Repost: a revealing and balanced look at the vaping industry

When it comes to vaping, the barrier to entry is simply too low. If you want to sell, many channels will give you access to profitable pricing just by paying a few hundred or a few thousand. The market is so good that if an electronic product sells well, Huaqiangbei will definitely target it. Everyone knows what Huaqiangbei does—fake phones, fake earphones, and of course fake vaping devices. There are far too many of them.

Put those two points together, and it becomes clear why so many people suddenly started selling counterfeits in Lanxi. Vaping has been one of the few projects with relatively stable growth over the past two years. Just open WeChat Moments and you’ll see people bragging with the same old buzzwords like “factory direct” and “first-hand supply.” They think they have amazing channels and can crush every competitor on the market, yet they know nothing about how vaping devices are built, can’t tell genuine from fake, don’t understand the law, and know nothing about the rules of the industry. They place an order, start selling on the market, and then talk big: “I have a store,” “I’m factory direct with first-hand supply,” “my prices are super low,” “I sell everything,” “same-city express delivery,” and then they post a few obviously fake inventory photos. They understand nothing. It’s childish.

First, let me make a few things clear: any brand that can be considered a real brand on the market uses the same channel structure as other fast-moving consumer goods—manufacturer, provincial/city-level distributor, retailer. So there is no such thing as “factory direct” or “first-hand supply” in vaping. Impossible.

Second, I’ll give Huaqiangbei some credit: after years of making counterfeits, they’ve become extremely good at it. In terms of appearance, flavor, and so on, their products can be almost indistinguishable from the real thing—same logic as Putian “super A” replicas. So it’s not as exaggerated as some people claim, like saying you’ll drop dead after one puff of a fake product. To be honest, it usually just means cheaper raw materials and more harmful substances. Whether that matters is up to you. If you care, you naturally won’t buy counterfeits. If you don’t care, then nothing I say will make any difference.

I won’t name the people in Lanxi selling fake goods. I don’t like stirring up trouble. Big brother, do as you please. (Selling counterfeits for three years.) I just hope the vaping users on my Moments understand this basic point: whenever you buy any product, please purchase products that are legally regulated and protected by law.