When it all goes down...

[Megan Kogijiki Ratchford]

I believe this part of your quote is incorrect, or not phrased correctly. Not sure about the submission process, but I'm pretty sure these products are allowed to be sold until the August 8th, 2018 drop dead date. It's just that new products were not allowed to be introduced, but I thought the deadline for that was August this past summer.

I don't want to get too sidetracked though. This is Clark's thread, and he's trying to liquidate his merchandise. I'll leave him now to give his updates.

Sorry to confuse and you are right, after the 2018 deadline is what I was referring to.

 

[Pictor]

...and still they're happy to sell strong alcohol, cigarettes & tobacco, and the green stuff! Beggars belief.

 

[aznnp77]

I'm still holding out hope that the new administration can do something about this.

There's a recent article showing Senator Ron Johnson's support in a letter written last month.

Trump urged to snuff out FDA rules threatening 15,000 e-cig makers

Hopefully they get it done sooner than later so these vape shops don't close too soon in advance. I think Clark has checked out at this point, but most companies are chugging along for the time being.

The VP is close with Senator Johnson, and he's from the home state of Speaker Ryan, so he's close to the decision makers. I know Trump is not a fan of drugs and alcohol. I just hope someone can convince him that vaping is a safer substitute to smoking, and that outweighs the risk of addiction from teenagers. The tiebreaker being the amount of jobs that people will lose as a result.

 

[aznnp77]

Again, I'm sorry for hijacking the thread, but it has to do with Clark's comment from before. He said he's lose 40% of his business recently.

I was over in the classified section, and was shocked to only see 2 pages. I didn't visit this page too often until now. Has the ECF community and site really slowed down lately, or am I just imagining things?

I suppose with no new products, there's not much to talk about?

 

[Sloth Tonight]

Again, I'm sorry for hijacking the thread, but it has to do with Clark's comment from before. He said he's lose 40% of his business recently.

I was over in the classified section, and was shocked to only see 2 pages. I didn't visit this page too often until now. Has the ECF community and site really slowed down lately, or am I just imagining things?

I suppose with no new products, there's not much to talk about?

Honestly, the parts of ECF I frequent have never died down. They're booming.

 

[Joe Gordon]

Regulations...

We are currently out of bounds on the FDA requirements for CRC caps. The bottles with the droppers are fine, but the purple flat caps aren't. The FDA told us initially that bottles produced AFTER August 8, 2016 would need to be compliant, and that bottles produced prior to that date were fine. THEN, on August 8, 2016 -- they told us that ALL the stock needed to be CRC compliant (even the bottles produced prior). Basically we thought we were fine, but we aren't -- that's how the FDA works -- they tell you do one thing and then they require you to do something else -- fun, huh?

Then there's the age verification process. We tried two different vendors, Veritad and BlueCheck. One asks for a damn Social Security Number in order for you to purchase a bottle of eLiquid... the other asks for a selfie (with your ID up next to your face), and then a second picture of your ID up close. I mean, really? Who's going to do that to buy some freakin juice? Not a big deal, until 40% of my online business dries up because people don't want to go through the process.

In June all products must be registered with the FDA... and... I don't want to deal with it. Hundreds of man hours for a few extra months of business that is eviscerated by age verification... what would you do?

Then there are the non-regulatory issues. Katy is gone, she basically ran Nicoticket... I haven't really been that involved for 2 years. Josh is gone -- he was our wholesale account coordinator... not a deathblow, but he was with me damn near 3 years. BOTH of them left because there is no future in this industry. Beau, the last of my original employees is still with me because I bribed him to stay... he has one foot out the door (same reason, no future in this industry). So, with all these labor issues -- do I want to hire and retrain people, or do I want to pack it up?

The biggest issue is that our bottler is closing. We couldn't order a bottle if we wanted to? I could take production back in house -- I just don't want to.

This business has made me a multimillionaire. It's never been about the money, but it's definitely not about money now. I could retire right now but I am going back to clinical counseling for a whopping 30k a year. I would do it for free, honestly - only 3000 hours of work between me and private practice -- about damn time I use my Master's Degree for something other than bragging rights

Now - the financial issues. One person above suggested that margins are rich, and they are if you are doing this out of your basement... but, people just don't appreciate the costs that stack up on a business like ours. Shipping is my biggest cost -- I spent half a million this year with USPS and UPS. I pay my people very well, $15/hour -- labor stacks up. When there's nothing in the queue those people still expect to be paid -- for the last year we have been working from 9am-noon because we are so fast at packing orders. I pay my employees until 3:30 - I piss 3.5 hours per employee down my leg every day. Rent is 2 grand. I'm sitting on over 100k worth of inventory (that is fast dwindling). I could go on and on - subscriptions to software alone are almost a grand a month (those are just the systems we use to make our business run).

Finally - even though people aren't closing, this whole industry is TANKING. We are down 40% year over year, and it's not because of anything we did or didn't do... everyone is down. That 40% was all upside because most of the costs are fixed. Without it, it's just not worth the RISK. It's just about the money, it's about risk.

P.S I'm down, but I'm not out. I'm still going to make The Virus and Wakonda, I just need to find someone to do the bottling and fulfillment... there's more than enough demand for those two flavor to justify the trouble. The other recipes, despite being great liquid, just don't sell like Wakonda and The Virus. I have received 100s of emails about both -- IE, where is it? Where can I get it? Do you know any of your retailers that still have it in stock? What do I vape now that my ADV is gone? No such clamor about the rest of it, although people don't have any reservations when it's 70% off. Go buy some!

Coupon Code: NewYears2017
Value: 70% OFF
Expiration: Until the last bottle is gone~!~

I feel great sadness that our country had come to this, where big companys can make our laws in there favor and can pay off the government to say what they want to be the truth. Vaping may have helped millions stop smoking. You will be missed Kent, and thanks you for your eliquid it has been my favorite and your flavors kept me going those first days of vaping instead of smoking tobacco. I have tried to stock up on my favourites, sigh missed out on wakonda. I'm going for my third stock up order Friday, and I hope it will hold till you release your recipes, and till I can buy wakonda and the Virus again. I wish you the best in all you do going forward.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Izan]

Thinking aloud...

If NOW is "The END", and presuming that this sub forum (Paid) will most likely be closed by the end of February;

When (STILL 2018?) and where will the recipes be published/released?

Thank you

I

 

[Michael Scofield]

I have plans to release my vanilla, and a custom flavoring I use to make The Virus. Maybe more.

Dude If you release your custom Virus flavoring me and my crew will all make a donation to your PayPal account everytime we have a mix session! Which is often I might add. I Just got my last batch of your artwork today Kent, as always great job!
Thank you brother