Five Most Common Misconceptions about Online Smoke Shops
Ecommerce is currently among the largest industries in the world. The digital avatar of retail, wholesale smoke shop, and other avenues of shopping is the present and the future. There has been a sea change in consumer behavior through the past two decades. People are no longer skeptical about buying goods online. Yet, there is a certain degree of hesitation when it comes to online smoke shops.
There were many fears, some unfounded and a few legitimate, about the safety of online shopping, including privacy and the authenticity of goods. The realm of online smoke shops remains inflicted with a few misconceptions. These are essentially myths. Here are the five most common misconceptions about online smoke shops.
- Online Smoke Shops are Illegal
There are two misconceptions about the legality of online smoke shops. One, some people assume that an online store selling bongs, water pipes, hookahs, and shisha tobaccos is an illegal enterprise. Two, a few buyers think that their act of purchasing goods in such shops is a violation of some laws. Neither of the two beliefs is rooted in fact.
First, an online smoke shop is a registered business. Not only is the website domain registered for a licensed company but the business too has an actual base, including an official address, a warehouse or more, and staff on their payroll as well as partners, associates, and vendors. If an online smoke shop is illegal, it would have been taken down by the authorities. Shutting an online store is easier and quicker than taking action against a brick and mortar establishment.
Second, your act of buying legal products from an online smoke shop is not a violation of any federal or state law. The caveat here is the legality of the product you are considering. You can buy bongs, water pipes, hookahs, shisha tobaccos, essential parts or components, and accessories. These are legal in all fifty states. You cannot buy cannabis online if it is illegal in your state.
An online smoke shop per se is not illegal. Your act of buying a legal product, provided you are at least eighteen years of age, is not a crime. Steer clear of online smoke shops that sell illegal products. You must also report such sites so others are alerted of the same.
- Your Privacy is at Risk on Online Smoke Shops
A licensed online smoke shop of a registered business in the United States has to be PCI/DSS compliant to facilitate financial transactions. No financial data is at risk when you purchase from such a store. You don’t share much of your personal information anyway to buy from an online smoke shop, so a serious breach of privacy is a nonstarter.
An online smoke shop saves only the email address of those who subscribe to the newsletters. Your email address is the least sensitive information in the virtual world. Social media profiles pose a much greater threat to privacy than a harmless online smoke shop selling hookahs and shisha tobaccos.
- Prices are High at Online Smoke Shops
Some online smoke shops do inflate the prices of a few products. This is more likely to happen in cases of exclusive or limited editions of popular products. Given the fierce competition in this sector, no online smoke shop will survive with inflated prices. As a matter of fact, most online smoke shops try to offer generous discounts to win new customers. Today, it is unlikely for anyone to find a better deal at a local head shop compared to online stores.
- Fake Goods at Online Smoke Shops
Truth be told, there was a time when a lot of fake or counterfeit, knockoff and black market goods were sold widely through the internet. Such stores are still around, but they are in a miniscule minority now. Most online smoke shops these days deal directly with the manufacturer or their official distributor. It is futile to go through the trouble of black marketing when a fair deal is available. The market for knockoff goods has shrunk to almost nothing today because of increasing relaxations in global trade and commerce regulations.
- Damaged Goods from Online Smoke Shops
An online smoke shop is more likely to deliver a product in pristine condition because of personalized handling. When you buy something from a much larger ecommerce store, automated packaging and generic handling tend to cause minor damages to the products. Online smoke shops rely on patrons to keep going, unlike ecommerce giants who deal in phenomenal volumes to stay afloat.