58 replies to this topic

[Fernsy]

Thanks for the welcome guys.
Apologies for my little 'rant' but it just really annoys me to think that my buying options are being reduced just because the big boys don't want to see their profit margins reduced!

[andy2640]

Hello again, I dont think its quite that matey, besides a trading standards claim could of come from anywhere, so not sure its fair to accuse them directly. I had a little friction when i began as a vendor but its more the fact that folk are very wary at first and not sure whether vendors are the "Quick buck" make a mint and run type sellers".

But your experiance seems positive so that will help the new vendor gain credability. If there honest and true to there customers they'll have nothing to worry about long term. But nice of you to stick up for the company in question. Did they mention to you about the inspectors knocking there door or is it common knowledge and im just a bit slow lol.

Edit: Spelling ..Again!

Edited by andy2640, 04 February 2012 - 06:07 PM.

[Fernsy]

I'm not sure if it's common knowledge or not. I sent them an email asking when or if the site would be up again and they were kind enough to replay and avise of the reasons for the temporary closure. My simple reasoning is that if they had anything to hide then why would they advise me of the Trading Standards issue? They didn't have to.

[VEJason]

A website can have an address added and terms and conditions amended in a matter of minutes.

There must be more to it than that Fernsy?

[Fernsy]

I wouldn't know VE Jason. All I know is that I've had great service from them and have saved a minimum 50% but in some cases 75% when compared to other suppliers.
Savings = nice taste in my book and to think these savings might be removed is like sucking in a gob full of juice.... I just don't like it!

[VEJason]

Fair enough. I just don't think that TW would bat an eyelid at a new vendor.

[vapingvplate]

Fernsy, on 04 February 2012 - 03:28 PM, said:

I have followed this post with interest and now feel suitibly experienced enough to add a posting myself in the hope it will ease some of the fears expressed by some members.
Like many I like to shop around in the hope that I will find a 'bargain' and I have certainly found this to be the case with ecigvapors. Both products and service have been outstanding and I honestly cannot praise them highly enough. Each order that I have placed has been delivered without incident and on each occasion has been accompanied by a free gift.
To date I have ordered several bottles of juice and several of the dual coil cartomizers.
Recently the website went down or should I say was 'suspended' by the vendors. I was devastated at the thought of having to pay 3.99 for a dual coil carto that I had previously been paying 2.00 for. I decided to do a little digging and uncovered a massive can of worms that has left me with a real bitter taste in my mouth and masses of sympathy for ecigvapors.
I have discovered that ecigvapors is owned and operated by an accountant in Birmingham. Like most of us he discovered vaping as a solution to give up the dreaded weed and was happy buying from regular suppliers such as TW. As many of us do he found that having introduced freinds to vaping he was ordering not only for himself but also for friends. No bulk purchase incentives were being offered so he decided to see if he could purchase direct from the manufacturer. Not surprisingly the savings were significant and indications suggest that suppliers in the UK are operating on something like a 150% markup. Call that what you may but I call it GREED! Ecigvapors was born and a more realistic pricing structure was introduced. Not suprisingly this has had an impact on other vendors such as TW and has resulted in the big boys attempting to squash the new kid on the block. Malicious calls would appear to have been made to Trading Standards who have visited the new business on at least two occasions that I am aware of. Both visits appear to be based around technicalities such as an address not being available on the web site and something to do with the advertised terms & conditions. I ask you.... is that really the best they can do?
Suggestions of 'fake' and 'inferior' products are laughable. I can reveal that the dual coil carto's in this case are Smoktech (the same as supplied by another company but missing the picture of the little red satanic persons face) and that the juice is Hangsen.
Hopefully the minor technical issues will soon be resolved by ecigvapors and the big boys will have no other choice than to leave them alone. Meaning..... they will either have to reduce the massive profits they have so far enjoyed or see their client base masively reduce as UK based vapors such as I switch on to the fact that there is somebody out there who just wants to supply us with goods at a realistic price.

Never used this abreviation/acronym before but feel this is a fitting place for my first use!

L O L ! !

Edited by HillBill, 04 February 2012 - 08:08 PM.
Double quote

[Fernsy]

Again... I can't comment as I'm not in the trade so have no idea if they would like it or not.
I note that you are only 10 mins from me though as I'm only based in Moston. You would be more than welcome to call over and sample some of the juice I've bought and try or examine the carto's... That way you can draw your own conclusion.
What the heck.... I'll make that an open invitation to any member in the Manchester area... feel free to drop me a line.... while stock lasts so to speak... LOL!

