How VapeShopsNearMe works

1. The age check comes first

Content endpoints require an age credential, so an unverified visitor sees an age gate instead of listing data. The check is a date-of-birth self-declaration validated by the server; the credential lasts up to 30 days and is removed when you sign out. It is not identity verification, and it does not replace the ID check a shop must perform when you buy something.

2. Records are imported in batches

Shop data arrives as batches from sources that are registered with the platform, together with the usage rights for each field. A batch is validated field by field: records missing a required value are rejected rather than completed with placeholder text, and duplicate records are matched on the source identifier so re-importing the same batch does not create duplicates.

3. Nothing is published without review

Every imported record starts as pending review. A record is published only after it has been reviewed, and the same rule applies to owner claims, corrections, reviews and images submitted through the site. A record that is claimed by its owner is not silently overwritten by later imports.

4. What a listing shows

• Name, street address, city, state and ZIP code.
• Phone number and website, when the source provides them.
• Opening hours, shown in the shop's own time zone. If the hours are not known, the page says unknown instead of assuming the shop is open.
• Reviews written on this site, each of which goes through moderation before it is shown.

5. What we deliberately do not show

• Ratings and reviews from third-party platforms. They are excluded by their licence terms and are never stored or displayed.
• Platform profile pages as a shop's website. Only a business's own site is accepted.
• Product catalogues. Product listings are not published publicly at this time.
• Prices, stock or licensing status that we have not been able to verify. Unknown values stay unknown.

6. Owners and corrections

Business owners can submit a new shop or claim an existing listing from its page. Claims are reviewed by an administrator, and we never transfer ownership because a phone number was typed into a form. Corrections submitted from a shop page follow the same review path.

7. Reporting a problem

If something on a listing is wrong, outdated or should not be published, contact us or use the correction route on the shop page. Signed-in users can also raise privacy requests from their account page.

See also the data sources page and our preview terms.