In our second installment of 87hunter interviews I had the pleasure of interviewing @YeOldeOke from All Day Vapes.
11th of Feb marks my 4 month stinky free mark. As a new vaper I have not had the pleasure of trying All day vapes juice, but after spending some time on their website I think an order is needed.
I was blown away by the range they keep and also by @YeOldeOke's knowledge and passion for his juices. He keeps something for everybody and also one shot mixes which I cant wait to get my hands on as a newby mixer.
Just to reitterate, I do not recieve any form of compensation for these interviews and if I ever do it will be clearly stated.
So over to the man himself @YeOldeOke
87hunter: Looking at your website you state you have a physical premises but sell exclusively online, can you tell us a bit about yourselves and the decision to be an online only store?
ADV:We didn't really make a decision to sell online only when we launched the All Day Vapes brand in 2016. Our mission was - and still is - simply to offer a high quality product at a price point that doesn't put a strain on the average vapers pocket. Bear in mind that though there are many that vape purely for the pleasure of it, as a hobby if you will, IMHO the most important thing about vaping is the stunning effectiveness it has as a smoking-cessation tool.
I smoked about 30 a day for more than 40 years, and tried countless times to quit without success. Until I was introduced to vaping by @ADV-Des around 2009. The ease with which I stopped smoking amazed me. The problem I had was the cost of the juice, which came in 10ml nottles at the time.
Because of the cost I quickly had to start DIY, which was time consuming - it has a large learning curve - and pretty costly still - there is a lot of waste in bad mixes, flavourings never used etc.
My impression was that those with a tight budget and not a lot of time to learn DIY would easily give it up and go back to smoking.
So in launching All Day Vapes we tried to find a business model that would cut costs while maximizing quality. Systems and production processes were tailored to meet this mission. Many have asked why we do not have a collection/sampling facility - the cost of rental, staffing etc would have to be built into the pricing, while only serving a tiny geographical area. We try to serve the whole country equally. This is evidenced by our free shipping policy which is the same for the whole of SA.
87hunter: Do you sell to Brick and Mortar shops or can we only find ADV on line?
ADV: Currently in SA you can only find us online. Though we have found markets in other countries (under private labels) and we have launched a retail line locally, none of the vape shops have taken up our very generous offer (which includes sole distribution areas) so far. We have not really pushed this channel I must admit, my impession is our price point have upset a few apple-carts, but I may be wrong. We have focussed on development of juices and international markets.
We introduced a great free shipping countrywide policy last year to put us in reach of every single vaper in SA, whether you live in a city or Gatsonderwater. In fact, You save on petrol to the nearest store
87hunter: I live in a small village and 90% of my vape purchases are done online. Do you have some top sellers you could recommend to me before I confirm my order?
ADV: Tastes and preferences differ so much that you'll have to be a bit more specific, we have 75 flavours currently. You can sort by popularity and rating, just keep in mind that the newer juices would of course have been sold/reviewed less to date so that will tend to put them at the back of the queue.
This is why we incentivise genuine reviews to help people choose from the large selection.
87hunter: Wow, you have a very impressive range, anything from a raspberry scone to Liquorice tobacco. How do you maintain the quality with such variety?
ADV: We have been extremely transparent about our business - you'll find much detail in posts on our forum - but that is such a critical part of our systems that I cannot go into detail.
87hunter: Your signature and private bin juices are done by two different mixologists with a standard range being a joint effort. How difficult is it working with a second mixologist who has their own ideas?
ADV: Actually both the standard and Signature ranges are jointly developed. The Private Bins are separate.
We work together well, it is actually a plus as any juice that is not acceptable to both of us is rejected.
87hunter: Going back to the variety of juices available on your website, how do you manage the batch size?
ADV: Again, this is part of the system developed to keep costs lower and quality high, so no comment
87hunter: I’ve always wondered if professional companies see DIY’ers as plebs who ruin their industry, but I see you embrace the DIY’ers and offer most (if not all) your recipes as a premix. How has this been received in the market?
ADV: I come from DIY stock, if you will, so see no difference between the DIYer and those vapers who purchase their juice. I think DIY is great, it keeps many from smoking again. All our current juices are made available to the DIY community and they've been recieved very well.
DIY can save money, IF you don't end up with cupboards full of flavourings that you'll never use and a lot of bad mixes in the process. Wastage can be very costly, I learnt that in my DIY days. Our premixes eliminates that by making it easy mix and would probably end up being cheaper in the long run.
87hunter: Your prices are as much as 30% lower than most other juices found over the counter. Is this due to your business model being direct to the public and lower overheads?
ADV: It is actually as much as 50% lower Yes, it is a result of a business model that has been designed to lower costs while maintain the higest quality by setting up systems in development, production and distribution that meet that mission.
That doesn't mean always just cutting costs. quality is the first consideration. For instance, it costs us more to import flavourings directly from various manufacturers (and NOT the cheapest brands) because we have to pay high shipping costs from each of them. It would save us money to buy from one wholesaler - one shipping cost for all our flavourings - but we don't because we have no idea how long the concentrates have been sitting in their warehouse.
