Remembering...
- Thread starter PapawBrett
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Right! I totally forget Good Prophets... Very nice people! Bought a lot of stuff from them. A long time ago.
I just now realized that Sweet-vapes.com is no longer in business (at least online). It was shocking because a lot of people seemed to really like them.
In fact, I have been on the hunt for some older equipment lately and I have come across almost literally a TON of online vape retailers that have gone out of business, both US- and China-based. Many of them seemed to have gotten out of the game once the sub-ohm clearomizer craze came in (after the eGo started going "out of style"). But many left the biz more recently (all this was according to research via the Wayback machine).
What gets me about the more popular retailers is they let their domains drop only to be snatched-up by domain name "speculators". They could have gotten a decent penny for those domains from another vape shop to use to redirect the traffic to their shops.
I know this does not qualify as "out of business", but Kanger may as well be out of business. There is limited stock of Kanger products just about everywhere I have searched (USA and China). I have a feeling they will not be around for long...or maybe they'll come back with a bang? They made some crappy stuff (like everyone else) and they always had to revise their products due to poor development at first-run, but they had some really historical hits, too. The subtank mini and protanks/aerotanks are definitely for the history books, IMHO.
In fact, I have been on the hunt for some older equipment lately and I have come across almost literally a TON of online vape retailers that have gone out of business, both US- and China-based. Many of them seemed to have gotten out of the game once the sub-ohm clearomizer craze came in (after the eGo started going "out of style"). But many left the biz more recently (all this was according to research via the Wayback machine).
What gets me about the more popular retailers is they let their domains drop only to be snatched-up by domain name "speculators". They could have gotten a decent penny for those domains from another vape shop to use to redirect the traffic to their shops.
I know this does not qualify as "out of business", but Kanger may as well be out of business. There is limited stock of Kanger products just about everywhere I have searched (USA and China). I have a feeling they will not be around for long...or maybe they'll come back with a bang? They made some crappy stuff (like everyone else) and they always had to revise their products due to poor development at first-run, but they had some really historical hits, too. The subtank mini and protanks/aerotanks are definitely for the history books, IMHO.
Uuugh. Same with Litecig. They are still in business but for me it's like as if they are out of business because they no longer ship within PA since the 40% PA vapor tax was implemented. I'm not sure how not shipping within PA avoids the vapor tax, but that is what they told me (even though they are a PA company as far as I can tell). It's really frustrating for me because they have older equipment that I really want at great prices and I know it's good because I ordered from them pre-vapor tax, but it is out of reach for me now. I would have to have it shipped to someone else outside of PA and then have them ship it to me grrrrr.
I bought my first Joye 510 and my first eGo from Vicky at Cignot. Back then, in early 2010, it was telephone orders only. Vicky was always cheerful and willing to help and explain differences. As I remember, she always included a piece of candy in the box with an order.
I can't imagine you wouldn't have several peeps step up to that plate!
That's different, I was talking about PA retailers not shipping to PA addresses to avoid the vapor tax, not the sales tax. You are not bound to PA vapor taxes since you are in another state. And it gets really complicated because the PA dept of revenue changes the laws off the books to suit their cash stream. This is why they lost 2 lawsuits from 1 wholesaler and 1 retailer (one of which I spoke to today). The law is pretty clearly written, but they try to change it "unofficially" and the only way to fight is through the court. If you don;t have the means, then you are up the river and this is why govt = violence. Always has been, always will be.
PA has a vapor tax of 40% on wholesale price on ejuice and full kits. As a consumer in PA, if you buy from a PA vendor online, you have to fill out a form and pay the 40% vapor Tax and that applies to shipping and handling charges as well. SO you get double screwed because since you have no way of knowing what your supplier paid wholesale, you are obligated to pay the tax on the full retail price + on the shipping. But they don't care of course, we are merely money machines to them.
Otherwise, the vendor has to collect it from you (to pass along to the state) and they are not willing to go through that (I understand that completely). They simply just stop shipping within the state of PA. They are not obligated by law to collect the tax on consumer sales, it's up to the consumer to report their purchases and pay the vapor tax, which is BS because the vapor tax is specifically written for wholesale sales. A lawsuit is needed.
I found all this out by talking to another PA retailer (who is also a wholesaler that won a lawsuit against the PA Dept of Revenue over this Vapor tax BS - see below - cool guy BTW). Talked to him for over a half hour today. He told me all about why a lot of online PA sellers are choosing not to ship within PA and what we, as a PA-based consumers, have to do if they do not collect the Vapor Tax from you. It's a hassle and gets very expensive.
And let me tell you, it's a big deal. Around 2006 I got caught by the PA DOR buying cigarettes online. Buying the cigs was not illegal, but I had no idea I had to pay PA tobacco taxes when buying cigs online. They demanded customer information from many online cigarette sellers (Indian Nations) and these sellers supplied it to them! Then the PA DOR sent me a an itemized document with all my purchases I made and a hefty bill for taxes, penalties and whatnot which amounted to THOUSANDS of dollars, for purchases I made for a few years but never paid taxes on. I was shocked, to say the least. But I learned my lesson. My point is, buying out of state and just not reporting it is not a good plant for a PA resident because no telling when the PA DOR is going to reach ou to out-of-state vape vendors requiring them to product lists of PA customers they sold to with receipts as to what they bought!
The PA govt is watching Pennsylvanians, big time. They want their tax revenue and they aren't playing around...and they will lie and cheat to get it. That's they way PA has been for decades now. I'm surprised they haven't implemented the Vapor tax sooner than they did.
Anyway, I digress. This is OT.
But if you want to read more about how vape shops ended up winning a little bit against the big, bad PA govt...
Vape shops see partial win in tobacco tax court case
The Commonwealth Court has made their decision: Kingdom Vapor Emerges Victorious
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I'll think about it. But after a conversation I had today (see post above) I'm thinking about just forgetting about the whole thing. It's not worth he economic hit I had to take in 2006-ish.
What happened to @Billie-cig and ByLeo? I can't find their website but Billie's been on ECF recently.
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