Those guys at the mall

[elothen]

So, went to the mall Sunday with the fam. We were minding our own business, just strolling down the corridor when 2 of those gimmic, cigarette-look-a-like kiosk guys jumped in our way and started trying to pitch their crap. They asked if we smoked and we said "No, we vape". I pulled out my twist, my wife pulled out her Provari, and we doused their kiosk in vapor. The guys were like, "What's that??". Then they still tried to sell us on theirs because ours "didn't look like a cigarette". We said that's ok, cause we don't smoke ;-) They did have e-liquid though so we took a look at that because it's always nice to know more places to get liquid in a pinch. They wanted $20 for 10mil... I pay $17 for 30mil right next to my house. We just walked away laughing.

Now maybe we were kinda jerky about it all but I already gave those charletin's $150 for a BS product back in the day and really feel that they get what they deserve. If they were selling BLU or Volt for only double what you could get it online for then that would be one thing, but they're pitching COMPLETE crap for $100+ per kit. I see them as great harm to anyone who really wants to switch because they get ripped off by that crap and then pitch the whole concept.

Anyway, thought I'd share ;-)

 

[TheMightyBooth]

It's because today is the day of the rip-off market. People are swapping over, and don't know about UKV and here
It's all part of e-cig education.

 

[Maptec]

I had the same thing here but they didn't push. The liquid was in old bottles with labels that were very hard to read and were $25 for 10ml. They were selling smog 650mAh batteries for $115 each with no extras and told me not to order my ego twist because anything without a white battery was crap.

They claim that they were just there to get people to stop smoking.

 

[nanovapr]

I displayed a Darwin to mall guys, they had no idea what it was. I guess it's a sign of good salesmanship if you continue to promote your product in fhe face of anything that is a thousand times better.

 

[Vapoor eyes er]

Ya never know though. We have Canada's # 1 vendor setup in a Flea Mkt on weekends. There's a competitor in the same Mkt a few stalls away selling stuff for double the price.

 

[tj99959]

I'v only ran into a mall kiosk one time, so really don't know much about them. They were selling what looked like Joye 510 knock offs for like 145$. I just pulled my mini box mod out of my pocket and told them that it cost me $2.20 to make mine.

 

[JAY73]

thats great guys we as a community need to put a stop to people like them yeah i know in fifty years we will all live in a sci-fi utopia and have flying cars and what not but all we can do is shut them down by showing off our toy's...

 

[Beans]

Grrrrrr, these guys tick me off. I go rounds regularly with these kind of creeps, and they just don't get it. I've explained time and time again how cartos work and break it down mathematically for them. Yet they still profess 1 Carto = a pack........ "Because their look a like kits hold way more juice than my Boges and are a higher quality product"

I swear one day I'm gonna stroke out at the mall.....

 

[Angi2299]

Had the same experience at the Parks Mall. And, yeah, $20 for 10ml. The guy said it was a great deal because one drop was equal to SEVERAL cigarettes!?!? WTH!?!? Made me so mad I walked away without another word

 

[m2hound]

I guess I consider myself lucky. We have a guy in our mall, he is pretty cool even though everything ridiculously marked up. He gives me some pretty solid deals now and then. We talk juice, mods and stuff. He has no problem suggesting different places to go online.

 

[elothen]

Those guys at the mall - Part II

So yesterday the wife, kids, and I were at a different mall (ok, guess we go to the mall alot? iono...) and came across another gimmic e-cig stand. We weren't feeling froggy though so we went by with peace in mind. The lady there approached us, saw my wife's Provari and said "Oh, so I guess you know all about these.". We then proceeded to have a pleasant conversation about e-cigs. She had us try one of hers, still lame, but with her good attitude about everything we let it be. Then we mentioned the EGO's and she said they actually sell those too ? So she pulled out a box, literally hidden in a cabinet and showed us. Well it turned out to be an EGO clone, no branding or anything, and she wanted $250 for the 2 battery kit! OMG! We suggested that she should put that on display either way (everyone knows they're going to overpay at the mall) and put together a demo setup for people who aren't quite sold on the look-a-likes and need something with a little more hit.

All in all a pleasant encounter that I thought I'd share given my earlier condemnation of all such people. Now with that price tag I don't know if they'll ever actually sell one but her openness to the idea and lack of pushiness was refreshing. Heh, if they were to sell Provari's what would they cost? $500? $600? lol. Oh well, mall real estate ain't cheap I guess.

 

[jeffreys]

$20 for 10ml? Holy hell

I thought the $11 for 10 I paid was bad.

 

[mostapha]

I really do need to go back by the smoking everywhere booth at my local mall with my Twist and tell them about how I did buy their product from them a few years ago……and it kept me off cigarettes for all of 3 hours and an $8 disposable from a gas station started me on something that has so far saved about $400 and got me off cigarettes.

I'd love it if a mall kiosk sold real stuff, but even the headshops here sell single-battery EGO-T kits for $150 to $180 with no extra tanks and 5ml of crappy, Chinese-made juice that tastes like tobacco soaked in cough syrup for $20 (I was hard up a few weeks ago waiting on a delayed shipment).

