So a rip-off vaping stand just opened in my local mall.

[DiNet]

1st reason is that they do not care.
2nd reason is when sales guy is not an owner of that kiosk.
I agree it's bad. If I had researched e-cig I'd start vaping years ago. Instead I tried one of those in kiosk and walked away very disappointed.
On top of this is difficulty to get that stuff in my country... anything good for e-cig is only international.

 

[caitlin]

Reason I bolded the start my own kiosk, with the reaction i have been getting since i have went e-cig, i have kinda felt the same, just need to educate myself more, but see i'd have to be fair and make sure the user are educated too, I suck a ripping people off, i rather have people feel like they leave knowing something bout the product even if they dont buy at that time.

Haha. The starting my own kiosk was a joke, but I agree on the rest of it. I have business cards from various vendors that have ecf's address on them, so now when people seem really interested in what i'm using, i hand them one so that they can come here and educate themselves. just like any other form of sales... it really is up to the buyer to do their homework before they make the purchase; ever go to buy a cell phone or a computer (etc etc) without doing your research first -- you will almost always walk out having overspent and gotten less than you should. Its just that in less known areas like vaping, its a little trickier to know where to start your research if no one is there to show you the way.

 

[Shifter_scott]

The only e-cig kiosk I know of in my area is called Ploomz, and they are quite different from what everyone's prescribing. I don't think they sell any disposables at all, their case is full of eGo's and ProVari's. The guys that work there are vaping off serious rigs (yes they let them vape in the mall.) Their prices are competitive if you don't want to buy in bulk online (3$ Smoketech Carto's, $5 rebuildable Clearo's). They have their own juice brand, which is a bit pricey, but it's 70% VG. I've tried a bottle or two and it wasn't bad.

At our flea market, there are two ecig vendors, one that also has a local store, and one who just does the flea market and online. Again, no Blu's to be found. The independent guy only charged me $30 for a 650 eGo-C Upgrade kit with two clearo's, charger, and case, and he always throws in a bottle of juice too, although he only has Dekang and Hansen. Last weekend I bought a Vivi Nova tank from him....$10. Nice guy, too, and his mod rig is sweet, although I don't know exactly what it is.

 

[Rocketpunk]

Ok, I take back the flea market statement. My grandpa used to take me to the flea market when I was a kid, and my favorite booth was the dude who sold samurai swords, nunchucks, and ninja stars. Makes that South Park episode "Fun With Weapons" even more hilarious. The flea market brings back tons of memories for me, so yeah, I take back my flea market statement.

I don't take back my comment about the mall kiosks, though. They may just be hired hands who don't know a thing about vaping, and that's not their fault, they just need a job. But that being said, Don't ever approach them. If you've been to ECF and done a modicum of research and you STILL approach them, it's your own fault if you get ripped off.

 

[Maximum Chips]

Anyone else have anything similar to this happening in their area?

I've not seen a stall exclusively selling e-cigs, but a couple of tobacconists in my local area stock cheap (and nasty) e-cigs. They also sell the replacement cartomisers.

Oh, and as a side-note to any Australians -
I thought the sale of nicotine products other than tobacco was prohibited here?

NRT stuff is legal of course. Selling it in an e-cig kit is illegal, but I've also seen it for sale. Some of the aforementioned cheap and nasty e-cigs have nicotine in the cartomisers. In fact, the very first e-cig I bought (purchased locally from one of those $2 shops) contained cartomisers with the nicotine level indicated by a ticked box on the side of the packet (in retrospect, it felt like vaping shards of glass mixed with hydrochloric acid). Once I found out a bit more about e-cigs in Australia, I realised what these shops were doing is illegal, but decided against reporting it. The particular type of e-cig I bought is still commonly available, presumably with nicotine in the starter kit.

That said, I'm surprised the bloke at the kiosk specifically mentioned selling nicotine to you. He's either lying that the cartridges have nicotine content, ignorant or just disregarding the law altogether.

I haven't heard or read about anyone being prosecuted for selling illegal nicotine products yet, but as vaping becomes more popular here, I'm sure the government will crack down on it.

As an aside, the last time I went to my local tobacconist to buy actual cigarettes, I asked him if he'd been selling many e-cigs. He told me sales had been pretty slow, just the odd one now and again. I mentioned that what he was selling wasn't a very good product, that if he got something better in stock people might be more likely to buy it. He pretty much looked at me like I was from outer space, nodded and said nothing.

 

[Maximum Chips]

If he's selling them illegally, there's a part of me that wants to report him just to protect the e cig reputation, but I think it's outweighed by the fact that the guy, although being a POS himself, is just trying to make a living and I'd be putting someone out of a job, which would be especially cruel in this economy.

Plus I think it would be best for all of us not to draw unwanted attention to e-cigs. The government seems to be mostly ignoring e-cigs at this point in time. I'd prefer to keep it that way. No doubt they'd regulate the products more stringently and/or tax the living hell out of the them. Flying under the radar probably means a cheaper supply for the time being, IMO.

 

[DarthSnoopyFish]

I don't what you were expecting. Usually those little mall kiosks are staffed with employees, who are paid minimum wage, and only know about the product they are selling, and most of the time that knowledge is lacking.