BBC News: Up in smoke: Is the vape shop boom about to end?

[anthonyb]

We got lucky here where I live.
Yes we have some vape store chains and just as many that have already closed. As with many you walk past and they are normally customer free.
But we do have 2 very good ones, where you can be queuing out the door if you catch it wrong. The one at the far end of the town centre appears to have just about very brand of juice going. Only been in that one once as parking is restricted.
The one at this end of the town centre is the original / first B&M to open here, and one of the shops that has done it right. It was started as a market stall by a couple of vapers, before moving into B&M. The owners and at least some of the staff know what it's all about, they have made the same vaping journey as many of us that started out with to top of the range ce4 (as was). They stood with us at the BBC protest demo a couple of years ago. I've seen them advise a new user to buy the £25 starter kit, instead of the £60 shiny they where looking at. They refer smokers to the stop smoking service and visa versa.

 

[speedfreek67]

I got lucky where I live too. My local b&m is Custom Vapes, which are excellent, although for a shop that sells quite a few mechs they don't have a large range of wire. The staff are really helpful and friendly.

 

[Mawsley]

...I find being the owner of a pair of boobs means that there are quite a few vape shop monkeys who talk to me like I'm an idiot...

I wouldn't worry about it. I don't own boobs, but everybody talks to me like I'm an idiot.

 

[eyeball kid]

^^ Precisely that. The likes of Dinner Lady are very astute - they're looking at where the market's going, and they're getting themselves ahead of it. The Lemon Tart Nic Salts is a test run. If it goes well, I'd expect them to develop on that, especially with their tobacco juice range. Very, very astute business.

I've worked in retail for nearly 20 years. The internet has been killing b&ms of all types for well over a decade. Vape shops are no different. There are bubbles, and they always burst.



Yeah, it's depressing isn't it? The last time I went in, I asked the guy what his tank was, and he dismissively said 'Oh, it's a rebuildable'. I got a closer look, and it was definitely a Revvo ... He was also very concerned about my ability to understand how shortfills work. In the end I got annoyed at being patronized and told him I normally mix my own liquids

They are well ahead. I do speak to them a bit and it even surprises me how far ahead on the retail plan they are.

 

[Huggett]

I manage an independent vapeshop.

We retail our hardware at the same price as the bigger online retailers.

Ie £24.99 a pockex, £49.99 for the Zelos kit. As with our liquids.

Sadly it's boomed, 26 months ago I started here. It's 3 years established.

Sadly now in less than 6-9 months, 6-7 shops have opened in a town centre a mere 10 minute drive away from ourselves, stocking the cheaper end of liquids.

Some brands we've seen we've been offered at 40p + VAT, other shops are selling those at 3 for £10.

Whereas we retail VampireVape or AoV at that price, with a cost to us around 3 times that.

The boom is booming, I don't wish to see it burst but I also do at the same time.

 

["Samantha"]

I have 2 very busy stores & thankfully we only stock our own brand so no one can undercut our prices.
Our hardware prices are the same as our prices online.
We have 3 other stores within walking distance but we are the busiest store in the area.
Another vape shop opening in the area wouldn't effect us and we offer prices so low that they can't really compete.

 

[eyeball kid]

It's bizarre and I think we are a lot of the problem. We drive a lot of the market and how many posts do I see for "cheaper juice please" then when we answer with what we consider great bang for buck eliquid the response tends to be, "I want it cheaper".
I think back a fair few years back to when I started vaping and was over the moon with the price of liquid compared to smoking. A fiver a bottle (10mls) and deals for three for a tenner.
Obviously I accepted prices would rise but that was quite a savings over smoking. High vg import bottles arrived at around fifteen quid for thirty mls and although that was pricey, again as a treat compared to my evening cigar it was a frikin steal as a bottle in the original sub ohm tank, the Atlantis would last me a couple of weeks of evening use minimum. I could pay up to double that for one cigar.
On finding this place and sourcing gourmet artisan juices I was even more pleased at the quality of flavour i could get from manabush or pf vapes for the same prices as the basic high street brands.
Now as a predominantly mtl vaper my liquid consumption has risen due to my enjoyment of flavours but I still save a fortune.
The low ohm high watts revolution has led to vapers requiring more and more liquid so the savings would have become minimal or non existent but this is where the large bulk juice manufacturers are coming in and hitting the small juice makers.
Literally barrels of high vg juice is arriving from eastern bloc and asian pharmaceutical companies to be decanted into bottles and sold in juice shops run by entrepreneurs rather than enthusiasts
So if your new to vaping now and have just picked up your first smok power monster what juice are you going to choose.
Dinner lady's lemon tart at ten to fifteen quid for thirty mls or mr lunchtime' s lemon tart at a fiver for sixty mls.

It's going to be a hard road for those that care. I forsee a time very soon when the quality vape shop is like the old quality tobacconist.
Only in larger towns and usually only one.