Need a bit of advice...

[Jemima]

Dec 13, 2011 2:52:10 GMT Gordy said:

maybe you'll have to make it like 'those bars' where they have girls that make you buy drinks every half hour

Last Friday night.... I was that bar maid lol

[Gordy]

Dec 13, 2011 2:58:10 GMT Jemima said:

Dec 13, 2011 2:52:10 GMT Gordy said:

maybe you'll have to make it like 'those bars' where they have girls that make you buy drinks every half hour

Last Friday night.... I was that bar maid lol

i was thinking of a slightly different bar club i went to in Seattle

[Jemima]

Dec 13, 2011 3:05:00 GMT Gordy said:

Dec 13, 2011 2:58:10 GMT Jemima said:

Last Friday night.... I was that bar maid lol

i was thinking of a slightly different bar club i went to in Seattle

NOOOOOOO none of that

Sooooo back to the main topic lol ...

[Gordy]

LOL just an idea for extra revenue

[hifistud]

Be very conservative with your projections, and be prepared for a large outlay up front that won't see a return for a long while. Environmental Health will almost certainly visit if you're retailing (or giving away) beverages. Bear in mind that your overheads are going to be much more than a web-only vendor - you will need staff (you can't do it all on your own) and your wastage is likely to be higher. That means, essentially, higher prices.

It's almost a given that folks will try before they buy - but they may not buy from you - that's the nature of web-based sales these days. Folks are, for some reason, very price-sensitive when it comes to e-cigs.

It's also worth understanding that the Chinese idea of "warranty" is very different from ours. They tend only to replace "on your next order" - and then only if they remember. To that extent, you'll pretty much be covering your own warranty - at least, if you budget for that, you'll be in a better position.

Footfall is an issue, too - you may be better off with a barrow-like stall in a big shopping mall, where the footfall is more or less guaranteed that taking on the longer-term lease in premises. If the barrow works out, then taking a shop in the mall may be an option.

Above all, though, top quality kit is paramount - returns will cripple you.

Hope this helps.

[Sandra (aka Chillax)]

All sounds very complicated but good luck hope it doesn't stay a dream and you do really well :-)

[Khromm]

Once again, thanks for the advice guys. Plenty of food for thought, some ideas that may well bear fruit. Gonna be a while before I can get set up for it though, but at least I now know the areas I need to research more

Time to have a vape and a think...

[dave]

Continuing from Hifi's idea - how about a mobile, or "pop up" shop? This is a growing field for food/restaurants, don't know if it could work for other retail.
Good luck though Khromm - hope you come up with something.

[PeeKay]

You guys have been very generous with your advice, very cool. Personally, I would setup a web shop first mate.

Questions such as webstore, payments, shipping, insurance, warranty all come up - but one of the bigger ones tends to be suppliers. Made in China only, or are there better wholesalers to deal with?

[hifistud]

It's an interesting one. Do you go for Chinese imports, or deal through disties? Well, distie-wise, there's really only one, and that's TW, for Joyetech stuff. After that, it's the search for quality - and the Chinese copy so much and so quickly, it's a hard task to sort.

[Scylla]

I think our Tetsab has a stall, she's been doing it for quite a while. She might be able to give you some pointers if needed.