Chreees Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 (edited) Hey guys,My friend and I went next door (I live in apts) to Samiii's Hookah Lounge. Place is pretty cool, nice vibe. Anyway, we went over not to smoke (we were JUST smoking previously before walking over there), but to check on his shisha prices. Dude was pretty cool, but he was dodging me on a lot of my questions and acting like I didn't know what I was talking about on a lot of stuff. Kind of acted like since he was the owner of a hookah lounge he knew everything, and I knew nothing. Anyway, he has three brands of shisha to choose from: Nahkla, Al Fakher, and Starbuzz. The Nahkla and Al Fakher are $10 a bowl, and the Starbuzz is $20 a bowl. He wouldn't sell me any to take with me, he just kept saying, "No, I sell it by the bowl to smoke here." So much for me saving on shipping prices, and I think his prices PER BOWL are kinda high. He kept telling me that his 250G tins of Starbuzz were $50 a piece. $50! I wanted to call him out on it so bad, but I remained calm. Paid off too, 'cause the next thing I know he says, "I'll give you a free bowl, my friend," and starts wrapping some Starbuzz guava in some foil. We said thanks and told him we'd be back to smoke some other day, since we had just smoked out on my balcony. Tried the guava right when we got back and it was pretty good. Oh, and another thing I almost forgot- Samiii told us that we could bring our own hookahs anytime and the price is half-off. EDIT: And the guy wouldn't answer me when I asked what brand hookahs he had. Can you guys tell what they are in the pics on his site? Link: www.samiiishookah.com Edited August 31, 2009 by INCUBUSRATM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zinite Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 LOL wholesale on 250g of Starbuzz is about $14. About 10 bowls from a tin, meaning he's making $186 per tin of Starbuzz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hookah hippie Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 starbuzz is13.50 wholesthe hookahs look like MZs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chinamon Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 QUOTE (Zinite @ Aug 31 2009, 05:20 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>LOL wholesale on 250g of Starbuzz is about $14. About 10 bowls from a tin, meaning he's making $186 per tin of Starbuzz.making $186 per 250g is not that unreasonale. it is a business after all.there are many overhead expenses for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquidglass Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 QUOTE (chinamon @ Aug 31 2009, 03:41 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>QUOTE (Zinite @ Aug 31 2009, 05:20 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>LOL wholesale on 250g of Starbuzz is about $14. About 10 bowls from a tin, meaning he's making $186 per tin of Starbuzz.making $186 per 250g is not that unreasonale. it is a business after all.there are many overhead expenses for him.I agree business is business, and the market decides what prices to charge, but those prices are ridiculous. While every business has overhead, he honestly doesn't have as much as he's charging for. Unless his rent is extreme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canon Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 hookah isnt MZ or KM. its an Egyptian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hookah hippie Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 QUOTE (Canon @ Aug 31 2009, 03:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>hookah isnt MZ or KM. its an Egyptian.my mistake but on his video I saw a hookah with a similar shank to an mz though not all of them fit the discription Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canon Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 QUOTE (hookah hippie @ Aug 31 2009, 07:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>QUOTE (Canon @ Aug 31 2009, 03:19 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>hookah isnt MZ or KM. its an Egyptian.my mistake but on his video I saw a hookah with a similar shank to an mz though not all of them fit the discriptionI didnt see the video. but your probably right, only picture ive seen was the 3 hose ejyptian. I cant watch videos due to my internet connection, and when i do try to watch a video it takes about 30 mins to an hour to upload a 3 minute video on youtube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fcbayern Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 WTF is a hookah prepared "from scratch"? Is he baking a cake? COrrect me if I'm wrong but this guy will only sell you shisha by the bowl for $20 bucks. He has no idea what hookahs he uses because the majority of the ones I saw anyways are just plain egytian.His place looks like a dump, what are those just a bunch of mattresses thrown on the floor?I suggest you continue to order online and stay away from that guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chreees Posted August 31, 2009 Author Share Posted August 31, 2009 Yeah, I don't think I'll be going back there to smoke. Balcony ftw! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zinite Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 QUOTE (chinamon @ Aug 31 2009, 12:41 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>QUOTE (Zinite @ Aug 31 2009, 05:20 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>LOL wholesale on 250g of Starbuzz is about $14. About 10 bowls from a tin, meaning he's making $186 per tin of Starbuzz.making $186 per 250g is not that unreasonale. it is a business after all.there are many overhead expenses for him.I don't know, 1300% markup is kind of ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white_rabbit Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 (edited) eh its starbuzz... what do u expect lol...i think the take home price ($50?) for a can is bad... i s'pose 20 for bowl isnt bad considering what the world is coming to now a days..hell were lucky to smoke in a public place Edited August 31, 2009 by white_rabbit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cb1021 Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 i work for small business and what a lot of people do not simply consider is that these people have to make money, as if it were their full time job. they cannot offer cheap prices or hook you up, unless the grocery store you own can offer them cheap prices on food, or you hook them up with a car in exchange. people always say "i can get that for $10 elsewhere". what's the point. take it or leave it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquidglass Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 QUOTE (cb1021 @ Aug 31 2009, 04:42 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>i work for small business and what a lot of people do not simply consider is that these people have to make money, as if it were their full time job. they cannot offer cheap