECig City in Riverside? It's awesome

 

[FlamingoTutu]

I live in MN, and the law here as of July 1, 2013 is that a private individual that orders online must pay 95% tax on anything that ships into the state that contains tobacco derivative, including tobacco-based nicotine. So if I order $50 I liquid from Mt Baker Vapor, I must notify the state and write them a check for $47.50 in tax. If I walk into a B&M store, they already paid the 95%. You can bet that more states will follow suit, regardless of the FDA's position.

8-o That's friggin insane!