Bnormous: ATTACK OF THE CLONES
Bnormous is back from the dead to talk politics….and probably one of the
most talked about subjects in vaping to date. What is this topic I’m
speaking of? Clones & Counterfeits (there is a difference and we will discuss the difference). and we’ll discuss the drama that surrounds them.
Now to anyone who has been vaping for a bit probably knows what I’m talking about and all of you who do know about it have an opinion about it.
My thing is about clones is this, the is market being flooded with these high end devices that are popular but too expensive for a lot of people, so China takes that design and makes a cheaper version but at the same time they take a cut on quality. Which if you ask me is fine. Nothing wrong with taking advantage of an opportunity.
How I see it is in every industry there are three major markets. -Frugal Market: The ones who want to pay the least amount of money and dont mind taking a cut in quality to get that. (This is the market the clones appeal to the most.)
-Purist Market: The ones who don’t mind paying extra for quality but don’t need anything fancy. They may buy a clone but just to see if they want the real deal. (This is the market for things like the iHybrid Pure)
-Elitist Market: The guys who will drop big bucks on a name and a brand just for the quality and reputation of the device. ( These guys buy Chi-You’s and Caravelas )
Ill put myself in the Purist market.
Now that has been said, Let’s talk about the differences between Clones and Counterfeits.
Lets take a look at one clone in particular…the K100. Which is an empire mod clone. Same shape and design as the empire but with their own twist on the design and their own name. Which in that case is fine. And anything that falls under that category is fine, such as the Zmax, the Stomp (Kick Clone), and the countless RBA’s that are on fast tech.
What is not cool is Counterfeit devices, look at the most recent victim, Doc Dave and his Steam Turbine… which is the EXACT same design and name. Other counterfeits include the Chi-You, The Sentinel, The Bagua, The Nimbus, and there are plenty more. These counterfeit devices are a perfect copy of the original down to the engraving and the placement of those engravings and even the company name. Which is a slap to the hard work put into these devices.
On the flip side of the coin, some of the manufacturers of these devices are lashing out on the consumer for buying the counterfeit, and threatening lawsuits to co-op opperators for having the fakes sold in america. Here are two links to articles discussing this.
http://www.rpad.tv/2013/09/17/vaping-diaries-104-doc-dave-cloning-controversy/
http://www.rpad.tv/2013/08/23/vaping-diaries-93-mojos-chi-clone-backlash/
But basically Doc Dave (Steam Turbine) and Style of Mojo (Chi-You) are taking names of people who join the group buys and banning them from buying the real deal from them. Which is silly to me. I understand the frustration, but all you’re doing is putting a bad rep on your brand.
Now some would say “But Bnormous, Doc Dave is right, his hard work is being stolen and ripped off” Which I will agree with, but taking it out on the people buying the counterfeits isn’t going to solve anything, just will make matters worse. Take your fight to the Chinese manufactures if you feel that strongly about it, but even then that would be pointless as they technically did not break any laws, just moral ethics, and that’s not a lawsuit you can win.
:takes deep breath:
Before I make this post too long I am going to call this good, if you want to know more on this subject just click the links above and do some research on it, form an opinion.
My opinion is that clones are ok, counterfeits aren’t, and these manufacturers need to quit lashing out on consumers and take their fight to China if they feel they really need to.
Hope this helped some of you. Have a good one.
-Bnormous