I have been doing some research into getting into DIY juice to save some money and as I think it would be interesting and after a little research I am not sure how much cheaper it will be. Presently I am ordering 50ml bottles of juice for around $4.50 and at that price I don't know if I can do much better even making it on my own. If you guys could give me your opinions and maybe some rough estimates of what you spend to make the juice maybe in a 100ml batch I would really appreciate it..
DIY Liquid vs. Pre made price comparison
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By the way--when I calculated that I tried to include everything...syringes, glass and plastic squeeze bottles etcetera. Actually I believe it's quite a bit less now with new suppliers for PG/PV and Nic but I have not recalculated.
Well, at the moment your juice is costing 9 cents/ml.
The thing about DIY is that in order to save money on it, you need to buy most of your supplies in bulk; nic liquid by the liter, PG and VG by the gallon. So you've got to invest some money up-front.
You also need flavorings, and these actually wind up being the expensive part of the e-liquid. For me, the base costs about a penny per ml, but the flavorings are 3-4 cents/ml (and can be a lot higher depending on the mix). Once again, you need to buy flavorings in fairly large sizes to get these numbers (and some recipes call for a lot of different flavorings!)
Not all your recipes will turn out the way you want them to, so there will be some loss due to stuff you just don't like.
And if you only vape 5-10 ml/day, it will take a LONG time to get to the break-even point! If you were vaping dollar-a-ml premium juices, the story might be different.
So, if you want to get into DIY, do it because you want to try creating new recipes, and experimenting. Way down the road it might save you some money, but if the savings is your main goal, it's probably not something to get into.
ETA: In any case, if you want to try it, start out with small amounts of stuff. It will cost a bit more, but will let you get your feet wet and figure out whether it's something you want to commit to!
The thing about DIY is that in order to save money on it, you need to buy most of your supplies in bulk; nic liquid by the liter, PG and VG by the gallon. So you've got to invest some money up-front.
You also need flavorings, and these actually wind up being the expensive part of the e-liquid. For me, the base costs about a penny per ml, but the flavorings are 3-4 cents/ml (and can be a lot higher depending on the mix). Once again, you need to buy flavorings in fairly large sizes to get these numbers (and some recipes call for a lot of different flavorings!)
Not all your recipes will turn out the way you want them to, so there will be some loss due to stuff you just don't like.
And if you only vape 5-10 ml/day, it will take a LONG time to get to the break-even point! If you were vaping dollar-a-ml premium juices, the story might be different.
So, if you want to get into DIY, do it because you want to try creating new recipes, and experimenting. Way down the road it might save you some money, but if the savings is your main goal, it's probably not something to get into.
ETA: In any case, if you want to try it, start out with small amounts of stuff. It will cost a bit more, but will let you get your feet wet and figure out whether it's something you want to commit to!
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My Grants Vanilla Custard Clone I just made cost $7.90 per 100ml. Comes out to $.079 per ml which is much cheaper than premade and the taste is fabulous. I went with a 50/50 mix at 18% nicotine. Only 2 flavors and a bit of EM. Perhaps my next batch will be a little more as I'm going to try to add some extra Vanilla Flavor. I do like me some vanilla 
It'll bring my cost up to $.092/ml but thats because my Vanilla flavor I purchased in a small 15 ml bottle. Bigger bottles of flavoring net greater savings.
To sum up my novel, you will save money in the long run, you have full control over your recipies, when things seem blah, you can change em up a little bit. The initial investment is the biggest part, getting syringes and flavorings and all that stuff, but its fun to do too!
It'll bring my cost up to $.092/ml but thats because my Vanilla flavor I purchased in a small 15 ml bottle. Bigger bottles of flavoring net greater savings.To sum up my novel, you will save money in the long run, you have full control over your recipies, when things seem blah, you can change em up a little bit. The initial investment is the biggest part, getting syringes and flavorings and all that stuff, but its fun to do too!
I found that I am very comfortable with unflavored juice, so it cost me just 2.4 cents/ml.
And the added benefit with unflavored is that it's impossible to make a bad batch.
