A Perth man has lost an attempt to overturn a conviction for selling electronic cigarettes in Western Australia.

Vincent Van Heerden, 33, was convicted by the Supreme Court in 2014 of breaching tobacco control laws by selling e-cigarettes online.

Van Heerden was fined $1,750 and ordered to pay $14,000 in court costs.

The landmark case effectively made the sale of the electronic smoking devices illegal in WA.

The devices turn fluid into vapour that can be inhaled, and Van Heerden maintained he believed they were a healthy alternative to cigarettes.

He appealed the verdict in the Court of Appeal, but the case was dismissed.

Outside the court, Van Heerden said he was shocked by the decision.

“It doesn’t make any sense from a common sense point of view, from a moral point of view and from a legal point of view. I don’t understand it,” he said.

“I think society has been done a massive disservice today. This was a technology that is saving lives all around the world.

“They’ve been proven to be 95 per cent safer than actual tobacco cigarettes.”

Van Heerden’s home was raided by Health Department officials in 2011, and he was later charged with breaching state law by selling a product that resembled a cigarette.

He was one of the operators of an online business called Heavenly Vapours which sold e-cigarettes.

Van Heerden was originally acquitted of the charge, but was later found guilty on appeal.

The court ruled e-cigarettes not containing nicotine still breached the tobacco control act, which prohibits any “food, toy or other product” that looks like a cigarette or cigar.

E-cigarettes containing nicotine liquid are banned across Australia.

Van Heerden said he was yet to decide whether to take the case to the High Court.

“I’m going to have to talk seriously with the lawyers and do some costings,” he said.

“It’s going to be a very expensive exercise and this has been a non stop David versus Goliath scenario.”