Choosing the Right Products for Your Vape Shop

Starting your vape shop has many challenges. One of these is figuring out which products you’ll want to stock up on the first time you open your doors to customers.

Table of Contents

1. What Should I Stock Up On At The Beginning?
2. Consult Local Wholesalers
3. Analyze Your Data Periodically and Effectively
4. Be Part of Every Manufacturer’s Mailing List
5. Listen to Product Reviewers
6. Identify Manufacturers and Buy Directly From Them
7. Buy Low Sell High
8. Conclusion

What Should I Stock Up On At The Beginning?

If you’re starting as a brick-and-mortar shop, one of the most important things you’ll have to decide on is what your vape shop inventory should be. But how do you know what products to buy the first time you open up your vape shop? According to the ecigarettedirect, some of the essential product lines to include in your inventory are the following:

• At least two kinds of starter kits ranging from cheap to expensive
• A wide variety of stock tanks for vape pens
• A wide variety of Sub-Tanks for sub-ohm devices
• Mid-range priced devices starter kits
• High-end priced device starter kits
• Mods both with built-in power and those that take separate batteries
• Smart battery chargers
• 18650 batteries
• All coils to fit all tanks that are stocked (As people will come back to buy)
• Good Quality Liquids in various nicotine strengths and different PG/VG mixes (most important)

Remember, however, that this is just a suggestion, and you might find yourself buying other product lines that best suit your business needs. Later on, in the article, we give more specific pointers on finding the most in-demand products.

Something else to keep in mind is that you should stock up more on beginner devices instead of advanced devices. According to Vaporesso, your inventory should have 50 percent e-cig starter kits, about 40 percent mid-level kits, and roughly 10 percent high-end hardware. Because this info might be a bit dated instead of e-cigs, we suggest replacing them with pod systems which are now the new and most popular beginner devices as of 2022.

Consult Local Wholesalers

While it is a must that you buy from manufacturers, in the beginning, it is also wise to consult wholesalers in your area to see what products are moving. This step is vital because wholesalers can help you choose and pick their most popular products and give you an idea of what you should stock up on.

Analyze Your Data Periodically and Effectively

Once you have your vape inventory, you can start gathering data for what you should stock up on. There are many ways to collect data, but the most critical way is by using your point of sales system (POS).

With your POS, you can track what items are flying off the shelves and which items are staying put. A sound POS system will also let you know which categories are the most sought-after spare parts, vape juices, or devices. If your POS is sophisticated enough, you can also generate individual buyer histories to create repeat business for each of your customers.

Be Part of Every Manufacturer’s Mailing List

Another tip to choosing the right products for your vape shop is joining the mailing list of vaping manufacturers to always be on the loop and the lookout for new products. Since most products have a period where sales boom (most often initially), it’s essential to be informed and know when products will be launched and released; that way, you can be one of the first persons to offer it to your customers.

Do remember, however, that this is not the case for every vaping product. For instance, with vape juices or e-juices, sales tend to maintain if the product is good enough, while with hardware, we see the initial boom in sales.

Listen to Product Reviewers

Another essential tip to finding out which products will be the best new vaping products is to listen to vape product reviewers, some of the most significant include:

• Rip Trippers
• Mike Vapes
• GrimmGreen
• Zophie Reviews

You’ll want to look for a couple of things when watching these reviewers. First, you’ll want to see the number of views; if they are significant, it could be a sign that the product is very in demand. Second, you’ll want to read the comments. Usually, at the very top, people will comment if they’re excited about the product or compare them with another superior product that has more features.

Identify Manufacturers and Buy Directly From Them

As we said before, wholesalers can streamline your process and offer guidance in the beginning stages when you are stocking up on your vape shop inventory. Eventually, you’ll want to identify manufacturers and buy directly from them since this will be a whole lot cheaper. One caveat though you’ll need to buy in bulk and have space to store your products, like a warehouse. 

Buy Low, Sell High

Remember how we told you to enlist yourself in as many manufacturers mailing lists as possible to keep a lookout for new products? Well, that’s not the only reason. Like with any business, sometimes manufacturers will offer markdowns on products, giving you an excellent opportunity to buy low and sell high. Better yet, if you’re buying in bulk, you might be able to score an incredible deal. 

Conclusion

Although this is a brief guide on choosing the right product for your vape shop, we hope it gives you some pointers and tips that you can use when you open your vape shop. If we were to leave you with one piece of advice, it would be to get involved in the vaping community, not only by watching reviewers but by actively participating in forums, to find out what vape products and vape juices the community is most excited about.