And the added benefit with unflavored is that it's impossible to make a bad batch.
I found that I am very comfortable with unflavored juice, so it cost me just 2.4 cents/ml.
And the added benefit with unflavored is that it's impossible to make a bad batch.
Also, unflavored does not gunk up coils/wicks. If I use just VG and water and I buy the VG by the gallon with free shipping, I could get it down to $0.01/ml, and that is at
$ ml $/ml
VG $60.00 8,000 $0.01
Base $50.00 1,000 $0.05
Water $0.25 1,000 $0.00
Sum $110.25 10,000 $0.01 (average $/ml)
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I'm thinking any commercial e juice that's costing 9 cents/ml is coming in from overseas- and if that's the case I personally wouldn't vape it but at least it's cheap. Domestic vendors like ITC Vapes (who I can personally recommend) are at the 15 cents/ml level before shipping (free shipping w/orders over $50.00), for comparison's sake. Even buying "semi DIY" flavoring from Quack's Juice Factory ($12.00 for a 30ml bottle of flavoring that'll make 120ml of finished juice) puts the cost at 12 cents/ml for me. But it's GOOOOD!!
I shopped carefully before buying nicotine, PG and VG. My cost for unflavored 12mg juice is $0.0112/ml. As said already, the biggest cost is flavorings. Containers and measuring devices will also raise the cost- but they're reusable.
Capella flavored juice costs me $ 0.035/ml to about $ 0.06/ml depending on what percentage is used, FA flavorings cost me more. I like a 555 tobacco flavoring from Vaporworld.biz that costs $10.00 for 4 oz, makes my cost $ 0.027/ml.
I shopped carefully before buying nicotine, PG and VG. My cost for unflavored 12mg juice is $0.0112/ml. As said already, the biggest cost is flavorings. Containers and measuring devices will also raise the cost- but they're reusable.
Capella flavored juice costs me $ 0.035/ml to about $ 0.06/ml depending on what percentage is used, FA flavorings cost me more. I like a 555 tobacco flavoring from Vaporworld.biz that costs $10.00 for 4 oz, makes my cost $ 0.027/ml.
I appreciate all the replies currently I am using DeKang from Fasttech the flavor is Yuxi and I really like the flavor, I am sure it's not the highest quality but probably not the worst I know DeKang is a substantial company and cannot afford to poison their customers. That being said I think mixing my own will be cheaper and entertaining just worried about how long it will take to stumble upon a flavor I enjoy as much as the flavor I am vaping now.
My unflavored 24mg nic e-juice that I just made was $3.58 for 100mls if that helps. Love the savings I get from DIY. Of course you will have to add the cost of the flavorings which adds very little. I use Vaping Zone's Gourmet and Super Concentrated flavorings. I like them because you use such a small amount in a recipe. 1-3% as opposed to 15%. I have been very pleased with the flavors I have gotten so far. Good luck to you and happy mixing.
It's pretty hard to beat $4.50 per 50ml bottle, specially if you absolutely like what you're getting. The way I see it is that if you set a price for yourself you are limited to buying within that range, and there's a lot of superb juices out there for a little or a lot more.
If I where to honestly figure out how much my homemade juices cost, then I'd have to take into account all the ones that I rejected or didn't like, plus the cost of flavorings that I purchased and only used once or twice. This all adds up. The better I get at DIYing the better my juices turn out, so my cost is going down. I've turned this whole vaping thing into a hobby which is now paying for itself for the most part.
I do know that smoking 2 packs a day of Marlboro Red cost me at least $275.00 a month, plus my reduced windage when going on my hikes and backpacking trips.
Last month I spent around $150.00 in vaping related stuff....Flavoring, coils, plus 2 Nautilus tanks, and a liter of PG. Not bad. The month before that I spent less than $60.00 all in different flavors and so on, and so forth.
If I where to honestly figure out how much my homemade juices cost, then I'd have to take into account all the ones that I rejected or didn't like, plus the cost of flavorings that I purchased and only used once or twice. This all adds up. The better I get at DIYing the better my juices turn out, so my cost is going down. I've turned this whole vaping thing into a hobby which is now paying for itself for the most part.