 

[Dominicanto]

I just worry about the effect these charlatans at the mall will have on the ecig cause, in general. For the end-user, trying something new, especially something to do with as difficult an addiction as cigarettes, is very hard and requires a leap of faith. To eventually come to know (and you will) that these guys have not only sold you a can of beans with their knock-offs, but then stole your money with a 400% markup will likely ensure they go back to analogs for good. Worse - these folks may join the rank and file of pro-Pharma lobbyists and government groups in favor of ecig bans out of (very understandable) spite. Then, of course, there are the antis who will, without the help of the end-user and just a couple of quick Google searches, use the huge discrepancy in price for the same item as further armament against the entire community and ecig concept. But then what do we do? Do we petition the mall owner/local government groups to shut these guys down knowing what we know on the basis that we wish to prevent exploitation of the masses? Does this not hurt "our cause" if, in fact, some of these mall guys might, at the very least, be making folks aware of ecigs as an alternative. Do we hurt ourselves by becoming split into factions or is the idea of an "us" overstated and there are simply normal and knowledgeable users as in any industry (like computers which had the same track record for price gouging of the average consumer in the early stages) and we should just let the free market allow for the occasional sucker to be exploited?

I haven't seen many of these con jobs in NYC area malls (not that I go to many) and the few I have seen are my favorite places to shop (local store fronts for reputable online vendors), but I'm not sure what I'd do or say if I encountered one of those guys walking with my family.

My head hurts....

 

[68injunhed]

I went to the mall this weekend, and the little kiosk there was closed down. I was gonna look at the juice they had, but it sounds like I would have just been ...... anyway. Oh well, I'll just wait on my gandalf and dragons fire I ordered from hhv. I've got enough to get me through til then.

 

[vap3d70]

Luckily i found ecf before falling for the greensmoke kiosk...
its bad enough how i was getting raked over with cig2o carts at local smoke shop...14.99+ tax for 3 carts that tasted like vaping old gym socks...

 

[mostapha]

But then what do we do?

If you've got the time, money, and inclination……open a competing kiosk and run them out of business by selling a better product for cheaper. If you did your job right, you might not have much repeat business (unless people screw up ordering and run out of an expendable)……but there's an endless stream of smokers coming by……and some of them hate themselves for smoking. The line "we're like them, but our stuff doesn't suck and costs less" might work. And it might make the world a better place, especially if you're handing out business cards for CASAA, ECF, and other vendors you like.

A kiosk that just sold volts (maybe), egos, cartos, attys, drip tips, clearos, maybe a mod or two (just a lavatube and a smoktech telescope or a box mod would be fine in small quantities), chargers, aw batteries (if you have the mods), and a selection of juice from good makers………seems like it would convert people a lot better than spending a decent mod price on a cig-a-like with a half-hour battery and cartridges. Put it close to the crappy kiosk and blow clouds of 4.5V 100%VG vapor at them all day long.

I'd much rather go to a mall kiosk that charged $2 or $2.50 for a decent carto when I'm running low than waiting through a weekend on worn out stuff while USPS finds it's bung hole. If I knew the stuff was good, there are times when I'd spend $3-4 on a carto filled with a juice I wanted to try while I was wandering around shopping or going out for a night. Yeah…it's more expensive than buying online…but it's also right there.

 

[DaveP]

Mall kiosks have their place, but some, maybe most, are way overpriced for the products they sell. They have to pay mall rent, salaries, and all the costs associated with running a business. At least they introduce ecigs to the public.

Educated consumers pay less for quality, that's for sure. You can usually get a deal from an online dealer on most products you see in stores, no matter what it is. Some stores are realizing this and cutting prices. With that, comes employee layoffs and lesser service. In most of the cut rate stores you can forget about knowledgeable sales floor personnel. I kind of miss the days when you could go up to the camera counter and talk to someone who actually uses the product. You paid more, but got some advice and demonstration of the product.

Sears was the last place that kind of service existed. They just closed the one in our city.

 

[mostapha]

I'm not an old foagie, but I have never gotten legitimate input from a sales man at any store more complicated than toys-r-us with the exception of two high-end guitar boutiques. These are the kinds of places that don't sell Fender, Gibson, or Marshall because they're not good enough.

Not kidding. Not exaggerating.

Retail is dead. It's been dead for a long time.

The only thing that worries me about that legit kiosk idea is that IDK if people will respond/care enough to bother with it…I wouldn't care unless they sold drinks or had a juice bar.

It's something I dream about, and it's something people seem to lack and complain about, but it's so much easier to shop online than to even figure out whether a career salesman knows what kind of store he's working in.

Frankly, something set up as a nonprofit (or a rich vaper who's bored) with a couple egos to try that just sold drip tips (for cleanliness reasons) and juice and handed out business cards would probably work as well to drive the bad kiosk out of business as a place that actually knew what they were talking about.

 

[TemporalKnot]

It's not just the kits. A kiosk business I used to patronize sold their disposal cartomizers at $17 for a pack of 5! One cartomizer would last about a day, if it wasn't DOA. I felt like I was getting a deal when I'd go online and by 10 packs at a time for $130.