Mind is blown at Local B&M prices

[Coastal Cowboy]

You don't have to have an economics degree to appreciate good customer service.

But a little economics goes a long way in helping folks understand what it takes to run a storefront and make a living doing so.

Like Ocy said... If you think you can buy juice at $3.25 a bottle from fasttech and sell it retail for $6.50, please open your first store down the street from me. You won't last a month, but at least I'll be getting a great deal.

 

[donnah]

I have 3 Madvapes retail stores an hour or so away from me. Their prices are higher than the online store but if you ask for the online price they will give it to you. I understand the need to pad the prices a bit to pay the rent. From what I've seen, the retail stores only carry the basic stuff.. cartos, eGos, drip tips and juice andy a few of the cheaper mechs.. I knew way more than the employees working there

 

[Leithan]

I don't get the "it's business" thing. There are plenty of legit B&Ms doing a great service and actually being part of the community and not taking advantage of it. Anyone who has vaped for a bit or researched it on line knows that a $40 vivi or $20 for 15mils of suspect juice is a rip. Vaping can be intimidating for newbs, it certainly was for me. It's a lot more complex than just pulling a cig out of the pack and lighting up. A lot of new folks need advice and want to purchase in person so we know we are getting what we need. And lets be honest those first couple of days off of cigs were pretty rough and we needed some encouragement and possibly Hugs. B&Ms have the opportunity to do the right thing and get a customer for life (which is probably a lot longer now) or make a fast buck and do BT a favor by burning the newb and ensuring they go back to smoking. To the B&Ms out there fighting the good fight, supporting the cause, I thank you, to the rest, I hope nothing but the worst.

 

[jg1986]

I don't get the "it's business" thing. There are plenty of legit B&Ms doing a great service and actually being part of the community and not taking advantage of it. Anyone who has vaped for a bit or researched it on line knows that a $40 vivi or $20 for 15mils of suspect juice is a rip. Vaping can be intimidating for newbs, it certainly was for me. It's a lot more complex than just pulling a cig out of the pack and lighting up. A lot of new folks need advice and want to purchase in person so we know we are getting what we need. And lets be honest those first couple of days off of cigs were pretty rough and we needed some encouragement and possibly Hugs. B&Ms have the opportunity to do the right thing and get a customer for life (which is probably a lot longer now) or make a fast buck and do BT a favor by burning the newb and ensuring they go back to smoking. To the B&Ms out there fighting the good fight, supporting the cause, I thank you, to the rest, I hope nothing but the worst.

I'm with you here. $40 for a vivi nova and $20 for 15ml of e liquid is ridiculous. I wouldn't shop there either. I guess I am fortunate enough to have 2 B&M within walking distance from my house, and 3 within 10 mins drive, all 5 stores are reasonably priced. The 2 within walking distance offer everything from juice to high end mechanicals to basic started kits with everything else in between. I've never really looked around for juice online, but there is a small vendor who is solely based online a block from my house and they welcome locals to come into the office and purchase stuff from them at the price offered online with no shipping.

 

[peterforpats]

Why have a B & M if you are going to treat your customers like idiots and thieves? maybe most of their customers ARE idiots and thieves. heck, most people are idiots and thieves.( how else do explain republicans? sorta kidding......

 

[peterforpats]

I have 3 Madvapes retail stores an hour or so away from me. Their prices are higher than the online store but if you ask for the online price they will give it to you. I understand the need to pad the prices a bit to pay the rent. From what I've seen, the retail stores only carry the basic stuff.. cartos, eGos, drip tips and juice andy a few of the cheaper mechs.. I knew way more than the employees working there

if you understand the need to pad the prices to pay for rent, than why ask for the on-line price in the store? buy it on-line or let them pay rent. people like you are the reason I could never be in customer service

 

[motelgrim]

I run a shop as well and I mark my prices $3 over the average online price on an item. I basically match online *with* shipping prices. Of course, any vendor could sell for way less but B&M shops have so much overhead, it's almost not worth doing. I'll point out that the average CE4 clearo can be had for $1. Less if you buy 500 at a time. Retail shops in Tampa and St. Pete sell them for $9.99 in some places, which is complete robbery. There's a term: "What the market will bear." and I'm opposed to it in almost all cases. It implies cranking the prices up very high but not so high no one will buy from you. Basically, a price you can get away with.

