Let's talk about our neighbors for a bit. And how poorly they're being serviced by the vaping industry.
In the past 3 years I've taken time to visit many vape shops in BC. And while the service at each has been excellent. Their products have been very poor. Not the big name Mods and tanks. The little things, like cotton and ejuice.
If even one of you guys would offer quality. I could see you making some serious money.
Organic cotton pads, so thin they have to be doubled to wick properly. Organic wicks, that are a 50/50 mix, yet sell as 100% organic material. Mystery juices, that claim to be whatever flavor you need at that moment. WTF?
I sit here with 3 bottles of "Premium" juices that is said to be very popular in BC. I can't even tell you what it taste like, or what it actually is. It supposed to be a strawberry based flavor. This is only 1 of dozens of flavors tried in Canada.
With all that said. If even one of you who has a firm grasp of DIY can get a foothold in BC. You could retire easily in a few short years.
Off my footstool. And back to having fun. See you again in another 6 months.
I am Canadian and...
You're not
entirely wrong on any of those points. I cant speak for the ejuice market because I do all DIY and I do make a pretty decent bit of cash selling to friends and such but I dont have the capital to start up a store front, let alone move to BC first(I am on the other coast of Canada in PEI).
We are able to acquire proper wick and wire just about anywhere and I use KGD almost exclusively these days. My local B&M carries it at around $5 for a 5-pack, too rich for my blood so I order from FT, but it is available.
As for quality mods and attys, this can be difficult to find. Generally the B&Ms will have a lot of one or 2 manufacturer but not an overly varied selection. Again ordering online either within Canada or from out of country seems to be the best option here. Ive got some quality mods and I have no problem ordering what I want when I want it(and can afford it). That said, MOST of the big name mods and attys are available within Canada and in most major cities.
My biggest issue is how we are treated regarding batteries. Finding quality AUTHENTIC batteries within Canada at anywhere near a reasonable price is damn near impossible! First off, the most common cells these days in Canada are LG HG2 which also happen to be one of the most commonly faked cells these days. After that it is possible to find a few places that might carry VTC4, VTC5, VTC6 and if you're lucky you might find a 30Q, note that not a single QUALITY true 30A cell was listed there? Thats right, if you're a mech user who enjoys sub ohm then you better hope the border lets your battery shipment through. The biggest concern is finding AUTHENTIC cells. I am just waiting for some of my fellow countrymen to pop in and say where they get theirs is "totally reliable"...trust me...if they are a Canadian company they probably aren't...and if they are then you better be prepared to spend $20 or more on the cell before taxes and shipping. Batteries is our biggest problem and until we get a major supplier who specializes in quality authentic cells we will continue to be reliant on the US vendors.
Again, I cant speak for the BC B&M shops and what they carry, but I do order all of my concentrates for DIY from diy-ejuice in Richmond BC(suburb of Vancouver). Best prices and free shipping on orders over $100 (unless you're ordering massive jugs that cant be divided into smaller containters thus exceeding weight limits on free shipping blah blah blah).
I do know that here in PEI we only have 3 B&M shops in the town I live in, only 1 is worth entering EVER, the other 2 are terrible and owned by people who know nothing about vaping, charge way more than what they're selling is worth, carry mid range products, and sell garbage batteries to go with high wattage gear that they are pushing because juice sales is where the profit lies. The one store that is worthwhile has a very knowledgeable owner who actually cares about quality, prices are still terrible, selection is somewhat limited but at least some variety offered, but again little in the way of high end mods because the local consumer knowledge is on the lower end of things and the good stuff just doesnt sell because people dont know what they're looking for and instead only want something that "will work, blow big cloudz and is cheap".
Another of our big issues seems to be cost. A high end mod that might cost $150 in the US might run us about $250 or more. We could argue that its the exchange rate but our market doesnt seem strong enough to support shops buying in large enough bulk to get the competitive pricing that can be found in other countries. You did make a great point about setting up a shop that does DIY for sale. There is a shop in NB(next province over from me here in PEI), and they sell house made juices for $10 a 30ml bottle. They are constantly lined up out the door at their store front and have a very good record with their online sales. This allows them to sell many of their mods and attys at cost or less because, as anyone who actually does DIY can tell you, it costs less than $1 to make a 30ml bottle of e-juice and they are selling each bottle at around a 900% markup. I have no idea how many bottles they sell in the course of a day but I know that every time Ive been to the shop they have had at least 20 people in the shop just buying juice to the tune of 5 or more bottles each.