87hunter: I have jumped down the DIY rabbit hole with no intention but to create 15th-25th of each month mixes. What one tip do you think every noob should know?
ADV: Reserve a room with plenty cupboard space for your stuff. Go to the bank and arrange an overdraft to purchase an unending list of flavourings and paraphernalia. Install an extraction fan into your cave. Shower very often. Figure a story to explain your obsession to your partner.
Just joking
Start simple. Don't try every recipe you can find on the internet, it'll cost you a lot for mostly mediocre results with the odd good one, and you will learn very little. Get to know your flavours, how they stand up to the dreaded fade, how they complement and interact etc. That will set you up to sucessfully DIY in the long run.
Fruits are a good place to start, they are easiest to work with. Start with a single mix, move on to two and then more elements. That way you'll learn something that will help you to come up with good juices. Just mixing other peoples recipes will teach you very little. It is quite a learning curve.
87hunter: One of the premixes I have in my cart is a Lychee and Pineapple Just Fruit. Can I add my own menthol/coolant in it if I prefer a cooler vape?
ADV: You can, of course, but the results are unpredictable. Something like Just Fruit should be OK but remember that menthol or even a 'cooler' will change the overall taste profile. Some fruits simply taste awful with menthol, for instance, or it may emphasize one flavour in a mix thus changing the balance between flavours. This is the reason that even in the Chilled range we do not offer various menthol strengths in some juices like the Chilled Mint, the balance is too fine and it will ruin the juice.
Try small quantities first, maybe decant 10ml and add a few drops of menthol. Always start low.
87hunter: The question I want to know from every mixer is what gear do you test your juice on and do you have a piece of go to gear that you will never sell?
ADV: We use a range of gear to test. Mods-wise some Tesla Steampunk Nano mods (I love 'em) and Wismec RX200's. Drippers OBS Cheetahs (nice little dual coil drippers) and a few Geekvape Tsunami's.
I still have a Launcher Mech Mod from way back when, a heavy, solid stainless steel beauty (can be used effectively as a lethal weapon) with silky smooth threads and firing button, that I never use. A while back I thought I'd sell it but retracted the offer when I realised I just cannot part with such a beautiful piece of engineering... Now it's lying in a dark cupboard somewhere and will probably never see the light of day again, but IT"S STILL MINE!!!!!!
You can find the awesome range from All Day Vapes on their website alldayvapes.co.za and take note of their free delivery for orders over R300 or just R35 delivery fee for orders under R300.
11th of Feb marks my 4 month stinky free mark. As a new vaper I have not had the pleasure of trying All day vapes juice, but after spending some time on their website I think an order is needed.
I was blown away by the range they keep and also by @YeOldeOke's knowledge and passion for his juices. He keeps something for everybody and also one shot mixes which I cant wait to get my hands on as a newby mixer.
Just to reitterate, I do not recieve any form of compensation for these interviews and if I ever do it will be clearly stated.
So over to the man himself @YeOldeOke
87hunter: Looking at your website you state you have a physical premises but sell exclusively online, can you tell us a bit about yourselves and the decision to be an online only store?
ADV:We didn't really make a decision to sell online only when we launched the All Day Vapes brand in 2016. Our mission was - and still is - simply to offer a high quality product at a price point that doesn't put a strain on the average vapers pocket. Bear in mind that though there are many that vape purely for the pleasure of it, as a hobby if you will, IMHO the most important thing about vaping is the stunning effectiveness it has as a smoking-cessation tool.
I smoked about 30 a day for more than 40 years, and tried countless times to quit without success. Until I was introduced to vaping by @ADV-Des around 2009. The ease with which I stopped smoking amazed me. The problem I had was the cost of the juice, which came in 10ml nottles at the time.
Because of the cost I quickly had to start DIY, which was time consuming - it has a large learning curve - and pretty costly still - there is a lot of waste in bad mixes, flavourings never used etc.
My impression was that those with a tight budget and not a lot of time to learn DIY would easily give it up and go back to smoking.
So in launching All Day Vapes we tried to find a business model that would cut costs while maximizing quality. Systems and production processes were tailored to meet this mission. Many have asked why we do not have a collection/sampling facility - the cost of rental, staffing etc would have to be built into the pricing, while only serving a tiny geographical area. We try to serve the whole country equally. This is evidenced by our free shipping policy which is the same for the whole of SA.
87hunter: Do you sell to Brick and Mortar shops or can we only find ADV on line?
ADV: Currently in SA you can only find us online. Though we have found markets in other countries (under private labels) and we have launched a retail line locally, none of the vape shops have taken up our very generous offer (which includes sole distribution areas) so far. We have not really pushed this channel I must admit, my impession is our price point have upset a few apple-carts, but I may be wrong. We have focussed on development of juices and international markets.
