Some good answers on here, should at least give you a little insight!
Me personally, I prefer and have mostly purchased authentics for the quality differences, however, I HAVE purchased expensive authentic mods in the past that weren't worth a damn, and would have rather have had a clone instead!! As a whole though, I've noticed a big difference in machining, materials, quality assurance and control, customer service...BUT, I also bought almost all of my authentics second hand, used from other vapers!
One good thing about all the new stuff coming out in the vaping industry and all the hype, as well as a lot of vaper's short attention spans is I've been about to afford and get my hands on some really nice gear and pieces for not that much more than clones, and even cheaper than what some retail stores sell their clones for ha!
Its been refreshing and good to see modders coming out with gear that is priced more competitively and more in line with the value of said products! I think that's one good effect that clones have had on the market. Some modders like Zen from House of Hybrids even embraced the inevitability of having some of his devices cloned, and has not only capitalized on upgrading them for a fraction of the price of a new device, he is taking steps to make sure those cloned products are safer and backs them up by a warranty after upgrading and servicing them! He truly cares about helping smokers to quit and wants them to have a reliable, safe, stylish and functional device to do so with!
IMHO a lot of it is just to create controversy and drama, which in turn creates exposure, press, buzz, which equates to sales either way! I really don't want to start up yet ANOTHER thread debating clones verses authentics, but I will say that using common sense, logic and rationale, how can you claim that your losing sales, when you're "limited release" products are consistently sold out since the pre-orders, for YEARS! Some mods, like the recently cloned Zero by Carlos Creations have waiting lists for years, vapers have to know the "right" people to get invited to a secret group in order to get on a special list to wait months and month or even years just to have a rare, limited edition mod that nobody else has! It's a bit ridiculous IMHO, but to each their own, I don't make it my business to get into others business about how they spend their money, just don't cry "foul" or claim that it's hurting your innovation or business when in actuality it's done the opposite!
The majority of clone purchasers are going to purchase clones no matter WHAT....they weren't going to buy your product nohow because it cost too much to them! If you make a crappy or subpar product, a product that's way overpriced, we ARE smart enough and you are going to lose business....if your product isn't available we are going to find mods that ARE, and if it's a damn good product, looks good and we can get our hands on it, we will gladly throw are money at you, ESPECIALLY if you treat us halfway decent and have customer support available should we have any issues, that we are usually forgiving and understanding of if again, you are AVAILABLE and treat us with respect!
As far as eliquid goes, I feel it's a bit different! Making juices is very cheap AND easy.....make safe, high quality and good tasting juices, not so much!! A lot of CNC manufacturers already have a lot of the tools to make mods and RDA's, the stuff for necessary for mass producing consistent, lab grade and high quality juices with excellent quality assurance and quality control, customer service, marketing etc. is not as easily readable! I'll vape a mod made out of garage or someone's hobby/project shop as long as it's safe which is easy enough to find out, but I'm not going to vape someone's "bathtub juice"!
While the vape industry has completely exploded in the last few years, the market is full and still has room to expand, it is still in a lot of ways in it's infancy, or ever evolving, and racing to meet, beat and comply with the FDA regulations. There's going to be issues, differences in perspective, opinions, desires, direction, you name it, in other words CONFLICT! However I think industry leaders like Zen have the best mindset, adapting too and accepting the unavoidable, while putting the needs of it's consumers first and foremost and that to me is innovation at it's finest! I've owned 3 ZNA's now in a year and my husband still uses one. As I was bringing it to him just last night I was reminded of how comfortable and effortless it fit in my hand verses this heavier, bulky and pointy box mod I've been using now for a few months (Project Sub Ohm Fat Baby/Segelei 100 watt). Don't get me wrong, I love the one I have too, it does it's job and does it well, but it's not even in the same league as the ZNA. The ZNA is easier to carry, use and looks a lot sharper IMHO. If if had longer battery life available and higher wattages I'd probably be vaping it instead of this one in it's place but for my husband who's been using it for at least 6 months now, it still works and suits him perfectly along with a Kanger Aerotank v2!
Truthfully, the biggest "uproars" I've seen, are from vapers on both sides, the pretentious elitist who are so full of themselves and their mods I'm not sure how they even have room for vapor, and the tightwad cheap @$$3$ who won't purchase a high quality mod claiming it's too expensive, but will have 10 or more of the cheap knockoffs that all virtually look and function the same, while saying it's every bit as good as the authentic version, yet have never even held an authentic to comare it to! End rant......All obviously my perspective, humble opinions and conclusion on the "authentic verses clone debate".
For those with it issues and in an uproar it comes down to buy and vape what works for you, and quit worrying about what others vape, modders will make plenty if their products are solid and they actually employ quality assurance customer service, consumers aren't stupid, we know what the value of something is on point, or at least most of us do, I'm pretty sure! Thanks for reading my book lol, happy vaping!
