I been reading all of comments because i plan on opening a shop right close to myrtle Beach if not in myrtle Beach and the information yall are providing to me is very important i dont plan on closing my shop in a year
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Why do store owners jack up prices?
- Thread starter MR. MAYHEM
- Start date
Can i ask u something if i was to have clones on one side and the original on the other side.. say 20$ for a clone and what 100$ for the original what would u buy me i have so meny clones its crazy and some clones are better than the original but at lest you would know what u buying whould that make more buyers happy?
Yea that makes sense. Give people options. Not what's going to line ur pockets for one day til people figure out ur screwing them. This is with any type of business from grocery store to vape shop. Doesn't matter.
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Ravi Brounstein
Herbal Dude
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We've got a place here, lots of clones as well.
They used to mix the juice when you ordered.
What has essentially happened is the online shopping has resulted in them not mixing on the spot. Now you can only get premade 70/30 VG/PG and only in a few nic levels.
They also only sell clones at 30% markup.
This has made them competitive again, however now the culture of learning about vape is gone. Since no knowledge is needed now they just peddle juice from a spring loaded shelf, and only their own.
I can say, running a webstore that we don't try to compete on hardware. Fast tech wins every time. Price and service are two opposite ends of the spectrum because service costs money to produce.
A lot of these stores bought that equipment when in was trending and expensive, they can't peg it to open market cost and lose money on it, they can't pay you to take it off their shelves.
Having driven through California looking for vape shops, if you've got a few in your town that are dedicated vape shops (not tobacco/sex toy/vape/head shops) count yourself lucky.
They used to mix the juice when you ordered.
What has essentially happened is the online shopping has resulted in them not mixing on the spot. Now you can only get premade 70/30 VG/PG and only in a few nic levels.
They also only sell clones at 30% markup.
This has made them competitive again, however now the culture of learning about vape is gone. Since no knowledge is needed now they just peddle juice from a spring loaded shelf, and only their own.
I can say, running a webstore that we don't try to compete on hardware. Fast tech wins every time. Price and service are two opposite ends of the spectrum because service costs money to produce.
A lot of these stores bought that equipment when in was trending and expensive, they can't peg it to open market cost and lose money on it, they can't pay you to take it off their shelves.
Having driven through California looking for vape shops, if you've got a few in your town that are dedicated vape shops (not tobacco/sex toy/vape/head shops) count yourself lucky.
If you let it be known that there are clones and originals, you'll be fine. I didn't mind buying the clone mad hatter. Problem was it was the same price as the legit. Now we also have an avail vapor, which is a commercialized vape shop. Guys wear suits that work there. I got a plume veil clone from them for $10. But anybody that goes to avail knows they have high juice. Good thou. Explain the differences if there are any and that'll help too. They tried to sell me an $80 Kennedy comp clone and explained why it was so great.
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Yea i know what you mean but i was thinking about separating clones and original it just makes sense you know i mean if u really want to pay 100$ for the original thats all them... me i would pay 100$ and get 5 different rda's lol hell when i started look at vape i paid 200$ for a cloupor t8 150w when i could have gotten it for 80$ and yes i was pissed i never been back to that vape shop thats just way to much i got screwed bad
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If you have options that's great. But like all my post is. If you want repeat business. Educate the noob and educate the expert vapor. Because they might not no certain things and vice versa they might know something you don't. Don't just expect everyone to have bottomless pockets.
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Hell come to think about like walmart i buy the kcups coffee and i buy the clone version Breakfast Blend value over the other ones because it just taste good to me so every busines has clones u know
And i totally get what you are saying me and my future wife are opening up a shop and she tells me all the time when im talking to a noob that i go to far on the information so im working on that i just need to tell them what they need to know and if they come back for a more advanced mod i can shoot them some more advanced information
Exactly Steven. I got into this to stop smoking cigs. Not for a hobby. So I'm still smoking cigs but no where near as much. When I asked guy hey. I want to stop smoking cigs. What do you recommend don't just see dollar signs. Cuz at that time I didn't no any better. I know now to do my research. Internet is sometimes a beautiful thing
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You are exactly right just like at work one of the guys wanted to start vaping ok so my brain starts working like crazy lol so i ended up getting him a submini kangertech because in my eyes its a nice kit u get 3 different coils in itand u can vape and rda if u wanted to later i ordered the mod with tank and 18650r sony batterys and a charger and told him if u dont want the charger and batterys u can charge it like a cell phone but...i have read that thats not to good just my opinion u can charge one battery and vape on another. now i did make some money on this but what he is paying for is my time in research because i didnt know nothing when i started and got screwed bad
Ok I get it. U make a couple bucks. But hopefully no price gouging. That's good customer service. But not a 300% markup. U get what I mean
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You sound like you have a pretty good idea of the direction you want to go and I applaud your honesty. Thumbs up.
