Vape Authenticity Checklist: Don’t Vape a Fake!
With the popularity of disposable vapes comes an issue with authenticity—namely, a barrage of clones, fakes, and counterfeits being circulated. To make sure you’re not caught with a fake, unregulated vape, be sure to check its authenticity using these handy links!
Disposable vapes are increasingly popular, and with this comes a whole new world of fake, cloned, and counterfeit products—some of which may be hazardous to your health, as they’re not regulated by UK organisations. The vape industry has seen counterfeit products since its inception, but never at the volume we’re seeing now.
If you’re ever surfed the r/disposablevape subreddit, you’ve likely seen a large number of posts from vapers asking “is this real?!” alongside photos of various disposable vapes. More often than not, it seems, the answer is a resounding no. Fake Elf Bar & Lost Mary vapes have positively flooded the market in the past few years as their popularity has risen, meaning you should always be on the lookout.
Of course, if you’ve bought your products from a reputable UK vape store like us, you won’t have to worry about fakes. However, if you’re ever in any doubt, you should verify the authenticity of your product on the manufacturer’s website to ensure it’s genuine.
That’s why we’ve compiled a handy list of all of the vape hardware manufacturers’ verification and authenticity pages to make sure you’re never in any doubt.
Most vape manufacturers now have verification codes on their products’ packaging in the form of a QR code, a scratch-off code, or otherwise. They’ll usually have a link for you to follow to enter the verification code to authenticate the product, but this can have pitfalls as well—read on for more on this.
Let’s get into some tips on verifying the authenticity of your vape products and provide you with a handy-dandy list of official verification links!
Important Notes About Product Verification
It’s important to note that if you enter the verification code on the manufacturer’s website once and it comes back with a “genuine” response, take that as it is. It’s genuine.
Entering the code multiple times, however, will yield a “counterfeit” response—this is intentional, designed to counter a certain tactic used by black-market clones of particular products, where the counterfeit manufacturers will take a single authentic barcode and repeat it on hundreds—if not thousands—of packages.
Companies like ElfBar have factored this into their authenticity process, so each verification code can only be entered once.
It’s also important to note that a lot of these counterfeit manufacturers are getting savvier by the day—and this is the primary reason we’ve compiled this list. Plenty of counterfeit products will appear genuine, and may even have a QR code on the packaging which will send you to an authenticity page.
However, these counterfeits are sending you to a fake page, not run by the official manufacturer, where the code you enter will of course appear genuine.
To date, ElfBar has announced half a dozen false websites bearing their name, with fake verification pages designed to dupe consumers using counterfeit products.
So, if in doubt, you can always Google the manufacturer and head to their website yourself, then enter the verification code manually to verify its authenticity. You can also follow any of the links we’ve compiled below.
Vape Brands Verification Master List
Here, we’ve compiled a list of all of the manufacturers we stock who have tools on their website where you can verify the authenticity of your vape products. You should always ensure that you’re on the correct, official website. If the QR code on the packaging takes you somewhere that seems sketchy, make sure you locate the official site and manually enter the code there to verify the authenticity of your vape products.
The following list includes all of the known, official pages of the hardware and disposable vape brands we stock. If someone isn’t included on this list, they likely do not have a verification tool.
Conclusion: Don’t Fall for Fakes!
With this list at hand, you should have no problem verifying the authenticity of your vape products, from XTAR chargers to ElfBar disposables.
There are some products, including several ranges of disposables, which do not have an authenticity checker available online. If (and when) these do become available, we’ll be sure to add them here. We’ll be updating this list regularly, but if you notice any links which are broken or missing, please let us know by sending us an email.
Hopefully now you have enough tools in your arsenal to combat fake and counterfeit products!