I'm sorry, but a CE4 is a relatively junky item. They work but are low-end imho - $10 for one is theft.
Some folks say my juice is overpriced. It's all made on site, on demand, by hand and goes for the *average* price you would pay for good juice online.
I don't sell at, say, Bluemist prices because their juice is basic, mediocre juice.
There's no need to sell 30ml bottles for $20 or more. Juice isn't that expensive to buy, even less so if you DIY.

There's a semi-local vendor to me that's about 20 mins away, who sells ecigs and supplies as an afterthought. They sell all manner of crap and trinkets but in their ad, they decided to put in a dig about my 'high' prices. Then I found out they sell chinese pre-made juice and the cheapest possible style of ce4 (yes there are even crappier ce4s than the average ones you run into).
*They aren't even an cig shop* and they feel the need to rape me in a craigslist ad. I guess, if you like that kinda juice or just don't know any better, buy the cheap stuff.
I used to.
Then I learned better and haven't looked back.

I'm rambling. The point is, I agree with OP entirely. There is a lot of gouging going on out there and in B&M's most of the traffic in my town are newbies that don't know any better that will pay it because, well, they haven't the slightest idea.

If you have to worry that someone will be aghast when they go online and look at the real prices of things then you're charging way too much and unfortunately, this is the case everywhere.

 

[motelgrim]

I cannot for the life of me understand why you'd have a brick and mortar without also having an online sales component...

we have two of these shops now in new orleans, and i really wont go to either one because of the high prices...i mean why bother? i can have vape stuff sent to my house

i liked one of these stores pages on facebook and i saw him say "come in today we have the zmax" and so i asked him what the price was and he said "come in and check it out" to which i replied "not likely"

why couldnt you do both? the online stuff would help you keep prices low, the the b&m would get you people wanting to try it out or who are new vapers

The biggest reason NOT to do online as well is supporting it. Dealing with shipping, packaging and god forbid, returns is an entire other dedication.
I have no desire to enter that nightmare any time soon, myself.

 

[kdubbie]

One store near me sells The cheaper clearos and cartos are $3-$6 dollars more than online prices. A Vamo V2 for $125 a Provari for I think $300, and Innokin SVD for $135...just the tubes only ... THAT'S CRAZY!!!

I think they just decided on 50% to 100% markup on everything. There juice prices are the only thing that are comparable to all other stores near by at $15 for 30ML.

 

[klynnn]

There is no way I would pay 15.00 for 15ml of juice. I don't care how good it is. I will make my own. With this being a new industry a lot are in business to get in make a fortune and get out. There is a difference between making an honest living and making a killing. I think a lot of people in the US have forgotten that.

 

[Hotwire]

My friends who I have helped started vaping are telling me "You should start your own store"...

I live in Shanghai, a twenty min subway and ten min taxiu ride to a major factory. I can get juice for around 3usd for 50ml and really cheap egos and tanks etc and could make a website and ship them and etc. But I'm way to lazy haha

 

[vapalicious1100]

In my small city I am lucky enough to have 4 B&Ms. One of them has plain bad supplies of everything and the workers are inexperienced. I asked about dripping atomizers, the lady at the counter had no clue what I was talking about. At another vapeshop I asked if they sold any DIY supplies, same thing happened. At another vapeshop that I just visited today I saw a Groove, which as I understand were recalled as they are prone to catching fire, plus they sell low quality products at high prices and for some reason seem to hold a grudge against Joyetech. Then there is one last vapeshop, and although they still sell juices at ridiculous prices, they sell hardware (except for the provaris which they sell for about 20% above the regular cost as if they aren't already expensive enough) at perfectly reasonable prices. So whenever I need some atomizer heads, or I want to try a new tank, I just head over there. They have a website where I can see if they have what I want, and I could order the equipment from the site, but I would rather save the money on shipping considering that I live next to a tram line that drops me 20 or 30 feet from the store in less than 20 minutes

 

[Jibbu]

I have lost interest in the flea market and mall guys here. How much does it cost to run a tiny kiosk at Altamonte Mall, anyway?!? The next time I need a leaky clearo I most certainly will *not* pay ten bucks for it. And the flea market guy is just as bad with his "you need the Eroll setup for 60 bucks" when all I asked for was a single 510 auto batt for hands-free while gardening.

The owner of the B&M I have done business with is *all* business, with an attitude that exudes prejudice toward expensive mod users. I can't blame him, and the payoff is that he's able to open a second store. But I find I'm doing less and less business with his company as his web prices are the same as in-store and, in some cases, far too expensive for the little things. And he flat-out refuses to carry any 36mg/ml juices due to the "danger", which I suppose is real enough.