I wish the shops around here(Charleston) would wise up and stop blatantly ripping off their customers. Since you're in the dirty myrtle,check out zuluvape for an idea of what our best shop is. It's a great little shop but the gear prices are criminal. Not only that but unless you know the differences,you have no idea if you're buying authentic or clones. Either way,it's all priced as authentic.
I think your plan to stock and seperate clones from authentic is a great one.
I think if you stock a fair ammount of clones at a reasonable markup you'll make a killing on them and authentic sales would be the icing on the cake.
Best wishes in your venture and if you do well,please please please consider opening a branch here in chuck town.
Ty yea i hope it gose well enough where i can stay open and dont have to go back to operating cranes ...hey u know where i live andrews so in 45min away from myrtle Beach or Charleston lol but im scared that the rent will be to high in Charleston idk yet where ill be i just want enough money so i can open the store the way i want u knowYou sound like you have a pretty good idea of the direction you want to go and I applaud your honesty. Thumbs up.
I wish the shops around here(Charleston) would wise up and stop blatantly ripping off their customers. Since you're in the dirty myrtle,check out zuluvape for an idea of what our best shop is. It's a great little shop but the gear prices are criminal. Not only that but unless you know the differences,you have no idea if you're buying authentic or clones. Either way,it's all priced as authentic.
I think your plan to stock and seperate clones from authentic is a great one.
I think if you stock a fair ammount of clones at a reasonable markup you'll make a killing on them and authentic sales would be the icing on the cake.
Best wishes in your venture and if you do well,please please please consider opening a branch here in chuck town.
If you agree with 30% increase, and saw the mod on online shops at $80 than 30% would be $104 and they had it for $100.
I purchase a lot of supplies online, but I also visit the local B&M stores because sometimes I need something now and I also like to be able to see products and sometimes try them out before I buy them. There was a $45 dripper I was looking at picking up. I saw a local shop had it in stock so I went to check it out. It would have cost $59.99 from them, but upon checking it out it had some issues I wasn't comfortable with for my vaping style so I passed on it. They wound up saving me money because I was able to see that I wouldn't like it instead of finding out after I bought it.
I agree. If I really want something now. I get it. Regardless of what it is. From a new mod to a new head unit for my truck. Just using examples dude. I'm saying is these are becoming a dime a dozen and shop owners need to do something to make themselves stand out from the other guy
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I'm sure it would be pretty steep.
From what I gather though,ecig charleston now has 5 location s that I know of and if those schiesters can do it than anyone with a competitive buisness plan could put them in the dirt.
You could always setup shop in awendaw....
Hahah yea i have looked at Georgetown but I'm scared there's not enough people in that town to make businessI'm sure it would be pretty steep.
From what I gather though,ecig charleston now has 5 location s that I know of and if those schiesters can do it than anyone with a competitive buisness plan could put them in the dirt.
You could always setup shop in awendaw....
I think you're right.
Mb,charleston or garden City are probably your best options.
The only problem I see with MB and GC is that there's a shit load of competition.
I was up that way last month and it was crazy with the number of shops on 17 and kings hwy.
Charleston has zuluvape, charleston ecig,a planet vapes,SC ecig,mizfit vapes and ecig depo. The rest are tobacco shops and cafes with minimal sales.
Every actual shop I've been to has either had poor customer service,inexperienced staff,outrageous markups or toilet water labeled e-juice.
I havn't made the trip to planet vape yet, SC ecig and mizfit vape are pretty new but the rest are pure rubbish with the exception of zulu.
Read some reviews and see what you come up with.
Cheers,
That's y u gotta make itself stand out somehow. Bring in the customers.
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Yes u are right im trying to open a nice vape store free food and a band on open day i want it nice as i can afford kinda like the ones in California lights and a nice test bar for juice i just dont want one like u walk in and its white walls and 1 or 2 dull displays i want neon light lightning up the place a little steam punk decorated something like that
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Man,I could help you out in Soooo many ways..
I'm not just trying to sway you to come to charleston (maybe a lil.
) but where ever you end up I'd be more than willing to offer my time and ideas to get you up and running.Shoot me a PM when you get closer to making a choice on location and I'll blow your mind.
