The Mods and people Who KNOW me are shocked I have avoided posting in this thread for so long. I am a strong Anti Provari crusader for many reasons. No One, no one to me has Ever justified the price is not just a huge markup over a reasonable profit markup. Take a the 20 dollar end cap for instance. I have machined stainless steel for years. I can easily buy SS in bulk like they do and make that end cap by hand, the expensive way and sell it for 9 bucks making a large profit. These guys are making at least twice as much profit.. and that's getting over 100 % of your of your cost back and making a 75% profit on top of that. That's just Bad business. I am a sheet metal worker. Don't tell me you have to charge 20 dollars for that cheesy end cap, and, I don't have the buying power the manufacturer does.. they can get it for much cheaper and make it for much less.
The other issue is that all the components the Provari use also come from China. They are only assembled in the USA as far as I know. Are their components really better than the Lava Tube components? Possibly Yes, but.. does this justify the price? I say No. sadly, Provape wont tell you where all the parts come from or what they pay for them, so they can stop anyone from examining them too closely just because they have a great product.
If you want a true comparison of the Provari and Lavatube find out who makes all the parts of each and their rated specs. No one has done this. Both companies are gutless cowards for not giving us the consumers this information.
I haven't even mentioned the very bad design of the Provari menu system or the very ugly 60's style design.
Simply put the provari may be a better mod in the long run but the price is not justified unless those things are known. I believe the Provape company are a bunch of thieves. Please don't tell me no company has a right to disclose to the public the parts they use or the price they pay for them. Companies have been taken to court over this issue many times before - you simply cannot charge anything you want - you can make a profit with a large mark up within reason yes, but that mark up has a cap on it under fair market value laws. I do not believe Provape is following these laws and so far they have gotten away with their thievery. I challenge anyone to prove me different by actually finding the costs Provape pays for these parts and assembling them. I bet Volcanoecigs could make (contract out of stainless steel and better components) a better Provari clone and only have to charge at most 40 to 50 dollars more. ( still under 100 dollars) This would put the Provari thieves in their humble place.
Gimme a break. I just paid 62 dollars for a Provari clone called a LavaTube ( has all the same functionality save one, the ohms meter) and it can be made much better than it is. Volcanoecigs made MONEY on this unit. You gonna tell me the Provari people list the official price at 200 dollars BUT ALWAYS give a ongoing sale price of 159.95 ?? People.. that's a come-on. Retailers do it all the time to get top dollar. They are still making a Killing on that price because 159.95 has a huge markup !
It mattes not that the unit is rock solid ( to some) and is the best performing VV, those people are still being taken for a ride because Provape can get away with it.
If I'm wrong and Provape can prove it, and this post hurts their business, let them sue me in Court. That's how sure I am that I am right. They won't do that for many reasons.. but mostly because they know they will lose. Wait and see.
Uhm ... dude? Fun rant, but honestly, who cares? If you're new to vaping or living on a very constrained budget, then don't get what you can't afford. If you're committed to vaping, then nothing I've spent on Super T's or GGs are "worth" the cost. I mean, they're just really nice battery holders, the ProVari doesn't have the high-end bling! and style as some of the purely mechanical mods, but it's nice, it works well, it's not made out of cheap junk that falls apart, and I'm very happy with it. At the end of the day it's a very solid, stainless-steel tube with some very simple circuits and 90s-era LEDs on it. I'm sure it'll have a retina display and an iPhone app by 2014 or so, or be totally obsolete.
When all is said and done, every cent I've spent on mods/APVs, adds up to a lot less then I would have spent on cigarettes.
The rest of your rant is kinda ... what's a nice way of saying insane? What you're ranting about is called capitalism. Is a Mercedes worth what you pay for it? Maybe, how 'bout a Ferrari, a Rolls Royce, a Bugatti, a Veyron? Probably not. But if there's a market for it and people willing to buy it, then someone is going to keep on making it. The concept is called free market capitalism, it's not against the law. You can have a 9000% markup if you want, and if you have a target demographic willing to pay that, more power to you. You don't need to sell as many Ferrari's as Kia's to make the same profit. Different dynamic, same overall concept (profit/being a successful business).
All that being said, I'm very grateful for cheap Chinese knock-offs, for the same reason I'm happy Android is out there lighting a fire under Apple's iOS ...; it keeps innovation alive and prevents companies from becoming complacent and resting on their past accomplishments ...doing so tends to mean you'll become irrelevant very fast. See also RIM and Nokia.
If ProVari does nothing to improve their game, they're toast, because by next year there will be the LT clone v7.5 in stainless steel, for $99! They gotta keep innovating or become irrelevant. This is a really good thing, for me anyway, as a consumer.
Anyhoo. End rant. This is my first foray in years into the general sections of ECF and ... it's kinda nutty. I don't really understand the religious-fervor behind a lot of the sentiments. Are you a shareholder in any of these companies? If no, then, who really gives a s--t? Are you happy with a ProVari knock-off? If so, great, vape away. Would I recommend a ProVari as the first thing to buy to someone just trying e-cigs? Well, sure, if they have a lotta disposable income, if not, test drive something else, see what works for you, then figure out what the next step up means for you.
Would I rate the ProVari as the greatest thing to ever happen to vaping? Honestly, not even. I far prefer really nice mechanical mods, lr cartos, tanks, and some kinda voltage regulator like the Kick. But for all that it does, I paid a lot less for the ProVari then I paid for other less-capable pieces of metal. Am I stupid for spending all that cash? Perhaps, depends on your world-view, and how hard you work for how much money. Everything is always relative. I'm reminded of this every time some mod collector posts their pics of the 37 GGs they own.
Peace & Happy Vaping, however you choose to partake.
