Mall Kiosk Concerns and Rant

[nobreak1970]

Personally I don't by anything at all from a mall kiosk.

 

[RazorLollipopGirl]

Same here.

One of the malls near me has a Green Smoke kiosk, and I was less than impressed with the sales guy. I asked about fruit flavors and what not and he said they don't make any of those because they "don't market to kids." I understand all the nonsense about flavored cigarettes and yadda yadda (can you tell I don't agree with it?), but when an adult looking at your product specifically asks about flavors they are interested in, maybe it's not great salesmanship to make statements about what they like as being 'for kids' in a condescending tone. Just a thought.

 

[riseabovethestorm]

@RazorLollipopGirl: Agreed on all points, actually. It's two entirely different conversations: one moral, one legal, since one is completely different than the other.

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[Coastal Cowboy]

As repugnant as the idea of selling kids e-cigs sounds, in many states there are no age restrictions and there are currently no federal regulations requiring age verification. If minors are already smoking tobacco, then as others have touched on, maybe sales to minors presents a moral dilemma that parents should decide.

As for pricing of products, I have said many times that I have no problem with anyone charging a price or a rate that the market will bear. A "fair price" is what a willing buyer and willing seller agree upon. It is up to the consumer to find the most reasonable price, or trade off the effort required to do the due diligence for a higher price. Convenience has value in a market economy.

 

[riseabovethestorm]

As for pricing of products, I have said many times that I have no problem with anyone charging a price or a rate that the market will bear. A "fair price" is what a willing buyer and willing seller agree upon. It is up to the consumer to find the most reasonable price, or trade off the effort required to do the due diligence for a higher price. Convenience has value in a market economy.

The overhead of running a kiosk in a mall is I think most responsible for the high prices at said establishments. Doesn't matter what they sell, the price is usually insane.

Example: When I was in my younger years, I had gauged ears (up to 1"). I never, EVER bought anything from any of the mall piercing kiosks because plugs in my size would have run me $40+, when there are people selling the exact same pieces of jewelry for $4 a pair on eBay, and they cover shipping usually.

The fact of the matter is that there really isn't all that much money to be made over the long term running a mall kiosk, that's why, IMHO, you see them normally reserved for businesses that sell items that will sell quickly and in quantity (Irish themed kiosks around St. Patrick's Day, Christmas kiosks around, well Christmas). This is all conjecture; I've never owned or leased a mall kiosk.

 

[Mark Anthony]

Well the town I live in got it's 1st genuine e-cig vendor. Unfortunately it is kiosk in mall (this company seems to mainly only operate kiosks in malls - The Ocelot really likes them "sarcasm" - I feel the same way after talking to the "manager")

1. Pricing for some items seemed reasonable ie: Protank 2 for $22.95 which I thought was reasonable due to packaging looked like Kangers but upon getting it home I determined it was a knockoff - However they had a single 180mah 510 battery with a vision nano and a small usb charger (no wall plug) for $60, an ego style 650mah battery only for $29.95 (not VV) and an Innoken 134 (no batts, no charger, no tank) for $180.00

2. Juice was proprietary (made in New Mexico) 15ml for $23.00 buy 3 get 1 free (What a deal -not)

The really scary part is this

They will custom blend your nic level for you right there by PUMPING NIC from a large bottle right there on the open counter of the KIOSK (not put up, not behind anything, not locked up, not really supervised) it appeared to have dripped on the counter also.

I asked the "manager" (he said he started vaping earlier this year) how it worked - He said they add about 4ml nic to flavored base to get 36mg juice (which I would assume works out to 100 mg nic - any DIYers reading this feel free to gasp now - but he did not know what strength it was - proprietary company info)

I now asked the manager what training the company gave him for mixing nic liquid and he said he was sent an email on how to set the ml dial on the pump and what settings to use for what strength they wanted up to 36mg but he has figured out ON HIS OWN how to mix it stronger if I wanted it stronger (gasp).

While I was there he sold 3 kits and juice to a group of what looked like junior high girls (he later told me that kids are his best customers)

I did try to impart some basic safety and common sense info to the "manager" but has he was a "professional e-cig technician and manager" and I am a doddering old fool (I am 52, he was 22) he new what was best.

Well needless to say I was extremely upset (kept it to myself) that this company (and this idiot) may at the least give vaping a black eye and at the worst KILL someone with their lack of safety with high strength nic.

I did talk to mall management (I used to have a restaurant in the food court a million years ago) about this and they stated they were already informed of this issue and the kiosk was leaving shortly - we'll see (kiosk rent is $30+ per square foot compared to $9-11 for regular store front shops)

Wow..... that is a scary story.... there is just so meant things wrong there.