@MR. MAYHEM so i got that juice "Sauz" its alright I would stay away from the peach one though lol you get what you pay for..
See thats what im talking about there hell yea but its going to be awhile to play big you have to pay bigMan,I could help you out in Soooo many ways..
I'm not just trying to sway you to come to charleston (maybe a lil.
Shoot me a PM when you get closer to making a choice on location and I'll blow your mind.
At this point, isn't it safe to say that this shop charges more for hardware than what you could pay online? Do we have to get a run down on every single item you purchase, or could we accept this as a given for the sake of this discussion?
Dude. Showing experience. No one else In here saying anything like u r. That's all
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I'm original. And, I call it like I see it. I get your complaint. Your local vape shops are charging more for hardware than online stores. There is a simple explanation for this which many people have pointed out. There is also the added convenience of being able to check out the product before you buy it at a B&M and not having to wait for shipping. If that isn't important to you, than fine, shop online. Nobody is trying to force you to go to those shops. You point out that they have lost a customer, but when you're calling them every day asking "how much for this" and then telling them you can get it cheaper online, or complaining about sales tax on your juice I highly doubt that they are really sweating over losing you as a customer. Hell, they are probably looking for online shops to refer you to just to get you out of their hair. Know what I'm saying?
If u read correctly son. The place closer to my house trltrash is place I don't go to anymore. Other place I go to for my juice and ask about there pricing. They if u read will negotiate a lil. Know what I'm saying. Lol
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Listen man. This is just something I started not necessarily for just vape shops just everything in general. Shit u can buy a brand new car online.
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And you can buy it from the dealer online cheaper then at their dealership where you will be picking it up.
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Yeah, I followed. Thing is the name or location of the individual store isn't important. It's the larger concept. Perhaps at some point one of the mods you buy online will go out on you, and you will see another reason for buying locally. Even with the best of online vendors, it is much easier to walk into the local shop and plop it down on the counter and have them hand you another one than it is to send it in to the online shop and wait for the replacement to show up.
A lot of the stuff I buy isn't available locally, so I have to order it online. For things like my Zephyrus tank and my eVic VT I prefer to buy them locally and pay a few more bucks. It's more convenient and my local shop stands behind the gear they sell if it goes out. That's just me though. I can see the other side and wanting to buy it online. My thing is I don't ask the online vendor to open a B&M close to me, and I don't ask the B&M to compete with the online vendor pricing. They both have their upside and I go with the one that works for me in any particular instance.
A lot of the stuff I buy isn't available locally, so I have to order it online. For things like my Zephyrus tank and my eVic VT I prefer to buy them locally and pay a few more bucks. It's more convenient and my local shop stands behind the gear they sell if it goes out. That's just me though. I can see the other side and wanting to buy it online. My thing is I don't ask the online vendor to open a B&M close to me, and I don't ask the B&M to compete with the online vendor pricing. They both have their upside and I go with the one that works for me in any particular instance.
Cigmod VonToker
Member For 4 Years
Good luck with your new store. I've owned and operated a vape shop for almost three years. You will not be in competition with the internet stores and there low prices. Your prices will be higher. Those who demand the cheapest deal shopping the net will rarely spend any money in your store if they ever even stop in. Their opinions are of little value. What is important is that you listen to the people who do shop at your store and what their wants and needs are. You are there to provide them with excellence and value. That does not mean being the cheapest, stocking every thing under the sun or having 9000 flavors. It means value, trust and service. When it comes to e-liquids and vape gear you need to know your shit and be able to work well with people. You should be aware of internet pricing as it can help you figure out pricing for your merchandise at a value to your customer and at profit that makes sense. Pricing must be correct for your area, your traffic, your demographic and the gross profits needed to cover costs and earn a reasonable net. Correct pricing is not low or high pricing it is at a point that your merchandise moves well and provides the gross profit you need. Price things too high or too low and your profits are fucked. Your inventory is better off wide than deep. Too deep and you can get stuck with items that are no longer popular. Just because everyone on the forums is going ape shit over some new mod or tank does not mean you will move tons of them out of your store. Get a few and see what happens and then get a few more when you see that they sell. You will find there are quite a few wholesale distributors that are great to work with and you can get new or restock merchandise in just two to four days at little to no shipping costs.
