Online Vape Suppliers Not In A Locked Down State

I live on the East Coast USA.

Walking down the street, it's hard to notice that vaping is taking off in any meaningful way, because most people that I see still smoke analogs, that includes both young people and older people too. I'm not going to judge them, because it wasn't that long ago that I was still puffing on an analog, and I had failed to see the awesomeness of vaping.

Besides myself, I don't really see too many people vaping outside on sidewalks. I vape outside in the same way that I'd smoke analogs before, so that means practically all of the time, and especially when I'm walking outside. I'm using a thin e-cig, so I don't usually get too many strange looks. I can imagine what kind of looks somebody walking down the sidewalk must get if they're using one of those big, fancy and shiny looking mods to vape with.

Just 6 months ago, there were no vape shops at all in the immediate local area where I live, and now there are 4 that have opened up, all within a very short walking distance of me (10 minutes or less). I'm pretty sure that a lot of non vapers who live here are walking past those stores every day and wondering, what the hell kind of store is that and why are so many of them opening up in this neighborhood?

One of those four stores will probably fail though, because their sign says tobacco/vape store, while the other 3 are dedicated to vaping only. A store can't be both in my opinion. That's a bit of a contradiction and a stupid combination to put it bluntly.

I've been to a couple of the vape stores so far, and in the short time that I was in those stores there were always new customers there who were smokers who were looking to start vaping.

So while I might not notice how popular vaping is by walking on the sidewalks, I think that it's safe to say that vaping is taking off big time with so many small vape shops opening up, and the amount of people vaping will only increase, because there's still a lot of smelly smokers out there who haven't yet given up on their cancer sticks.

And if this is happening where I live, then I bet that similar things are happening all across the country. Every small town should have at least one dedicated vape shop! I like the quick and easy access to all sorts of liquids and brands.

Just today, I was reading online about some premium liquids, and instead of ordering it online (I didn't want to wait), I had acquired a bottle of that exact liquid five minutes later, after sampling it quickly, and I was already at home and vaping it 10 minutes later.  

There are definite advantages to living in or near a big city. For those people shopping around trying to find an iStick today, it seems like every online retailer is out of stock on them. Going to a B&M you will find one, but you will pay a hefty premium for it. The price for an iStick 50 full kit (including micro USB cable and charger and 510/eGo adapter) typically runs around $55 to $60 online. Where I live the two vape stores near me are asking $75 (at one location) and $80 (at the other) for it.

Yesterday I was in NYC at a vape store in midtown Manhattan and they had the iStick 50 in stock in every color.....for $65. The B&M's online store (it is one location of a chain located in several states) doesn't even have them in stock. You would think that with the astronomical rents for retail space that the prices would be high. I almost walked out of there with a MVP 3.0 since they were only asking $55 for it.

I wonder if the pricing there was so competitive since in NYC there are so many B&M's.  

I've noticed a lot of online vape shops are closing. Brick and mortar shops are still open in my area, so it doesn't seem like they're being affected. I've been getting emails from online shops announcing their closing dates. Do you think it is from all the vaping hysteria going on and flavor bans? Are brick and mortar shops closing in your areas?  

What sites do you recommend? Why?

Thank you,
tom  

I have called 15-20 vape shops in the southern california, orange county area and not a single one of them has a Vapor Shark rDNA 40 in stock Are they that popular or do shops just not order a lot for their stores. I hate waiting for things to come in the mail and I am willing to drive 20-30 miles to get one but not even that is an option. I wish there weren't a million little shops here and there. We need a big orange county cape shop that carries all the bigger brands and doesn't run out after a day or two after getting them in the shop.

IF ANYONE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA KNOWS WHERE I CAN GET A VAPOR SHARK RDNA 40 PLEASE LET ME KNOW  

VA - Stop an Online Sales Ban and Baseless Nicotine Cap (HB 1185)

Banning "Online" and banning anything over 20mgl.
I vape 36mgl, thats what has kept me from inhaling cigars for the last 7 years!!!!!!  

I like my mechanical mods and my boxes, but lately I've really been wanting a regulated mod. I'm really wanting the Sigeli 150. Where would you order it from? I usually buy my stuff from local shops, but they're quite overpriced compared to online. Would love to have some input on online retailers with great reputations. Thank you!  

Copied from another group.
With permission

I am the owner of Sapphyre Nicotine. I have been in the e-cig and vape business since 2009. This post is a little long but hopefully it is informative for some.

