I remember the first time someone rang me at The Juice Warehouse and asked if we stocked Geek Bars. I wasn't sure what they were talking about at first!
Luckily for me and the shop, I paid attention as calls started coming in every day. Thanks to TikTok, disposable vapes had become enormously popular, and Geek Bars, Elf Bars, IVG Bars, Moreish Puff Air Bars, and more disposable vapes found their way onto our shelves.
Geek Bars, Elf Bars and all the others belong to a category of e-cigarettes called disposable vapes, and they're both the simplest and most limited e-cigarettes you can get. They have a sealed-away 500 mah battery and pod containing 2 ml of 2-percent nicotine e-juice, meaning you can't change the flavour and when the battery dies, that's it.
But for many, that's the appeal of a disposable vape -- once you've chosen the flavour you want, you simply unwrap it and puff it until it's time to dispose of it. There's no mucking about with juices, coils or batteries.
Even experienced vapers who use expensive box mods will favour a disposable vape for a night out, reasoning that they'd rather lose something they spent £8 for than something they spent £80 for. It makes sense.
But as Tik Tok videos depicting Geek Bars made the disposable vape a must-have for every vape shop, they also exploded global demand, leading to the rise of the counterfeit Geek Bar. Entire illegal factories have sprung up in China to manufacture fake Geek Bars.
They've made their way to the UK, where they've cause complaints of sore throats, upset stomachs and headaches. While manufacturer Geek Vape has taken security steps to crack down on fakes, many consumers don't even realise the product they're buying and vaping might not only be a fake Geek Bar, it may even be unhealthy.
That's why at The Juice Warehouse, we've temporarily stopped selling Geek Bars entirely. Our primary disposable vapes are by I Vape Great (IVG), Moreish Puff and E-leaf, which make IVG Bars, Air Bars and Elf Bars, respectively.
Stephen “Tex” English: tex@thejuicewarehouse.co.uk; Insta: @tex_vapes
