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Thoughts on buying from overseas

How often to you buy from overseas?


  • Total voters
    33

Hobby Kid

Brighton Boy
Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
As the title suggests, do you buy any of your vape gear from overseas e.g. Fasttech, Chinese eBay sellers, USA, Europe etc? Do you feel comfortable buying from abroad if the price is right? If you have, what was it and did you experience any difficulties with shipping, customs, wait times...
 

jae

Silver Contributor
Member For 4 Years
I buy from FastTech all the time. It's a helluva wait, but it's cheap. And i'm nothing if not a cheapskate (just ask my GF).

But i'd be more leery if i hadn't already heard a lot of positive talk about them beforehand. Anyplace else, i always check whatever seller ratings are available.
 

Hobby Kid

Brighton Boy
Gold Contributor
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I buy from FastTech all the time. It's a helluva wait, but it's cheap. And i'm nothing if not a cheapskate (just ask my GF).
....
lol

That's kind of the idea behind most of my overseas purchasing. But it's starting to get more difficult getting what I want from home as my tastes and wants are changing.
 

Garemlin

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
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I bought from one overseas vendor that had similar prices to Fasttech. Can't recall the name. It was just a few cheapo egos. Got in about 3 weeks. The only reason I will not buy from Fasttech is because some of the stuff they sell is sketchy. And they rarely list who the manufacturer. I'd rather spend a few bucks more and now what I am getting and when I am getting it.
 

Thunderball

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
I will buy tried and true products from fasttech.....meaning, you go to the first page and you know those are the most popular items (as in Kayfun 3.1 ES, Taifun GT, Nemesis, some RDA's etc..... and usually will have the rating stars in the hundreds to match how good they are. I will also buy dirt cheap replacement tanks for the afore mentioned toppers there, as well as drip tips, o-rings and general cheap stuff like that. Hard to beat. What I order from Fasttech are things that I dont need at the moment, but think I may like to try, or items that I may want several backups for.

I generally get my Mods and some original toppers from the US or Europe. I have also noticed that many venders have started selling some items such as the MVP 2 as cheap as FT, so thats a good trend for the consumer in general.

All of my DIY supplies come from the US.

I buy AW batteries and there is one seller in particular that only sells the Newer Silver hologram logo batteries..... Example, 2000 Mah 18650 4 for 27 bucks free shipping (ordered some of those and some 350's today as a matter of fact..
 

Hobby Kid

Brighton Boy
Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
It's true local sellers are equalling prices abroad. Also I bought 2 Sevens from vaportekusa a few moths ago but after paying excess fees at the sorting office it was exactly the same price as buying it from here. Just the wait was longer. Until they have the NRI (non-resident importer) status I really can't buy from them again
 

jae

Silver Contributor
Member For 4 Years
I will buy tried and true products from fasttech.....meaning, you go to the first page and you know those are the most popular items (as in Kayfun 3.1 ES, Taifun GT, Nemesis, some RDA's etc..... and usually will have the rating stars in the hundreds to match how good they are. I will also buy dirt cheap replacement tanks for the afore mentioned toppers there, as well as drip tips, o-rings and general cheap stuff like that. Hard to beat. What I order from Fasttech are things that I dont need at the moment, but think I may like to try, or items that I may want several backups for.

I generally get my Mods and some original toppers from the US or Europe. I have also noticed that many venders have started selling some items such as the MVP 2 as cheap as FT, so thats a good trend for the consumer in general.

All of my DIY supplies come from the US.

I buy AW batteries and there is one seller in particular that only sells the Newer Silver hologram logo batteries..... Example, 2000 Mah 18650 4 for 27 bucks free shipping (ordered some of those and some 350's today as a matter of fact..
I'm a ratings hound. I won't buy anything unless lots of people have vetted it before me. I rarely have enough faith in a product otherwise.
 

robtest

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Depends on what I see and am interested in... I have bought from fasttech, ebay, online giants, co-ops on the forums, and even impulse bought at the local B&M knowing I could get it for much much less, but elsewhere couldn't walk out and use it immediately...