In 2009 the FDA started seizing shipments of electronic cigarettes under the claim that they were drug delivery devices and therefore need to pass FDA approval prior to being marketed and sold in the USA. The industry was just starting out and this was a big blow. Shipments of product were not allowed to enter the USA. Credit card companies were not allowing ecig companies to work with them. It was not looking good for ecigs. A company called Smoking Everywhere sued the FDA and made the argument that ecigs should be regulated as a tobacco product since they contained nicotine which is derived from Tobacco. Njoy joined the litigation and eventually took over when Smoking Everywhere went out of business. In 2010 Njoy won the litigation and ecigs ended up being regulated as tobacco products. This was the best outcome of two evils. The FDA appealed the decision and lost that as well. That’s when the ecig industry really started taking off. Bigger players got into the market and eventually RJR, Altria/Philip Morris, BAT and other big tobacco companies came out with ecig products. They quickly became the dominant sellers in c-stores. The tobacco companies were happy selling tobacco and menthol flavors only. That’s what they knew and that’s what they were good at.

A few years later eliquids and open systems started getting popular. These products were not very popular in c-stores. That is when vape stores started opening up. They were mainly concentrating on open system (eliquids, mods and great tasting flavors). For a short time c-stores tried to sell eliquids, but they didn’t have the know how or the time to educate customers. C-stores were good at selling closed systems and vape stores were good at open systems.

To the uninformed public we are all lumped in as one industry --- electronic cigarettes.

In reality there are 2 different industries that are somewhat related.

A) The ecig/closed system industry: In the USA as of Sep 2019 is a $6.4 billion industry. It is controlled mostly by big tobacco companies. Juul (Altria/PM), Blu (Imperial Tobacco), Vuse (British Tobacco, formerly RJR), Njoy (only independent supplier), Logic (Japan International). 75% of ecigs are sold in C-Stores, drug stores and food stores. As a comparison, regular cigarette sales in the USA are around $80 billion dollars and about 75% comes from c-stores.

While ecigs sales increased at a 40% year over year rate, regular cigarette sales dropped by 7% year over year. That is a large number that is troubling to big tobacco.

The closed system industry sells primarily tobacco and menthol/mint flavors. If flavors were banned it would not impact the industry very much. The companies selling closed systems are not going to join our fight to save flavors. They have no monetary incentive to do so. In addition all of these companies are going to apply for PMTA. They are not going to sue the FDA and risk getting PMTA approval unless it greatly impacts their business.

The vapor/open system industry: In the USA as of sep 2019 is a $2.6 billion industry. It is NOT controlled by a few large companies. There are a lot of hardware and ejuice suppliers. It is mostly sold at adult only vape stores. $1.7 Billion sold at vape stores, $350 million in c-stores and $550 million online. Lots of suppliers, distributors, small businesses are part of this industry. They mostly sell flavored eliquid as opposed to tobacco and menthol flavors.

Having been involved with both the ecig business and the vape business, I can say that they are completely different. The vape industry is getting punished for crimes committed by the ecig industry. Unfortunately we are being lumped in as one. We are the easier one to target. We need to do a much better job getting this message out.

I would also like to make a point regarding zero nicotine flavors being regulated by the FDA. The reason our industry is regulated by the FDA as a tobacco product is because the eliquid contains nicotine. This is the only reason the FDA has authority over these products. Because zero nicotine ejuice does not contain nicotine, it is no longer a tobacco product. While the FDA is going to try and enforce regulation of zero nicotine ejuice as a tobacco product by using the “intent to use” rationale, that argument is simply not valid. The FDA will also not be able to regulate zero nicotine ejuice as a drug/drug device combination either. Ejuice with no nicotine does not cause a change in the body and therefore will not be classified as a drug. This is only my educated opinion. I am not an attorney and am not making any legal claims.

I hope this was somewhat informative to people that have not been involved with ecigs and vapes as long as I have. Feel free to add, correct if you have information that I missed.

Feel free to share  

Tried ordering from vapebox today and during checkout it said my location was blocked from ordering. I contacted support and he said state law prohibited online sales in Massachusetts. I've not heard of any new laws banning online sales here and had no issues ordering from other sites yesterday. Anyone from Ma have any similar issues?  

Cheers all...
Its been a bit since I've dropped by.
As more & more Bitcoin Atm's arrive on the planet,
I dropped by to see if there's suppliers listed by payment method?
June 2015..I still see reviews Positive & Negative,
Suppliers by county.
How many still buy online compared to Brick&Mortar?
I notice a big difference between Asia & USA in crypto currency use too but
was delighted to see US online vendors accepting BTC.

Oh btw I dont have any "relationship" to any vendors or cryptocurrency just observing