We introduced a great free shipping countrywide policy last year to put us in reach of every single vaper in SA, whether you live in a city or Gatsonderwater. In fact, You save on petrol to the nearest store
87hunter: I live in a small village and 90% of my vape purchases are done online. Do you have some top sellers you could recommend to me before I confirm my order?
ADV: Tastes and preferences differ so much that you'll have to be a bit more specific, we have 75 flavours currently. You can sort by popularity and rating, just keep in mind that the newer juices would of course have been sold/reviewed less to date so that will tend to put them at the back of the queue.
This is why we incentivise genuine reviews to help people choose from the large selection.
87hunter: Wow, you have a very impressive range, anything from a raspberry scone to Liquorice tobacco. How do you maintain the quality with such variety?
ADV: We have been extremely transparent about our business - you'll find much detail in posts on our forum - but that is such a critical part of our systems that I cannot go into detail.
87hunter: Your signature and private bin juices are done by two different mixologists with a standard range being a joint effort. How difficult is it working with a second mixologist who has their own ideas?
ADV: Actually both the standard and Signature ranges are jointly developed. The Private Bins are separate.
We work together well, it is actually a plus as any juice that is not acceptable to both of us is rejected.
87hunter: Going back to the variety of juices available on your website, how do you manage the batch size?
ADV: Again, this is part of the system developed to keep costs lower and quality high, so no comment
87hunter: I’ve always wondered if professional companies see DIY’ers as plebs who ruin their industry, but I see you embrace the DIY’ers and offer most (if not all) your recipes as a premix. How has this been received in the market?
ADV: I come from DIY stock, if you will, so see no difference between the DIYer and those vapers who purchase their juice. I think DIY is great, it keeps many from smoking again. All our current juices are made available to the DIY community and they've been recieved very well.
DIY can save money, IF you don't end up with cupboards full of flavourings that you'll never use and a lot of bad mixes in the process. Wastage can be very costly, I learnt that in my DIY days. Our premixes eliminates that by making it easy mix and would probably end up being cheaper in the long run.
87hunter: Your prices are as much as 30% lower than most other juices found over the counter. Is this due to your business model being direct to the public and lower overheads?
ADV: It is actually as much as 50% lower
Yes, it is a result of a business model that has been designed to lower costs while maintain the higest quality by setting up systems in development, production and distribution that meet that mission.That doesn't mean always just cutting costs. quality is the first consideration. For instance, it costs us more to import flavourings directly from various manufacturers (and NOT the cheapest brands) because we have to pay high shipping costs from each of them. It would save us money to buy from one wholesaler - one shipping cost for all our flavourings - but we don't because we have no idea how long the concentrates have been sitting in their warehouse.
87hunter: I have jumped down the DIY rabbit hole with no intention but to create 15th-25th of each month mixes. What one tip do you think every noob should know?
ADV: Reserve a room with plenty cupboard space for your stuff. Go to the bank and arrange an overdraft to purchase an unending list of flavourings and paraphernalia. Install an extraction fan into your cave. Shower very often. Figure a story to explain your obsession to your partner.
Just joking
Start simple. Don't try every recipe you can find on the internet, it'll cost you a lot for mostly mediocre results with the odd good one, and you will learn very little. Get to know your flavours, how they stand up to the dreaded fade, how they complement and interact etc. That will set you up to sucessfully DIY in the long run.
Fruits are a good place to start, they are easiest to work with. Start with a single mix, move on to two and then more elements. That way you'll learn something that will help you to come up with good juices. Just mixing other peoples recipes will teach you very little. It is quite a learning curve.
87hunter: One of the premixes I have in my cart is a Lychee and Pineapple Just Fruit. Can I add my own menthol/coolant in it if I prefer a cooler vape?
ADV: You can, of course, but the results are unpredictable. Something like Just Fruit should be OK but remember that menthol or even a 'cooler' will change the overall taste profile. Some fruits simply taste awful with menthol, for instance, or it may emphasize one flavour in a mix thus changing the balance between flavours. This is the reason that even in the Chilled range we do not offer various menthol strengths in some juices like the Chilled Mint, the balance is too fine and it will ruin the juice.
Try small quantities first, maybe decant 10ml and add a few drops of menthol. Always start low.
87hunter: The question I want to know from every mixer is what gear do you test your juice on and do you have a piece of go to gear that you will never sell?
ADV: We use a range of gear to test. Mods-wise some Tesla Steampunk Nano mods (I love 'em) and Wismec RX200's. Drippers OBS Cheetahs (nice little dual coil drippers) and a few Geekvape Tsunami's.
I still have a Launcher Mech Mod from way back when, a heavy, solid stainless steel beauty (can be used effectively as a lethal weapon) with silky smooth threads and firing button, that I never use. A while back I thought I'd sell it but retracted the offer when I realised I just cannot part with such a beautiful piece of engineering... Now it's lying in a dark cupboard somewhere and will probably never see the light of day again, but IT"S STILL MINE!!!!!!
You can find the awesome range from All Day Vapes on their website alldayvapes.co.za and take note of their free delivery for orders over R300 or just R35 delivery fee for orders under R300.
