Clone VS Authentic
(I posted this on another forum website but figured it would get more exposure here.)
Should you buy clone or authentic? This question has sparked one of the largest on going vape related debates in history. If you ask a group of people you are likely to get a multitude of answers that range anywhere from Authentic mods are the only way to get quality products. to Clones are the best..
The truth is that clones are one of the largest reasons the vaping community has grown so rapidly to the size that it has. Without clones the market would be restricted to the people can afford authentic mods and the few people that wanted to spend hundreds of dollars on an authentic set up. Most people would reply to this statement something like Thats no true. You can get an authentic Vision spinner and pro tank set up for under $50. If you are one of the people that responds that way take a minute and think about it.
What got me into vaping (around a year ago) was not only the potential health benefits but the allure of being able to blow massive clouds of vapor. Lets face it, that isnt going to happen with a e-go and a Pro-tank. Now, I know not everyone is in to vaping to blow clouds but, it is a HUGE reason (like it or not) that a large percentage of people have started to vape.
People have this assumption that clones hurt the re-sale value of the original product. In some cases this may be true but from what I have seen it is generally not the case. Authentic Caravela are still re-selling above $500 since the clone came out and most Authentic limited edition mods are still re-selling at the same amount they were. The only Authentic mods that I have seen take a hit in re-sale value are Nemesis mods simply because the high quality clones out perform some authentic.
When it comes down to it. People purchase vape gear based on their budget. Some people have higher amounts of expendable money than others which is okay. But, hating on someone because they own a clone is a minor example of class warfare.
From a moral standpoint buying clones is not the best option. Chinese manufactures are able to keep prices low because they pay insufficient labor, have low quality working conditions, etc.. All of that contributes to a lower fixed cost for the company that lowers overhead costs, increases profitability and lowers the end price to the consumer. Lets face it though, none of us are morally perfect and we all own at least one piece name brand clothing that was manufactured the same way but instead of the price staying low, US based companies mark up the price to have larger profit margins.
For the people that live and die by cloned mods and use a similar sentence like, I got my cloned Insert mod name here for $20 when you payed $200 for your authentic and its the exact same.. That is not true, it is not the same. It may perform the same or even better than the authentic version but most of the time the quality of the metal or other materials used is lower than the authentic, they do not come with warranty from the manufacture (many authentic do), and the overhead of the company manufacturing the product is not the same. Many authentic mod makers could be (I am making an assumption because I do not have data and facts to support) making the same or LESS profit on a mod than clones. Overhead (such as leasing, water, electric, wages, insurance, etc) are undeniably higher in countries that many authentic mods are produced in, which contributes to a higher retail price and potentially lower profits.
In the end I think that clones are acceptable and I do not frown upon owners of clones (myself included) but, I also do not hate on people that have Authentic mods. I know there are other people that have the same opinion but it is not even close to being popular opinion. I also know that there are people that openly debate on one side or the other that to not take into account certain aspects of what I listed above. I hope this is an informative article. I tried to show both sides of the argument without trying to be bias towards one or the other. I hope this helps bridge the gap between Die-hard authentic owners and clone owners. With the FDA knocking on our doorstep the last thing we need to be doing is arguing amongst ourselves.
Somewhat off topic rant: There is a recently new situation that is developing. Hana Modz is allegedly suing brick and mortar/online retailers of the 1:1 Hana Mod clone with logo. People are openly bashing on Hana because they think it is the wrong way to go about things. Hana has their logo trademarked and as far as I know they are not going after retailers that are only selling the no logo version of the clone. I think what Hana is doing is the right choice. They have a patent on their logo and want to stop retailers selling counterfeit Hana Modz. No one forced the retailers to buy the 1:1 version, and the no logo version is also available by the same manufactures that sell the 1:1 clones. The retailers should be held accountable for their actions.
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Please let me know what you like and don't like about this article. It is my first time writing an extensive amount on this subject and I am sure there are things that I missed. Please do not copy this article without giving credit (@iVap3 on Instagram). Thank you for reading![/FONT]
(I posted this on another forum website but figured it would get more exposure here.)
