Best Place To Buy A Vaporizer? Store Or Online?

 
Always an interesting question, and I'm finding that it all depends on your current situation. I have a head shop near me that has a decent selection of vapes but nothing high powered. I bought my first MFLB from the shop, but all the other vapes that I want, I'll have to purchase online (The Hammer and/or the Lotus J-hook). 
 
I find that the brick and mortar retailers (at least where I am) tend to have all the same stuff because they buy from the same distributor. It really sucks going into a head shop here and seeing the same stuff. If your local shop has what you want and they have a good price on it, I'd suggest buying from them but make ABSOLUTELY SURE they will honor any warranty attached to the device, or at the very least, getting a warranty claim generated for you.
 
As for online retailers, a lot of users here like puffitup.com as the guy who runs it will take care of you if anything goes wrong with something you bought from him. Basically, its safe to buy them online, just make sure the place you buy it from will assist you in times of turmoil, or better yet, buy directly from the manufacturer. 
 
I bought my MFLB and Pax from a brick and mortar store. Never had an issue with either vape (don't use the Pax anymore so its parked); My Firewood 2.1 I had to buy directly from the manufacturer online, but thats ok because the owner was really cool and has become a friend. But as my taste in vapes changes and moves up, I'm noticing that I have to buy online in order to get what I want.
 
So it all comes down to selection, what you want, price, and warranty policies.
 
EDIT: Was there a specific vape you were looking at purchasing?

 

ALL of these have a proven reputation of providing great prices and service:  http://fuckcombustion.com/forums/supporting-retailers.19/

 

always buy from authorized dealer because warranty is important for vapes

 

 
@[member="lwien"] knows whats up with this particular subject matter. I've never bought from an online vape shop, but I buy from manufacturers. If you want to buy online, follow the link and absorb the knowledge thrown down.
 

 
^^ Yes! Absolutely. I wasn't huge on this before and didn't really pay attention to it. However, I know there are A LOT of knock of Pax's out there; even ones that look JUST LIKE a real Pax (except the guts aren't a Pax). A user on here bought a knock off Pax from a store, had issues, called Ploom for support and they went through tests to determine if it was real or not. Turned out it was fake and all Ploom could say was "Sorry thats a knock off....".  
 
So authorized dealer, or again, straight from the manufacturer.

 

I would buy in store only if I checked with the manufacturer to make sure that store is an authorized dealer. I have a couple buddies who recently bought fake paxes at an ecig shop because they didnt check to see if the store was authorized or if the unit was real.

 

I would buy online directly from the company. This way you know it's an authentic unit and you know you're getting a fair price. I don't know about head shops around your area, but my local shops tend to charge more which is understandable because they need to make their money and not all manufacturers offer wholesale deals.

 

So you know the vaporizer you want or are you still searching? If you don't know, you should go in to your local headshop, and ask if you can take a look at the different vaporizers they have in stock. Its also nice to support your local headshops, but the fact of the matter is that you will almost always find cheaper prices online. Vapornation and Vapeworld are the more well known official retailers, and will honor the warranties, so I recommend checking them out

 

 
Add PuffitUp to that mix.   Randy's customer service is beyond reproach and is about the best in the business.

 

I've always stuck to vapornation and Vapeworld, but yea I have heard good things about Puffitup as well!

 

All that glass looks like the same shit I can buy from china off dhgate...

 

Too bad the product doesn't come close to the customer service. You gotta go above and beyond when your product is just a rip off of the MFLB and functions worse.
 
Local head shops always want to make money, so if someone comes in with a bunch of fake PAX or whatever priduct - good chance they could sell them without the customer knowing they are fake (look at the 1000000 pens that are same as GS's microg pen). I will only buy from a few select sites because I have experience with them and know they are 100% authentic. Either from the companys own site, vapeworld, vapornation and I know gotvape is reliable but not a huge fan of the ones they carry.

 

 
Are you implying that Puffitup.com is selling counterfeit MFLB's? If you are convinced this is the case, you should report it to Magic Flight so they can take appropriate action (or reassure you Puffitup is legit): http://www.magic-flight.com/counterfeit-page.php

 

 
In my post above, I am NOT referring to the PuffitUp vaporizer but rather the online retailer, PuffitUp.      That should have been very clear in all of my posts.
 
Randy does NOT, I repeat, does NOT sell fake counterfeit product but is rather one of the most honest, well-respected on-line retailers there is whose integrity is beyond reproach.

 

I have purchased 5 vapes over the years, I don't see any reason not to order them online. Every one of my LHS marks them up about 20% higher than the manufacturers website, for example my pax online was 250, my lhs sells it for 280. Just go to the manufacturer website to order, or a trusted vendor on their site. I like vapor nation a lot, large variety and good pricing

 

I never said or implied he sells fake counterfeits. I never used that word so relax. Randy is his own brand and has been selling the Puffit for a few years already - I don't need to spend anymore time on this. Thanks for your time.