I am definitely saving my empties. Still a major hassle.
It isn't just about the money.
I would gladly pay more to keep getting mine in the current bottle style for the convenience.
There's lots of business reasons why... but...
As we move into the retail environment, there is a perception of value associated with glass bottles. Do I like it? Nah, not so much - I think the contents matter more than the packaging. That said, we're going to be sitting on the shelf next to the proverbial heavy hitters so we need to step up our game.
In terms of automation, glass bottles with child-resistant caps is the way to go... the alternative is to pay people to manually plug bottles, twist caps, and affix labels. A labor intensive monotonous process becomes totally automated. The automation of the process is huge when it comes to Good Manufacturing Processes, also, since every human interaction is by definition, fallible.
Of course the LDPE bottles will remain competitive - most of us are swimming in them though.
Some people insist that long term storage in glass (for purposes of the extended steep, for example) is much preferable to plastic. I really don't see any difference, honestly - but the opaque nature of a the new bottles as opposed to the clear bottles will definitely help with light exposure - one of the key elements associated with the degradation of eLiquid over time.
Despite concerns about breakage, glass bottles (properly packed) are much less likely to break than LDPE are to leak (when they are crushed by automated sorting machines at the post office). It takes a little extra care in packing to make that happen, but statistically, your liquid is much more likely to arrive safely.
On the safety front, specifically with children, the LDPE "child-proof" bottle is effective, but only if the cap is put on properly... the CRCs that are on glass bottles are much less likely to fall into little hands because (if you are wise) you will recap the bottles when not in use. My "vape desk" is littered with LDPE bottles that have no caps, even the ones that do have caps may or may not be on entirely. While that's possible with the CRCs on the glass bottles, it seems like (at least for me) I tend to put lids on the glass bottles more than the LDPE ones. On the flip-side, no one likes broken glass - but - a punctured bottle is of equal concern in my mind.
Once we are through our existing inventory, we'll be phasing out filled LDPE bottles and transitioning entirely to glass - the glass bottles will be filled in a clean room environment from start to finish, capped, batch/lot numbered, and safety sealed... again safety safety safety. Having full bottle plastic sleeve on bottles makes it possible to return a bottle (unopened) if (for example) we accidentally send the wrong flavor (or nic level, etc). This can also be done with LDPE bottles, but they would need to be shrinked manually. As it stands right now, if the package is open, all bottles inside are not resale-able.
I could go on and on, and by the time we were done, I probably wouldn't change your mind (nor would I expect to) - but - there's good business logic involved. At the end of the day, the contents matter more than the packaging - and the people whom support the product are more important than all of the above.