Are you guys seeing the explosion over on "that side of the pond" that we are seeing here? Seems that B&Ms are popping up everywhere around me (of course, I am just outside of metro Atlanta, but know of a couple in easy drive distance of my sister's house in more rural east TN)...
 

Thunderball

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Depends on what I see and am interested in... I have bought from fasttech, ebay, online giants, co-ops on the forums, and even impulse bought at the local B&M knowing I could get it for much much less, but elsewhere couldn't walk out and use it immediately...

Are you guys seeing the explosion over on "that side of the pond" that we are seeing here? Seems that B&Ms are popping up everywhere around me (of course, I am just outside of metro Atlanta, but know of a couple in easy drive distance of my sister's house in more rural east TN)...

A year ago (around Metro Atlanta) we had maybe 3 vape shops in 6 counties....... and your right, now you trip over them all over the place. I don't know how they are going to make it. I have past retail experience (pawn shop for ten years).. but I'm afraid to get into the vape market myself. I may be proven wrong, But in my experience, there are so many smokers that try it for a while, then their fasttech bought and resold egos crap out or their toppers get gunked up and they go back to smoking.
Those of us that have stuck with it generally shop price and that is normally off the internet.
 

Hobby Kid

Brighton Boy
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Member For 4 Years
Are you guys seeing the explosion over on "that side of the pond" that we are seeing here?

Arguably no or not yet. Yes b&ms are starting to appear, but sparsely. I can count maybe ten within a 15 mile radius but they don't stock much gear and are centred towards the new comers and uninformed. Some will sell a couple of mechs, perhaps a few drippers. But most still concentrate on egos, cartos and juice. They're slow at getting in the latest stock and over the past couple of years I've found that by the time they do get it a newer version is on the market or its price on the web has dropped.

Business can be slow on the uptake. I once remember asking plenty of electrical stores for a VoIP handset and getting a Huh? back. By the time they stocked them they'd become out dated. It took them years to build an NHS nationwide integrated database and it still doesn't work. The main phone service provider in the UK "BT" introduced broadband as "It's finally here!" when in fact we'd been using it via cable for 3 years.

Its not to say the UK is behind with technology or trends. There's far too many other factors. It lets politics play too great a part. Sorry. I've run on. We will see b&m stores flourish but for now it's the newspaper shops/drug stores which are the main juice and 'ecig' sellers down here in the south.
 

robtest

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I would think that 10 in a 15 mile radius is a fairly high density... Much like we have here...

Oddly enough, I recently discovered that I have 2 within about 2 miles of the house and they are directly across the street from each other... One is low end, mainly for noobies, while the other caters to a more experienced vaper...
 

Matt Corby

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In London it's exploding now.. there are some trendy shops popping up here and there, and everyone's starting to use the EGO ecigs, with a few like myself using more exotic mods..

Hopefully it will take off big time.

The best shop over here to walk in to I've found for range etc is UK Ecig store in Wembley (I've asked for their B&M store to be added already), who have a variety of exotic mods and clones and have a whole department for customer support.
 

Hobby Kid

Brighton Boy
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Hey matt!
Was it you who said they offer a service for teaching how to rebuild?
 

vapedee

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Hey matt!
Was it you who said they offer a service for teaching how to rebuild?
Hey Hobby Kid looks like its just us UK'ers on the block......are you in London area ?
 

Hobby Kid

Brighton Boy
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Member For 4 Years
Hey Hobby Kid looks like its just us UK'ers on the block......are you in London area ?
Hi vapedee. I'm in Brighton. Does say it on my pop up. Oh, it also says Harrow doesn't it. Only the English would think that's a place name ;)
 

vapedee

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Hi vapedee. I'm in Brighton. Does say it on my pop up. Oh, it also says Harrow doesn't it. Only the English would think that's a place name ;)
Haha - well i'm in Bournemouth, we must see if we can do a big vape meet in the south - vapefest is sooooo far up north
 

Hobby Kid

Brighton Boy
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Haha - well i'm in Bournemouth, we must see if we can do a big vape meet in the south - vapefest is sooooo far up north
Absolutely. I've mentioned this before on other forums. When I had a google plus account I was on the vape uk group and there were lots from down south and even in a reasonable circumference of this area. So I suggested setting up vape meets. And the response I got back was very Apathetic. People said things like they don't really like meeting people haha How does that work then? Do they not go out?