I do know that smoking 2 packs a day of Marlboro Red cost me at least $275.00 a month, plus my reduced windage when going on my hikes and backpacking trips.
Last month I spent around $150.00 in vaping related stuff....Flavoring, coils, plus 2 Nautilus tanks, and a liter of PG. Not bad. The month before that I spent less than $60.00 all in different flavors and so on, and so forth.
As many have said the initial costs are quite high. I have spent alot so far but I guess I enjoy being in control of my juice. There are some big savings to be made though. I have been running dual coils and low ohm build for quite some time and you can plough juice by the bucket load. Now I can feel happy using 5 ml o a heavy day when before that was 1 sixth of a 30ml bottle costing 3 dollars per 5 ml ( its the juice i like i uk and the juice here is also overpriced) so for me i do save or will do shortly as nearlh found the flavors I want to keep as stock. The rest unwanted I trade on classies. Good luck
That's a great price for vender juice. If the quality is good I would stay with that. If not you can DYI for an average price of 3 cents per mil and let your creativity fly. I'm not in it so much for the savings as just the pure art of it. And there is a lot to be said for knowing exactly what type of quality goes into your own mix as well as the knowledge that your mix is an original.
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There's a lot of bashing on this forum about the Chinese liquids. I think it's unjustified, although I certainly wouldn't criticize anyone who avoids them.
A year and a half ago, when I got back into vaping, they weren't that great, flavorwise.
Nowadays, they have some excellent flavors. Hangsen Juicy Peach is the only liquid my son-in-law will vape, and it's not bad at all.
A lot of the Hangsens and Dekangs are pretty good these days. Simple flavors, but they taste like what they're supposed to.
I've certainly had much more expensive domestic liquids that were much worse, and that I won't vape just because they taste toxic.
ETA: What is Yuxi flavor? (I avoid the flavors I don't recognize; I figured they are all Chinese tobacco brands).
ETA2: Not that I have anything against Chinese tobacco, but I don't do tobaccos!
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I won't feed my pets snacks from overseas due to the well publicized illnesses and deaths caused by them. There have been reports of leaded paint being used on toys, etc. This all points to a serious disregard for consumer safety and a lack of oversight by any type of regulatory agency. So, for ME- it only stands to reason that if I won't feed their snacks to my pets or give loved ones their toys, that there's no way I'm going to consume their e juice just to save a few bucks. I consider that to be cautious, not bashing but I can see how someone who uses their juice might think it is. And frankly, I'm leery of some domestic vendors as far as where they source their flavors and other components. Saying "made in the USA" doesn't necessarily mean the ingredients are also from the USA. I'm not a health nut or a conspiracy theorist but when it comes to e juice I'd just as soon take as many variables out of the equation as is practical and that's why DIY appeals to me. That, and I just enjoy doing it plus I like the savings as well. So it's a win-win.
I liked me some Dekang when I was buying juice - I also like Halo for over $20/30mls.
So I started to DIY.
I don't count the bottles in the per ml cost, as they get purchased once and used indefinitely...I mix my ADV in glass (120 ml bottles actually) so they'll last forever, too...
Anyway your Dekang is VERY inexpensive - that's as low as it gets for commercial juice.
You could look at DIY as a way to expand your variety easily, and to protect your supply should shipping e-liquid get choked down.
My juice costs me about $0.055/ml to make, and that's not buying in super large volume...
So I started to DIY.
I don't count the bottles in the per ml cost, as they get purchased once and used indefinitely...I mix my ADV in glass (120 ml bottles actually) so they'll last forever, too...
Anyway your Dekang is VERY inexpensive - that's as low as it gets for commercial juice.
You could look at DIY as a way to expand your variety easily, and to protect your supply should shipping e-liquid get choked down.
My juice costs me about $0.055/ml to make, and that's not buying in super large volume...
if you buy in bulk the prices are soooo much cheaper, it cost me about $.70 to make 60ml
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