A little chemistry and nicotine.

[eliot68]

Tell me if I am wrong in doing the math:
So the nicotine boosters that we buy have 20 milligrams for every milliliter of liquid
in which they are diluted and therefore if math is not an opinion
each booster has 10ml and therefore 10 x5 = 50 milligrams of nicotine inside.
I found on sale and also without much difficulty
pure nicotine (C10 H14 N2) at about 300 euros for 100 milliliters of 99% pure nicotine
The problem now is to see these milliliters of nicotine how many milligrams contain?
And here we just need to find the specific weight (weight of the unit of volume)
of nicotine which Google's AI easily revealed to me is 1.01 grams per milliliter
For ease of calculation let's consider 99% purity in 100% and that 1.01 in 1.00.
So if 1 milliliter weighs 1 gram, 100 milliliters will weigh 100 grams.
But we need milligrams and not grams, so
100 grams of nicotine results in 100,000 milligrams.
Going back to the argument that math is not an opinion
and that in a nicotine booster there are 50 milligrams of nicotine
with that 300 € we buy 100,000 milligrams of nicotine
we can get by dividing by 50 milligrams contained in a 10 milliliter booster
(100,000 : 50) exactly the amount of nicotine contained in 2000 nicotine boosters!!!!
I guess I have also seen on sale 5ml of the same 99% pure nicotine
for 50€ and in this case dividing it by 20 (100ml to 5ml)
there would be nicotine equal to that contained in 100 10 ml boosters
(2000 : 20 = 100).
Still talking about costs, considering that 2 liters of PG and VG (1l pg + 1l vg)
me being the last wheel of the wagon paid them about 25€,
10ml of pg/vg 50%/50% would cost me 0.125€, while for nicotine
300€ divided by 2000 boosters I would pay for the nicotine of one booster
about 0.15€.
If we add to this the price of an empty 10ml bottle at about 0.15€,
it would come to a total of 0.425€, However, this last count,
leaves time to be found because these are prices of a consumer,
while at the industrial level prices drop at least 10 times if not more.
Let me know first if you think the counts are accurate
and secondly a judgment on how much markup
the booster manufacturers take and tax the states/nations that take advantage of them.
I hope the translation is effective.

 

[OldBatty]

300 euros for 100 milliliters of 99% pure nicotine

Way too much math for my tired old brain! If 100 milliliters is one tenth of a liter, makes a whole lot more sense to buy a full liter of 10% for ~$150 (129 euros). Same total nic and none of the danger of handling 99% pure nicotine.

Though I think your real question is how much the profit and taxes are? Four liters of 10% is currently $368 including tax and shipping, or $92 per liter. Roughly double what it was ten years ago, so not that bad.

 

[eliot68]

Way too much math for my tired old brain! If 100 milliliters is one tenth of a liter, makes a whole lot more sense to buy a full liter of 10% for ~$150 (129 euros). Same total nic and none of the danger of handling 99% pure nicotine.

Though I think your real question is how much the profit and taxes are? Four liters of 10% is currently $368 including tax and shipping, or $92 per liter. Roughly double what it was ten years ago, so not that bad.

Excuse me, but 10% or 10mg/ml?
There is a significant difference.

In Italy (but I believe throughout Europe), if you wish to purchase nicotine,
the maximum you can obtain is 10ml of VG+PG (+flavouring) liquid
with 20mg/ml of nicotine.

You cannot purchase a 20ml bottle of liquid with nicotine
(if you want 20 ml, you have to buy two 10 ml bottles)
You cannot buy a 10 ml bottle with 30 mg/ml of nicotine (3%).

From 1 January 2025, in Italy and on Italian websites,
you cannot buy nicotine online, only in physical shops
or tobacconists.

P.S.
If I understand correctly,
1 litre that you buy at 129€ at 10% can be mixed with another 4 litres of VG/PG
to obtain 5 litres at 2% (or 20mg/ml), which, compared to the bottles
with the maximum nicotine content that you can buy in Italy,
corresponds to 500 bottles of 10ml at 20mg/ml of nicotine.

 

[OldBatty]

Excuse me, but 10% or 10mg/ml?
There is a significant difference.

Yes, 10% or 100mg/ml

P.S.
If I understand correctly,
1 litre that you buy at 129€ at 10% can be mixed with another 4 litres of VG/PG
to obtain 5 litres at 2% (or 20mg/ml), which, compared to the bottles
with the maximum nicotine content that you can buy in Italy,
corresponds to 500 bottles of 10ml at 20mg/ml of nicotine.

Only mix 125 ml at a time, so end up with 625 diluted. Curiously enough 20mg/ml is my current strength. Was higher before I retired and had go 8 to 10 hours without topping off my tank.

Bummer about the restrictions over there!

 

[eliot68]

Yes, 10% or 100mg/ml

Only mix 125 ml at a time, so end up with 625 diluted. Curiously enough 20mg/ml is my current strength. Was higher before I retired and had go 8 to 10 hours without topping off my tank.

Bummer about the restrictions over there!

Yes, in fact, 625 ml at 2% corresponds to
125 ml at 10% nicotine and therefore to 20 mg/ml
This means that all my calculations are correct.

But can you buy 1/8 of a litre (125 ml at 10%)?
Or do you still buy a litre and only use
125 ml at a time?

In fact, there is a nice saving compared to what I pay. .
Please note that unfortunately I am forced to buy abroad:
The last supply of nicotine I bought (from France)
cost me €37 (shipped to my home) for a pack of 25 bottles
of 10ml at 20 mg/ml of nicotine
(the nicotine I bought is a certified product,
but you can also find it for €0.8 per bottle, or about €20 for a pack of 25)

Considering that I pay around €22 for 1 litre of VG + 1 litre of PG
both with a pharmaceutical purity of 99.7% and 99.9% (Glowell),
to buy (from you) the 5 litres would cost me
€25 + €25 + €129 = approximately €180 to buy 20 packs of 25 bottles
of 10 ml at 20 mg/ml of nicotine (500 bottles).

If I want to buy the 20mg/ml liquid, to get 5 litres
I would necessarily have to buy 20 packs of 25 bottles,
which would cost me 20 x €37 = €740 for the certified ones and 20 x €20 = €400
for those sold by Svapomaxi, for example (0.99 + 50% discount + 5.90 shipping costs).

Well, from €180 to €400 to €740... that's a big difference.

You're writing from the US, where exactly?
And over there, what are the laws regarding nicotine?
Are there any restrictions on bottle capacity
or nicotine percentage?

 

[OldBatty]

This round was full liters. Ten years ago could and did buy both full and 1/8th liters. Different vendors, both now out of business. Back then at least one vendor offered 20% which is the strongest I have seen at a vape vendor. Never searched or shopped at commercial or industrial suppliers. About 5 years ago bought a 1/2 liter of 5% as a gift for a relative to encourage them to DIY and save money.

This list UncLeJunkLe's list is very US centric but see one China / EU listing.

State of Georgia, laws vary by state and blessed to live in one with less draconian laws. Most of my purchases have been from adjacent states, most recently Nicotine Giant in South Carolina. They currently only offer liters, four pack of liters and gallons.