Do your best to help everyone but understand that you can't help everyone. Remember your customer wants value from you and since you have a business your customer must be of value to you or your gone. Don't morn the loss of chronic victims, deadbeats and low value shoppers. They were never your customers to start with. They will not become a constructive part of the vape community that will grow around your store. Let the net serve them. There will be some exceptions to the rule. Every now and then you will have someone come in with a crap atty from Fastech, AngelCigs or some other junk dealer to see if you can fix it or with a quality piece of merchandise they got a good deal on over the net that they are having a problem using. Here is an opportunity to earn a new customer. Often they will be very happy with your repair or help and will return more comfortable purchasing from you even if the price is a bit higher. Sometimes not. Over the past few years a number of conversions of this type have happened and these folks are now regular customers, friends and part of our merry band of vapers.
Omg ty this is some very good information im so scared that when i open the store it want make a profit im coming in to this with all my bills paid for 6 months because im scared i want make a profit and all this me that when i open i have learn as much as i can and put my blood in this to succeed to the best of my knowledge ty ty for your input i will put it to work when the time comes maybe we sould get up and text sometime because u have already done it and im the low man on the board
I don't think some people like competition. That's life. Deal wit it. U going to get mad at Walmart because they opened a store across street from ur mom and pop. U can't. That shows people have options. U don't like Walmart then don't go there. Plain and simple.
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I think it's a bit more than "charging more for hardware than online". It's charging way more.
A few more bucks is what? I'm willing to pay $10-$20 more for something in the range of a modern box mod.
It's pretty standard that retail markup for durable goods is 100% with a few exceptions. So when you can buy something online for $30 and you walk into a store and they're charging $60 they could make their living buying from that same online vendor and sticking it in their showcase. But that's not enough for some (or they have a bad supplier), you see a $25 Vamo at FastTech and they have it marked up 200%-300% over the online price to $75-$100.
Then you get into liquids. It costs me $1.30 to make 30ml of my usual. Even with the excuse of bottles and bad business practice of marking the bottle up there's no reasonable markup to get it to $20± for a store that's mixing in house. For just marking up the liquid that's 1500% at my retail online small lot cost. Plus my price is for 18mg, many places are pushing subΩ low nic so people go through 5x-10x the amount I do in a day. Lower cost to make it, higher volume, same price. Generally lower cost and higher volume means cheaper prices to the consumer.
And when we're talking liquid that even bleeds over into online. If I can make 30ml for $1.30 I can't imagine how dirt cheap someone the size of Johnson Creek makes it for. Yet 30ml is about equal to a carton of smokes (used to be before the subΩ craze) so $20 seems fair to those who don't know how much it actually costs.
And no, overhead costs are not an excuse. Those are figured into every other businesses' markups.
Liquid is not a durable good (although I'm guessing it's treated that way with no expiration dates on the bottles) so the markup can be more than 100%, but not 1500%. One exception to 100% that may apply is a niche market, some stores may not have a customer base to sell enough hardware to survive on 100%. Around here I've rarely been to a vape shop and not had a new smoking customer come in, and I tend to go at non-peak times so I doubt if they'd qualify as a niche market.
I might be able to help you out with that too..
I'll shoot a PM when I get a chance.
First off, that's not exactly an accurate description. Markup is price over what they paid for it, not price over what someone else is selling it for. So in this case, the markup is probably higher than what is being implied. My response was to the op saying he doesn't mind 30% over online pricing for B&M pricing.
I'm an OTR trucker. I'm not sure if they still do it or not, but Coca Cola used to print the unit cost of their sodas on the bills when they would ship them out. At the time, it was $.08 for a can of coke. That's what the distributor was paying for it. So in the case of in house distribution centers, like Wal Mart or many grocery stores, they were purchasing a coke for 8 cents and selling it in the store for about a quarter a can, depending on the quantity purchased. However, if you were thirsty you could buy one for 75 cents cold and ready to drink in front of the store in the machine.
Very valid point on the Vamo. You can get one from FastTech for $25 and, assuming you want a Vamo, it's a good deal. A month later, it will arrive, and assuming it works properly you can start enjoying your vape. If, however, you want a Vamo that you can start vaping later this week, you might be willing to pay $35-$45 from a US based online shop. But what if your mod breaks and you need one right now? You might be willing to pay $55-$75 to have one in hand and keep you off the cigarettes for the 3 days to a month that you would be waiting otherwise.
I'm not criticizing people who buy stuff online. I do it myself. I'm also not defending vape shops that sell an eGo starter kit for $120. Most B&M shops fall somewhere in the middle. You pay more for the convenience of instant possession of the product and the ability to comparison shop between physical models instead of pictures and stat sheets. For me, that is a price I am willing to pay within reason. That doesn't mean that I will pay any price you put on a product just because it is right in front of me. In the case of the Zephyrus tank the online vendor that I usually use charges $28.95. The B&M where I bought it charged me $39.99 plus tax. It was $42 and change if I remember correctly.
