Jadam Ltd, trading as The Vaper’s Nest in Invercargill, was placed in liquidation by shareholder resolution in June last year.
The liquidator’s summary report, released last month, determined the total remaining amount owed to all creditors to be $55,455.24.
The initial report estimated the total deficit at $212,884.10.
It said the company’s sole director, listed as Adam Clark, advised that a number of new vape stores led to a ‘‘saturation of the market in Invercargill’’, resulting in a decline in market share and therefore profit, which contributed to the level of stock.
Vapify owner Darpit Vaghasiya said there was a ‘‘really tight market’’ for vapes in Invercargill.
‘‘It’s not like any other town in New Zealand,’’ Mr Vaghasiya said.
‘‘Even in Auckland, big cities, they don’t have this much competition; they don’t have the prices that we have here.
‘‘Too many vape stores for a small town.’’
When Vapify first opened about two years ago, there was so much competition it cut its prices 5%-10% to be more affordable and attractive to customers, he said.
‘‘With more vape stores opening up, we might need to cut down it further.’’
Dunedin vape retailer Eleven Vape is listed in the liquidator’s report as an unsecured creditor.
Owner Anthony Woo said he was paid out $5000, the full amount he was owed.
He was, however, still owed money by another Christchurch-based vape company that was placed in liquidation last year.
Mr Woo agreed there was a saturation of vape stores in Invercargill; the cheap prices could escalate into a ‘‘price war’’.
Running a vape store in Dunedin was also ‘‘quite hard, to be honest’’.
‘‘I remember the first day when we opened a vape shop, our sales [were] around $200.
‘‘If you hire one staff to cover a day for like 10 hours, you don’t even make any profit, and you still lost on your product.
‘‘It’s real hard.’’
Competition among vape stores in Dunedin was ‘‘peaceful’’ and the owners were all nice people, he said.
‘‘And then we follow the rules — we don’t simply do price war.’’
The liquidator’s final report said the business ceased trading in May and its assets were sold prior to the liquidation.
‘‘There was some residual stock which was deemed to have no realisable value given the change in legislation on vape products.’’
The Vaper’s Nest did not respond to a request for comment before deadline.