prices or hook you up, unless the grocery store you own can offer them cheap prices on food, or you hook them up with a car in exchange. people always say "i can get that for $10 elsewhere". what's the point. take it or leave it.I think people understand that they need to make money, but it's the way you go about making money. Let's say for instance Eric wanted to make money, should sell tangiers for $20 every 250gs? No, you know why? Because it's terrible business. I'd rather sell a product to 1,000 people for $10 than sell a product to 500 people for $15. Why? word of mouth, repeat business, etc. The funny thing is the reason this guy charges so much is likely because a) he needs money and he doesn't get a lot of business. Well what he doesn't realize is his prices are keeping him from making more money and business. May sound harsh, but i hate to see people overcharged for low quality products/places and I love to see businesses that do it, fail, hard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redjako Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 These types of lounges WILL go out of business if they do not adjust in the next 10 or so years as education on hookah and its products (and pricing) comes into play..But, you never know if people will still get pooned up teh buttz for ... ... Starbuzz.I'll but those sessions last 20 minutes with a steel plate huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srawas89 Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 (edited) lol buying a bowl for the price of an entire tin....Now I understand if the place is really nice and the atmosphere attracts alot of people, its the reason my I go smoke at my local hookah lounge every now and than instead of smoking at home. But still it kinda annoys me that he claims its $50 retail for a tin of starbuzz to try and sucker in people on justifying doubling the price since its starbuzz...that is what ticks me off and that is why I would not want to go back there.Edit: but $10 for a bowl of Af or Nakhla is a good price. Did he at least pack the hookah well? Edited September 1, 2009 by srawas89 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chreees Posted September 1, 2009 Author Share Posted September 1, 2009 Place seemed very nice and all...OH, another thing I forgot- He said he occassionally sells old hookahs. Know how much he wants for them? $200-$300... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
srawas89 Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Oh well this guy is obviously price gouging which means you could prove to him that you know what your talking about and he would probably lower his prices unless business is going good in selling his old hookahs. Most likely he will lower the prices considerably and if they are good brands I bet you could get them for like $100. Oh and if you want a good way to make sure he will lower his prices esp. for you, just show him an online retailer where starbuzz is no more than like $22 a tin and that if he claims that it is $50 retail (an obvious lie) than what other prices is he inflating (such as his old hookahs for sale). I think if you play this right (show him that you mean serious business and that he cant fuck with you on pricing) you could end up with a really nice deal on a hookah as he will probably try to give you a hookah for cheap as a way of not saying how much he is actually price gouging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chreees Posted September 1, 2009 Author Share Posted September 1, 2009 ^True, very true. Might try this, but I don't really see any reason to upgrade- my QT is smoking greeaaat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r1v3th3ad Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 its funny that they are trying to advertise here now lolI'm leaving it up to the other mods because I don't know how to regulate the violation they did Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquidglass Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 QUOTE (r1v3th3ad @ Sep 1 2009, 12:35 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>its funny that they are trying to advertise here now lolI'm leaving it up to the other mods because I don't know how to regulate the violation they did?? for those of us non mod underlings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delSol_si Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 QUOTE (liquidglass @ Aug 31 2009, 11:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>QUOTE (r1v3th3ad @ Sep 1 2009, 12:35 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>its funny that they are trying to advertise here now lolI'm leaving it up to the other mods because I don't know how to regulate the violation they did?? for those of us non mod underlingsRead rule #4... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liquidglass Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 QUOTE (delSol_si @ Sep 1 2009, 02:17 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>QUOTE (liquidglass @ Aug 31 2009, 11:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>QUOTE (r1v3th3ad @ Sep 1 2009, 12:35 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>its funny that they are trying to advertise here now lolI'm leaving it up to the other mods because I don't know how to regulate the violation they did?? for those of us non mod underlingsRead rule #4...Yeah I've seen rule four put into place a few times but I've just never seen anything about this place before so I didn't realize they were violating the rule you know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delSol_si Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Well, I personally don't feel to strongly against the thread they started, but read the bold parts:QUOTE 4) Vendors/Lounge owners are expected to contribute to the overall discussions on the forum. We are not here simply as free advertising space. Vendors/lounge owners will have a 2 weeks probationary period of general posting before they may advertise as vendors. This period may be lengthened or shortened at the discretion of the Admin. Vendors are also to keep business related posts, such as special offers and new product announcements, to a single Official thread. Sending Private Messeges (PM'S) to someone who is looking for an item or product is not permitted. Please Contact the Mushrat to discuss a Vendor thread.So ya, that is what I went by in my decision. If they have already contacted Mushrat or I acted incorrectly, which I may have(don't think I have, but I am not the final say), then Mushrat will probably let me know and either have me fix it or fix it himself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chreees Posted September 1, 2009 Author Share Posted September 1, 2009 Whoa, what's this about advertising? I was just discussing about the flaws of my local hookah lounge... Hardly advertising... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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