Should you buy clone or authentic? This question has sparked one of the largest on going vape related debates in history. If you ask a group of people you are likely to get a multitude of answers that range anywhere from Authentic mods are the only way to get quality products. to Clones are the best..
The truth is that clones are one of the largest reasons the vaping community has grown so rapidly to the size that it has. Without clones the market would be restricted to the people can afford authentic mods and the few people that wanted to spend hundreds of dollars on an authentic set up. Most people would reply to this statement something like Thats no true. You can get an authentic Vision spinner and pro tank set up for under $50. If you are one of the people that responds that way take a minute and think about it.
What got me into vaping (around a year ago) was not only the potential health benefits but the allure of being able to blow massive clouds of vapor. Lets face it, that isnt going to happen with a e-go and a Pro-tank. Now, I know not everyone is in to vaping to blow clouds but, it is a HUGE reason (like it or not) that a large percentage of people have started to vape.
People have this assumption that clones hurt the re-sale value of the original product. In some cases this may be true but from what I have seen it is generally not the case. Authentic Caravela are still re-selling above $500 since the clone came out and most Authentic limited edition mods are still re-selling at the same amount they were. The only Authentic mods that I have seen take a hit in re-sale value are Nemesis mods simply because the high quality clones out perform some authentic.
When it comes down to it. People purchase vape gear based on their budget. Some people have higher amounts of expendable money than others which is okay. But, hating on someone because they own a clone is a minor example of class warfare.
From a moral standpoint buying clones is not the best option. Chinese manufactures are able to keep prices low because they pay insufficient labor, have low quality working conditions, etc.. All of that contributes to a lower fixed cost for the company that lowers overhead costs, increases profitability and lowers the end price to the consumer. Lets face it though, none of us are morally perfect and we all own at least one piece name brand clothing that was manufactured the same way but instead of the price staying low, US based companies mark up the price to have larger profit margins.
For the people that live and die by cloned mods and use a similar sentence like, I got my cloned Insert mod name here for $20 when you payed $200 for your authentic and its the exact same.. That is not true, it is not the same. It may perform the same or even better than the authentic version but most of the time the quality of the metal or other materials used is lower than the authentic, they do not come with warranty from the manufacture (many authentic do), and the overhead of the company manufacturing the product is not the same. Many authentic mod makers could be (I am making an assumption because I do not have data and facts to support) making the same or LESS profit on a mod than clones. Overhead (such as leasing, water, electric, wages, insurance, etc) are undeniably higher in countries that many authentic mods are produced in, which contributes to a higher retail price and potentially lower profits.
In the end I think that clones are acceptable and I do not frown upon owners of clones (myself included) but, I also do not hate on people that have Authentic mods. I know there are other people that have the same opinion but it is not even close to being popular opinion. I also know that there are people that openly debate on one side or the other that to not take into account certain aspects of what I listed above. I hope this is an informative article. I tried to show both sides of the argument without trying to be bias towards one or the other. I hope this helps bridge the gap between Die-hard authentic owners and clone owners. With the FDA knocking on our doorstep the last thing we need to be doing is arguing amongst ourselves.
Somewhat off topic rant: There is a recently new situation that is developing. Hana Modz is allegedly suing brick and mortar/online retailers of the 1:1 Hana Mod clone with logo. People are openly bashing on Hana because they think it is the wrong way to go about things. Hana has their logo trademarked and as far as I know they are not going after retailers that are only selling the no logo version of the clone. I think what Hana is doing is the right choice. They have a patent on their logo and want to stop retailers selling counterfeit Hana Modz. No one forced the retailers to buy the 1:1 version, and the no logo version is also available by the same manufactures that sell the 1:1 clones. The retailers should be held accountable for their actions.
[FONT=Trebuchet MS, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]Please let me know what you like and don't like about this article. It is my first time writing an extensive amount on this subject and I am sure there are things that I missed. Please do not copy this article without giving credit (@iVap3 on Instagram). Thank you for reading![/FONT]
