This thread became a war at one point, between two vendors who have no connection with ECF, who we know nothing about, who we can't recommend one way or the other, who chose to ignore our requests to stop, and after being banned for turning the place into a war zone then proceeded to create new identities and return to the fray.
As a result, the thread is being closed now. Everything that can be said has been said.
Our advice, as always, is to buy from known good vendors. The only possible way for us to speak on that subject is to suggest you deal with vendors registered here: because we know who they are and can enforce reasonable standards of customer care on them.
There are almost certainly good vendors who are not registered here, and there are hundreds - thousands probably - of bad ones who we ejected or who cannot register here as they don't comply with our minimum standards. If you wish to deal with non-ECF vendors then you must expect that some of them are cowboys. Not all - that is not what we are saying here - but some of them will be. If you deal with someone who is clearly a very small scale business, has no phone number on their website or it is not working, who has no known address, then it is a possibility they are a back-bedroom business and not in the best position to ensure your safety.
It's your decision to deal with them or not, but be aware: there is no cheap, good e-liquid. There is cheap e-liquid and there is good e-liquid. There is well-tested e-liquid and there is completely untested e-liquid that contains materials which no large business would put in because they are not willing to take the risks that a back-bedroom operator can. Your decision.
[edit]
It is unwise to add colorings of any kind to inhalable products (unless the colorings are proven safe for inhalation). Materials added to e-liquid to color it, or to color the vapor, are probably a bad idea. This is why when you choose a coffee flavor e-liquid, it may be a good idea to choose one with flavors designed for vaping, not for cakes. Food flavorings such as coffee flavor have dark coloring added in order to give a tan color to cake sponge. Inhalable coffee flavor is clear, with no coloring. You should probably avoid a dark color coffee e-liquid because the maker has used food flavoring that is obviously not designed for vaping, which is why these dark liquids can be problematic for the equipment and the lungs.