[VEJason]

Know Moston well Fernsy, I have a couple of properties on Church Lane & Penn Street.

I'm not having a dig at the vendor, more the assumption that TW have caused them problems. I just think it very unlikely.

[Fernsy]

I'm at the other side over near the girls high school... the quiet side... lol

No... I can see you are not having a dig mate but trust me on this.... I am reliably informed that certain issues were brought to the attention of TS by one of the larger vendors.

Just been looking at your site and your prices appear reasonable and you also seem to stock a wide and varied range of products. I'm guessing that you wouldn't be in the business if you wasn't making something out of it so you must be well aware of the % markup that some vendors are enjoying. These days everybody is feeling the pinch financially so does it not make sense to provide a service that helps your customers? Does it really make a difference if you make £1 per item on 10 products or 25p per item on 40 sales of that same item?

[VEJason]

I see your point

But, another thing to bear in mind is that different vendors have different overheads and there are considerable costs involved with doing things by the book.

At the end of the day, that's whats good about the internet, we can all shop around.

[Fernsy]

A man after my own heart... diplomatic yet reasonable

Likewise I see your point and accept it wholeheartedly. If you are trading from a back room at home or just providing a service as an add on to your existing business then your overhead will differ significantly to somebody who operates from a shop frontage in a town centre such as Wigan. BUT.... if you look at Tesco for example.... the prices of the products they sell don't differ between the smaller Tesco Express branches or the larger superstores... I figure the reasoning is because they sell more at the superstores so can swallow the overheads.

I'm not naieve enough to think that all vendors pay the same price for the products they sell. The more you buy the less you pay. You are obviously only going to buy more if you know you can sell more and you will only sell more if your client base is increased. So this is the bit I'm struggling with... using my simplistic fuzzy logic.... If Tesco (with the benefit of buying power) can buy a tin of Heinz baked beans for 10p a tin but Abdul in his corner shop has to pay 15p per tin.... Why do Tesco insist on charging 35p per tin when Abdul is happy to charge 20p?

[VEJason]

Well, it's a bit of a can of worms but....

My take would be that Abdul has an annual insurance premium of £XXXX and zero staff to pay, whereas the Tesco Express will have an annual insurance premium of £XXXXX and 6 staff to pay, larger premises to maintain, stringent legislation to adhere to, higher business rates etc.

Then there's the fancy marketing campaigns, Prunella Scales doesn't come cheap you know

[Fernsy]

Agreed.... but the theory that should be applied is that as Tesco Express not only buy cheaper they sell much more....That being the case they can comfortably afford to sell the same product as Abdul at the same price. They simply choose not to. If you were to compare profit and loss accounts at the end of the year then I'm certain that the difference in terms of % ratios would differ greatly in favour of Tesco. You would think this would make Tesco happy.... but no..... they regard Abdul as a threat.... they are not happy that he is selling something for less than they are.... they are offended by his very existence.... perhaps even more so because he has had the audacity to open up shop in the vicinity of their flagship store... so they seek to shut him down... by fair means or foul.

Who's the loser?

Joe Public!

[Fernsy]

Given the arguments for and against... do you think Prunella might agree to a pay cut?

[VEJason]

Again, I see the angle you are coming from, but % wise Tesco would likely be less than Abdul.

I'm not sure without looking, but I would think Tesco's operating profit would be <7%.

Before Vape Escape I was a Construction Director and our operating profit was 12-14%, whereas the big players (Wimpey McAlpines etc) who we worked for, were working to 2.5%.

I think we might be going off on a tangent though

[VEJason]

I couldn't picture Prunella with a Provari and Giantomizer though

[Fernsy]

Again I agree....

To use your analogy however we would have to draw comparisons in project size and value. Which is greater... 15% of £2,500 or 1.5% of £2,500.000? The bigger the pie the more cherry's you need to fill it but that doesn't mean that a smaller pie will be any less tasty if it's using the same ingredients but obviously on a smaller scale. So should you be charged more for a slice of cherry pie just because it came out of a bigger tin? I don't think so but then that's just my opinion.

Hmmmm..... how did we get to this?

[Fernsy]

No... but I can picture Prunella with a slice of cherry pie