chat- This ........ hoopla is going to get more interesting as time goes by, IMO. I don't have much to say about him secretly making money off his links, as I have never personally used his links. I see the info on his page, and then go to the sites using my own search. I'm not usually that impressed by his deal finding any more than other ECF members used to do regularly. I have found items on FastTech a day before he posts them, it's not hard to do. The Innokin if-it's-not-MSRP-it's-a-fake scandal is ugly on every side I look at it (-this needs a better name, InnokinGate?). Price fixing baffles me, as it can only lead to re-engineering, clones, and general design theft. Clones and knockoff junk are sold by USA vendors all the time, so I can't single out any one company. However, if I paid MSRP for something (or it was clearly labelled "authentic") but it turned out to be a knockoff I would get pretty angry. Seeing how ECF used to have a popular deals and steals thread that has been pretty quiet since Joe took off, I figure somebody will take over for Joe if he does get in trouble and has to stop his blog. If I was a vendor losing money to FastTech on any item I would probably be just as mad as any mom and pop store that loses business to Walmart. Meh, good thing I don't really care that much about all this. I feel I have typed way too much on this subject already. Apologies.
I bought a USA made RBA yesterday. I want a VVV tank as soon as Ray is ready to sell one. I made a couple of mods myself, and all the parts were made in USA apart from the 510 connector (because I'm just a little too cheap to get a tap and make my own at this point). There is ProVari (USA made), and other very expensive mod/APV makers that cannot have their products cloned good enough to fool the vaping community, but those things are far out of the price range of most of us. Finding an original device and not a copy or re-engineered knockoff must be quite challenging and most of us are just trying to stay off cigarettes and don't care that much. Quality, however, is often recognized and promoted no matter where it comes from. Just ask Ray.
