How Much $$$$ Are You Going Through Vaping?

[Papacrane]

about $600 considering I have liquids for almost one year

Question....no expiration date on liquids?

 

[Papacrane]

I started with blu's, $70 starting, then $15 for refills 4 days later.. saw it was going to be the same or more $$ than analogs, so I went to the ego twist, another $70.. then experimented with pre-mixed juices, samplers, and different clearo's.. roughly $60, $20, $30. So I'm up to $265 ish. Didn't really love a lot of the premixed juice, so I went to DIY my own, first purchase about $60, didn't like the concentrates (got a bad deal, watered down crap for flavors), and went to a different vendor, another $60..

BUT.. I was only spending about $100 per month on analogs (8 per day, not heavy).. so being up to $325 for about a month is insane.. or is it? Currently I have the makings for another 525ml of juice, so at my 6ml (being liberal with the usage, really around 5), that's about 88 days worth.

Now.. the raw supply to make the DIY stuff AFTER all the other startup charges is really about $26 (product + shipping) to make 500ml of juice.. so breaking that down...it's about 0.052 per ml to make.. That's what-- 3 cents a day at 6ml usage!

The pre-mixed stuff is first and foremost a complete ripoff.. people are raking in 1000's % in profits on this stuff, and most of it isn't as good as the stuff I've mixed as a complete noob.

Now if you go that route, expect to waste $30 in product just experimenting at first, but once you got some recipes you love, the cost of vaping becomes minimal, and hardware driven.

You're convinving me to try making the juice myself. Just got a few more flavors from Mt Baker and although they're all ok, nothing yet has really knocked me over with THIS IS IT! I find myself mixing the already made ones together...like a couple coffee ones together etc.

 

[Papacrane]

I'm currently settled on the FA (flavor apprentice) line. I get it from wizard labs, but might start ordering direct from the manufacturer in larger quantities. So far my favs are licorice, cinnamon, spearmint, mocha, watermelon, etc..

I will admit I don't care for their tobacco flavors and will be continuing to search for better.

My problem with the already mixed isn't just the price- I couldn't find any that I truly liked. Most of them are just harsh.. I don't know what they are adding, but it hurts my chest a LOT, but I order my base and create the exact same 50/50 mix, same nic levels, and I can get the final product exactly the way I like it.. with zero chest pain. I have several creations so far that I can and do all-day-vape on.. and it's just great. I went DIY out of frustration with wasting money on samplers and juices I ended up hating, but after realizing the cost savings, It's all icing on the cake. I'm still waiting for about 30 more flavors to arrive and 1000ml of nic base, (another $80-90), but then I will be set for about a year, if not more. I haven't done the math yet, but a years supply for less than I used to spend per month, for product I prefer is just win/win for me.

I gotta keep you in mind for help if I decide to try making the juices.

 

[Papacrane]

Very interesting stories from everyone! I can see that this industry is booming and a cashcow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Kabooma]

I gotta keep you in mind for help if I decide to try making the juices.

LOL I'm certainly not the best person here to advise, just telling things from my perspectives I do stand by my argument that the prices for pre-mixed juices are inflated, though (getting to that next).

 

[Kabooma]

Just because you may not care for vendor juice doesn't mean it is a rip off, most of the good vendors out there have spent a lot of time and money doing this, it is no more a rip off than the bakery that charges $30 for a cake you can bake at home for $3. It is business.

My problem is that I agree with your cake analogy. I wouldn't mind paying 300% markup for a pastry chef to bake me a cake. My problem is that, using your analogy, the dude next door to the bakery is also baking his own cakes, and selling them for $30. And his cousin, sister, and wife are also baking cakes and selling them for $30. 16 other people are also baking cakes and selling them for $30.

So now we have 40 different people baking cakes and selling them for $30. But all of them are reselling each others too. Only 1 of those 40 cakes is worth the $30. Some are worth $10, and others might even be worth $20. But there's also cakes that are barely worth the $3 that was put into making it. And then there are others still that bought cheap generic ingredients and are baking the cakes at a cost of $1.25, yet still selling them for $30.

The kicker? ALL of them are slapping the name "bakery" on the cakes, and since none of these bakeries are local, and are all being sold by people claiming their cakes came from bakeries, we end up spending $1000 just trying to figure out which $30 cake is the one we want.

(edit: add) To add, for that $3, it turns out baking a chef-quality cake is so easy that there's no justification to paying the $30, with some rare exceptions, but in the end, considering how easy and efficient it is to bake a cake, and applying the laws of commerce, that cake should really be going for about $9 or $10. The only reason it's $30 right now is simply supply and demand, combined with 'bakers' who are taking advantage of consumers' ignorance

 

[cedric212]

Started back in August, spent a total of $392.11 as of today. Below is the break down:

Vape gear 36%
Mod/rebuild supply 10%
Eliquid DIY supply 45%*
"Premium" eliquid 9%

*includes stocking up on 500mL of 100mg nic (enough to last me 2-3yrs) for potential FDA regulation in the near future

Rules that I follow to minimize my vaping expenses:
-DIY all day vape (simple 1-2 flavoring mixes)
-Rebuild clearo/RBA
-Avoid disposable/Ego-type ecigs which you can't replace the batteries
-Purchase gear/supple directly from China/HK

 

[caligirlINky]

i think with ecigs and vaping its endless experimenting. there a million + flavors of juices to try and ecigs seem to be like computers... theres endless modifucations you could make and even if you buy a ready made setup it will be virtually obsolete in 6 months when a new vers comes out. i think the trick is to find an ecig you can be satisfied with and stick with it for a while. stock up on a couple of juice favs and then only try a new flavor once or twice a month. otherwise its a never ending christmas day when new stuff comes in the mail which is almost as addicting as the cigarettes we gave up to vaping.