Ecig mini shops popping up in strange places

[Super-Shiny]

I noticed last week when doing some shopping down my local shopping street that two shops are selling ecigs.

One was a Hi-Fi shop
One was a Old furniture shop

Do you think this could be damaging to the vaping community? It looks like they were selling cig alikes and jumping on the band wagon for a fast buck as i am sure no hi-fi or furniture sales person can give good advice onto their customer....but than again i maybe completely wrong as i did not go in either shop, just saw the big writing on the windows.

The only thought going through my head was if any nilly willy goes out and sells them than it might prick the people ears up who want to regulate it more with more ammo to do so.

Or is my paranoia getting to me again, i tend to look into things too much

[mybad]

I cannot see anyone lasting long in ecig selling if they only sell tat and don't keep up with the flow of new stuff coming out, this should keep the dodgy one's at bay ( hopefully )

[matt1988]

My local one operates inside a computer/business systems shop. Also has an online site. Very good shop IMO but doesn't have much in the way of mods and things, despite vaping an Evic.

[mybad]

The most important thing to worry about is dodgy E juice selling that may or may not happen.

[sjs]

No surprise really when you think about it many of the e cig websites are operating from somebodys front room!

[matt1988]

Apr 7, 2013 10:27:26 GMT sjs said:

No surprise really when you think about it many of the e cig websites are operating from somebodys front room!

Yes exactly. Why not share the rent and other expenditures, and lets be honest, vaping shops take up very little room in the warehouse and shop floor.

It's a win win.

[sjs]

Apr 7, 2013 10:29:05 GMT matt1988 said:

Apr 7, 2013 10:27:26 GMT sjs said:

No surprise really when you think about it many of the e cig websites are operating from somebodys front room!

Yes exactly. Why not share the rent and other expenditures, and lets be honest, vaping shops take up very little room in the warehouse and shop floor.

It's a win win.

Yep some of them could be testing the market before tying themselves to an expensive lease on
premises of their own.

Probably why so many vape shops started with market stalls or operate online only.

Even the fly by nights looking to make a quick buck from ciggielikes aren't really a bad thing as
many people will go looking for something better when the ciggielike fails to live up to expectations.
You only have to look at the newbiesection to see how many of us started with ciggielikes then
moved on to Ego and Riva kits and beyond.

More people vaping can only be a good thing for both vapers and vendors

[matt1988]

Quite right sjs. I too started on a cig-a-like and quickly upgraded to my ego twist. But if they weren't available in the shops I would still be smoking now.

The more widely available e-cigs/PVs are, the better it is for everyone (apart from big pharmas and of course The Chancellor of the Exchequer lol) including non-smokers and children of smokers. And of course vapers themselves as the more there are, the harder it will be for e EU to impose what they are looking to impose.

[djs]

Apr 7, 2013 9:33:28 GMT Super-Shiny said:

I noticed last week when doing some shopping down my local shopping street that two shops are selling ecigs.

Do you think this could be damaging to the vaping community? It looks like they were selling cig alikes and jumping on the band wagon

I am pleased to hear this. Until recently, people curious to try e-cigs have tended either to get googling or buy the first "decent looking" brand they see in a trusted supermarket or shopping mall.
This means that
1) They will be inundated with hundreds of reviews from extremely satisfied 50-a-day smokers who have magically switched to E-Lites and now save thousands of pounds and mysteriously only need 1/2 a £3.99 cartomiser a day.
or 2) They buy a Nicolite for £20 from Tescos and or a 10 motives or an E-Lite and whatever and presume that is what there is and that's how much it costs.

Somebody trying a cheap disposable might actually be saved the experience of actually believing the hype around some of these products, discover they are not that good and think twice before falling for it a 2nd time. Sure, some might go back to smoking immediately, but others end up on forums asking for advice.

...which is when we take control of their wallet!.....

It doesn't bother me small retailers jumping on the band wagon..... they might sell a few and make some cheap money, but they are not likely to generate a £30 million turnover taking advantage of people's ignorance.

[sjs]

Yep I started with a rubbish Elite kit and although it was crap it did get me looking
for something better!

The more of us there are the more there are to fight stupid regulation!

[Toondog]

I think the more people who try the better, no matter where they start. It's quite tricky to persuade someone who's never vaped before to fork out 40 quid on a kit when they see a disposable or equivalent for less than a quarter of the price. My problem was dry cartos, when I first bought my GreenSmoke in New York back 2010 I could only find one place that had the cartos and two out of five were doa, that's what put me off but the thought that the concept could work always stayed with me and sure enough three years later I tried again and three months in I've still not smoked and am happily vaping my iclear on an evic. So I really do think its the concept that people are buying at first, rather than the kit.
Chris.

[djs]

Apr 7, 2013 16:58:25 GMT Toondog said:

So I really do think its the concept that people are buying at first, rather than the kit.
Chris.

I agree. I only make an exception in the case of E-Lites as it's easy to spend a lot of money (too much) in a very short space of time.
I bought one, then another, then a "kit" (that gave me 3 batteries), then one battery died so another, and quite a few cartomisers. We know vaping can be a slippery slope (££) in the early days but once have "found your feet" you can decide to become either a hobbyist or just get on with it.
I met a couple who had spent £800 on E-Lites in just 3 months or so. They were "showing off " at a dinner party saying how pleased they were to only be smoking 10 a day between them. Hardly a success, I'm sure you'll agree.
They didn't know any different and simply accepted that E-Lites were the best e-cig on the market.

To my mind, cheap disposables that lead people onto forums and/or reputable independent vendors are brilliant!

[dickyg]

I'm toying with the idea of approaching a family member who owns a homeware/diy shop to see how he feels about me setting up a section in his shop. Hopefully I can get him to front the initial stock purchase as well as he is fascinated by my hobby.