Counterfeits are bad, but clones are a sign of a market gap.

#499479589 / gettyimages.com

I want to design and sell a new mod and I shall call it "Trooper" that way, when it gets coppied it'll be the "Clone Trooper"

Okay, maybe not. I mean, aside from the bad pun. not a one of us would be the least bit happy if we had invested time and money to bring a product to market only to have someone else flood the market with cheap knockoffs of our work... but that's not the consumer perspective is it... so let's try looking at this a different way. Mechanicals and rebuildables are expensive. mind numbingly when one think on their simplicity. Even if they are not simple to design and manufacture, they are simple in function. Never mind the cost inherent in bringing a new product to market, I need something that works and is affordable.

 Let's say you go shopping for a watch... What are your optoins. You could go to Tourneau and shop for the quality watches that range from around $80 all the way up to almost $200,000.. or you could buy the less expensive, but functionally similar watch from Walmart where the prices start at $7. So what do you do? Well, the vast majority of people will go to Walmart and save a few dollars. Assuming that a less expensive watch is available for Walmart to sell.

The real problem is that everyone is making Patek Philippe and no one is making Casio.

Let's say that you used to be an average American smoker, and let's further assume that your previous smoking budget is now your vaping budget. Okay, so the average American smoker spends just over $1800 a year on cigarettes. That translates to about $5 a day, or $150 a month. Now, how much do you spend each month on e-liquid, batteries, wire, wicking material (or premade coils) and other miscellaneous vaping supplies.... If you only vape a little, then no big deal, you're probably spending a lot less than when you smoked, but if you're a heavy vaper, the kind that might be interested in... say... a mechanical mod and a dripping atomizer, then your daily operational costs are higher, and if you're not mixing your own e-liquid you can easily spend your entire budget... leaving nothing for new mods and attys. So let's say your careful and spend about $20-$25 each week on vaping. You save about $50 to put towards new hardware, or, about $600 a year.

Right now I'm using a setup that cost about $500... wait...am I really going to buy only one each year?

And that's why we have clones. I would rather buy more than one mod and atty each year... I'd like to be able to try out a new tank atty every now and again, maybe pick up the latest dripping atomizer, or get that new mod because... well, because it's dead sexy! So now we see why we need Casio. Hardware that's reliable, but affordable. And Casio never hurt the market for Patek Philippe.

Similarly a marketplace with lots of affordable options. not 'clones', but independently designed, affordable, reliable hardware... would fill the needs of the average vaper... without impacting the market for more exclusive, more expensive, limited production hardware. The vaping industry is still young, and for now, the proliferation of 'clones' is evidence of a need for more such products. As the industry matures, we can look forward to more companies stepping in to fill the gap. Until then, we need hardware, and clones are inevitable, but we should not be rewarding those companies that are profiting on the design, logo, and reputation of others.

To be clear, I'm not an elitist about authentic mods, I don't look down on others that own clones, we need hardware, and authentics can be hard to come by and prohibitively expensive. I do, however, have a very low opinion of the manufacturers that make clones that are clear counterfeits with copies of the original manufacturer's logo, and fake serial numbers...