Definitely Dee. More local-ish smaller meets would be a start I think. Share gear, tips, juice, sell stuff and just have a good 'ol time (my emojis don't work. How come yours do?)
 

vapedee

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Absolutely. I've mentioned this before on other forums. When I had a google plus account I was on the vape uk group and there were lots from down south and even in a reasonable circumference of this area. So I suggested setting up vape meets. And the response I got back was very Apathetic. People said things like they don't really like meeting people haha How does that work then? Do they not go out?

Definitely Dee. More local-ish smaller meets would be a start I think. Share gear, tips, juice, sell stuff and just have a good 'ol time (my emojis don't work. How come yours do?)
Cos I'm special
 

vapedee

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Absolutely. I've mentioned this before on other forums. When I had a google plus account I was on the vape uk group and there were lots from down south and even in a reasonable circumference of this area. So I suggested setting up vape meets. And the response I got back was very Apathetic. People said things like they don't really like meeting people haha How does that work then? Do they not go out?

Definitely Dee. More local-ish smaller meets would be a start I think. Share gear, tips, juice, sell stuff and just have a good 'ol time (my emojis don't work. How come yours do?)
It wont be rocket science Hobby - lets do it !!! I would like to see stalls allocated to custom builds and handmade...if you get my drift
 

Hobby Kid

Brighton Boy
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Cos I'm special
That's what it is
clipart-thumbs-up-happy-smiley-emoticon-8595.png
 

vapedee

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Haha - feedback from Vapefest 2013 indicated that beginner vapers felt left out and not catered for so thats a thought...
 

Hobby Kid

Brighton Boy
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Member For 4 Years
Haha - feedback from Vapefest 2013 indicated that beginner vapers felt left out and not catered for so thats a thought...
Really? I'm surprised . When I looked on youtube it looked full of stalls selling egos and juice
 

Hobby Kid

Brighton Boy
Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
I wouldn't know how to go about doing a large meet down south. You'd need to be able to reach vapers beforehand and get the idea out there. I'm not on the other networks anymore. But as I say, I didn't get an enthusiastic response back. I still believe one is feasible though.
 

vapedee

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Yep...not a criticism though just bearing in mind cos its so,so easy to forget innit ??
 

KnurledNut

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Haha - feedback from Vapefest 2013 indicated that beginner vapers felt left out and not catered for so thats a thought...

I'm finding that's the issue with many recent vape meets and shows.

Who can build the best coil and blow the biggest cloud.

As a vendor I realized that 99% of my business is from Ego/tank users.

Smoking was simple, why complicate vaping?
 

vapedee

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I'm finding that's the issue with many recent vape meets and shows.

Who can build the best coil and blow the biggest cloud.

As a vendor I realized that 99% of my business is from Ego/tank users.

Smoking was simple, why complicate vaping?
Amen to that brother/sister
There's nothing wrong with being either of those. Most of my trade also goes into beginner vapers and 90% of my energy happily dedicated to advising, fixing and guiding new vapers. Some arent necessarily beginners either I have about 50% of customers that dont want to move on from eVod/eGo and Ce4 tanks simply because its good enough for them and thats how they like it !
 
\id lovr to have the confidence to purchase juice from the u\sa - but Im not sure if they are just rebottled dekang or not.

All/ well most of the US bottles are so well presented - they look the dogs danglies. I prefer to buy local in a B&M as I can taste first but I am tempted

In Ireland here!
 

MKPM

AMG
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About the only things vape related that I buy from overseas are the occasional box mods from the Philippines. Non vape related? Quite a bit of UK purchases...but for obvious reasons. For those I employ my sister...she is my buyer and shipping agent.
 

BigNasty

Diamond Contributor
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ECF Refugee
Due to the PACT act if I want snuff and not pay 150%+ state tax with them limiting on what I can buy, I have to order from the UK.
 

Vape The Snake

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Customs can be a pain, especially with liquids. The import tax can be more than the product is purchased for, and any liquids containing nicotine can be seized!
 

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