I said marked up over the online price. The actual price anyone is paying is an unknown. Online prices are known and we can assume online prices are more than wholesale.
I'm a jeweler who spent two years in wholesale, ten years retail, twenty three years self-employed.
I've never had FT take that long. 15 days at the most. But yes when you absolutely positively need it because you have nothing China is not a good option. $35-$45 would be a fair B&M price. What you describe with $75 is called taking advantage of people's situations.
Your $29 to $40 is more reasonable.
I'm a jeweler who spent two years in wholesale, ten years retail, twenty three years self-employed.
I've never had FT take that long. 15 days at the most. But yes when you absolutely positively need it because you have nothing China is not a good option. $35-$45 would be a fair B&M price. What you describe with $75 is called taking advantage of people's situations.
Your $29 to $40 is more reasonable.
Cigmod VonToker
Member For 4 Years
No worry. There is no low man on the board as the bar is already very low to open and run a vape shop. Forget what I said. No need to text. The money will roll in like crazy.
I've gotten a couple things from FastTech within 15 days, but usually it's closer to a month. Here's the kicker though. I ordered a Goblin from GearBest awhile back. It took 28 days to get it. Then they asked me to review a tank for them. I agreed. 6 days later it was on my front porch. Lol.
On the matter of pricing, we live in a time where we can do it as we please. Genuine or clone, B&M or online, US or China. It's pretty awesome the choices we have. I personally will always check out vape shops wherever I go, and give them some business when they have what I need at a fairly reasonable price. But I do understand those who only shop online. It's just not the way I roll.
Tray. U said it. "At reasonable price". Places I've been to are not reasonable bruh. This is anywhere not just vape shops.
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I've always been careful to not order anything that wasn't either shipping instantly or in stock, and I backed way off FT when batteries started having problems.
The thing that gets me with my bad local, I wanted to support him but his markups on mods priced everything out of my range (forget the part where compared to online it wasn't worth it). Then there was the Imortalizer clone. OK, it's not the SOS and I could afford it, I'll help him out. Then I get home to see how bad he ripped me off. That was the last thing I bought from him.
Support is a two way street. And the way I see it now (since he's out of business) is if the business can't support the customer with fair pricing they won't be around when regulations come down so they're not worth wasting money on.
Mr mayhem ask your wife if she knows how to shop. It sound like to me that your upset because you didn't do the research of shops in your area before you got robbed by that shop. You do have the ability to shop around you didn't have to make that purchase did you? I realize that you were wanting to better your life by quitting smoking but come on dude its not the b&m fault that you didn't do research. I'm not trying to be an asshole just stating that all consumer can do a little homework and get the best deal possible.
Well when I originally went in. It was a spur of the moment thing. Not saying hey I want one now even tho. I don't know what it is. So yea that's my fault for getting robbed first time. But now I do my research. So if doing my research first online with better pricing then it is what it is. Honestly it's shops fault they know longer have me there to make a $$$$ purchase and now for only juice and that's if I need it bad and can't wait. They saw a person who didn't know anything about it and talked me into it since I did wanna stop smoking.
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I am really sorry that you hosed but not all shops are that bad. I do work at a shop and yes we do charge more than online but we do offer great customer service and I explain things to noobs differently I let them now of my experience when i was a noob and how the vape pens with the t3s tanks lasted me 3 hours before I knew that I wouldn't be successful with that setup and then I show them what it took for me to quit so some shops are better than others.
The worst part of all this is I can bye equipment from the store I work at for cost . I still don't bye from there because I can get a better deal online . take that as you want but some shops don't have good suppliers.
No disrespect but I figured u work at a shop. People who try to justify the high prices eventually tell me they work at a vape shop. Lol. But anyway ur right as far as customer service. If I see ur not trying to hose me for money then ok but I still yet to really see that. One place tries to negotiate on price but it's still to point where don't see the $50 difference. That's all I appreciate all the input people have on this topic. Very cool that u really try to educate lettheluckroll
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$50 is $50. It's not like 10 or 20. That's gas to get to work for the week
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Thanks been to some of the other shops in town and they are just as you described. Best of luck too you I just had to show a different side of it.
That might be because they know what actually goes into the running of a store.
There's an old business truism that's been around forever...
"Quality, price, speed. Pick two out of three."