So I buy online now. ECF has a wonderful list of suppliers I can be comfy with. The trick is finding the right combo/ratio of goodies-to-shipping which at times has made me put off ordering.

 

[coho72]

I can see where B&M stores prices have to be a little higher than your average net vendor. That point has been made with legit reasoning behind it but the fact remains that juice itself is priced higher than gold and almost 85% profit in most cases and sometimes much higher than that. I usually take the attitude , if it seems too expensive , I just move on to the next vendor until I find an agreeable price. Most of the time I stick with a few certain vendors no matter the price for piece of mind. There are times when I see vendors selling ego kits for over $100 and a 15ml bottle of juice for $40 , that is not exaggeration. Also there is a certain vendor out there selling POS Sigelei Mechs for over $100 and on his same site selling high end pinoy mods at competitive prices. It is an obvious move to gouge newbies that arent educated on the pricing of vape gear. Obviously that is not going to work with the high end gear because the potential buyer of that stuff is well versed in the price of a Sentinel or an N-Zonic. Vendors like that , I just cant keep my mouth shut! They are a disgrace to the vaping community. You don't have to have a love for vaping or even care about helping smokers quit , run your business to pay your bills and make a profit , but dont be a scumbag! Have some morals , beating unsuspecting customers that are trying to better their health is not sustainable buisiness!

 

[BlueMoods]

To be the devil's advocate here. why would I sell my product which, for argument sake, cost me 1.00 to produce for only 1.50 if people will pay 5.00 for it? Gouging or not, if the majority of those that see it will pay that, why wouldn't I charge that or 10.00, 50.00, 500.00 if the majority of the people that saw it for that price bought it?

 

[vjc0628]

I don't mind paying $12 or $14 for 15 ml at most

If its good juice and I can buy 30ml or better for a little better price

my 1st experience buying juice locally was as expensive and juice was terrible

 

[vernhall]

Face it folks, vaping is the new 'in-thing' at the moment and there are a lot of people jumping on the bandwagon to open a B&M... Don't have to know anything (or much) about vaping all you have to have is a few bucks to cover the startup costs and that's about it... And, face it, a lot of the local B&Ms buy their stuff the same places overseas that we do and then just mark it up from there...

 

[wbart]

I believe there are 2 types of stores one just wants your business and the others are started by vapors that care about what they do and who they influence. I have been fortunate and unfortunate to have experienced both, My local B&M comes from category 2 and my friends down in Georgia is a Category 1. I was really disappointed with the store and the prices that he has to put up with. It almost felt like going into an evil version of my store all the juice was in bins instead of stacked neatly on the shelves the Mods were in display cases instead of where I could try them out it. And everything I looked at was 30% mark up... I thought I was in a nightmare

 

[kdubbie]

To be the devil's advocate here. why would I sell my product which, for argument sake, cost me 1.00 to produce for only 1.50 if people will pay 5.00 for it? Gouging or not, if the majority of those that see it will pay that, why wouldn't I charge that or 10.00, 50.00, 500.00 if the majority of the people that saw it for that price bought it?

You're right in one regard that it's your business, you can charge what you want ... Customers certainly don't need to shop there. But as a customer, once I find out that I can get the same product at another store or online for much much less. Not only will I take my business somewhere else, but I will most likely spread the word that your store is price gauging and warn people to stay away and where to find the same products much cheaper.

Don't get me wrong, I understand B&M have to charge more to cover expenses. But there are a couple of stores around here that are charging upwards of double and triple the cost of other local B&M stores for the same products. To me that's just wrong and I won't shop there again.

 

[Zevyn]

I can buy bowling balls online for $120 shipped or I can buy the same one from my local pro shop for $145.

I prefer to buy local since if it breaks or gets damaged under warranty, it's much quicker and easier to replace. They charge me less to drill it too.

That's worth it to me to pay the extra cash.

However, if I roll into a vaping shop and buy a Kanger EVOD for $12.95 and a replacement head for $3.95 (what my shop charges), when I can get it for less than $6 online plus a pack of 5 heads for around $7-8, I'm going to buy them online. The reason is that if any of them turn out to be a dud, I'm not out that much cash and I can fall back on other options while I deal with replacement or just purchase another one. It works out mathematically in my favor to buy online under any circumstances. You could make an argument for an expensive mod, but all of these small parts and juices are low-cost items.

Even if 2 or 3 out of 10 items you bought online were duds, you would still be far ahead monetarily than if you had 10 of 10 from the local shop work perfectly.