Save your money

[Hardpack]

I just added up all my receipts for E-Cig orders for the last year & a half. 1700.00. That got my attention. I do have enough juice and supplies for the 2 of us to last at least 2 years. I started with 901's then went to 510's and now use the Ego/Vgo.
My suggestion for anyone starting this 'hobby' now would be to, if you can afford 250-300 dollars, make 1 large purchase that will last you for a couple of years.
I've bought from all the China suppliers and not had a problem with any except Eastmall. They don't seem to know how to count but they did correct their mistakes. e-liquid.cn
is by far the cheapest place to by your juice and supplies. You have to jump through a hoop or two to get approved to use PayPal but it's worth the trouble. For less than 300 including shipping you could get:
3 sets of the mega 1300ma Vgo
90 C2 r4 xl cartomizers and
1 liter 36Mg juice that can be cut to your preference.
All that would give you at least 2 years of vaping with what I consider excellent hardware.
If I were just starting to vape and know what I do now ,that is what I would do.It would have saved me 1400 dollars. Hope this helps.

 

[SimpleSins]

There have been multiple threads about the horrible service at e-liquid (and some other names the company operates under), including wrong items sent, no item sent, and failure to correct mistakes. Based on the reviews, I think this would be the last place to send my funds if they were limited as it seems to be a roll of the dice as to whether you get it or not.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...e-else-had-problem-e-liquid-cn-e-cigfair.html
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...-anyone-ordered-ecigfair-com-e-liquid-cn.html

 

[Rosa]

I just added up all my receipts for E-Cig orders for the last year & a half. 1700.00. That got my attention. I do have enough juice and supplies for the 2 of us to last at least 2 years. I started with 901's then went to 510's and now use the Ego/Vgo.
My suggestion for anyone starting this 'hobby' now would be to, if you can afford 250-300 dollars, make 1 large purchase that will last you for a couple of years.
I've bought from all the China suppliers and not had a problem with any except Eastmall. They don't seem to know how to count but they did correct their mistakes. e-liquid.cn
is by far the cheapest place to by your juice and supplies. You have to jump through a hoop or two to get approved to use PayPal but it's worth the trouble. For less than 300 including shipping you could get:
3 sets of the mega 1300ma Vgo
90 C2 r4 xl cartomizers and
1 liter 36Mg juice that can be cut to your preference.
All that would give you at least 2 years of vaping with what I consider excellent hardware.
If I were just starting to vape and know what I do now ,that is what I would do.It would have saved me 1400 dollars. Hope this helps.

This would be fine if you assume that everyone is going to find their perfect vape right out of the gate (or that the ones that work for you will work for them too). I'd hate to see someone spend $1000 on Pv's they can't figure out how to use and juice they don't like or that's too weak and have nothing left to rectify it with.

(FWIW: your list looks ok, except I'd get a few drip tips instead of the cartomizers.)

 

[Hardpack]

I've placed 4 orders with them and not had a problem. Can't speak for others, I had good luck.

 

[Hardpack]

(FWIW: your list looks ok, except I'd get a few drip tips instead of the cartomizers.)

I really like that the cartomizers almost last a full day. Some people do drip with these.

 

[Krisb]

OK, noob here. This may be a silly question, if it is I apologize ahead of time! Cartomizers/drip tips...can someone please explain these?

 

[Vapulicious]

I've made 1 purchase from Health cabin and it was correct and prompt, cant speak from a lot of experience or diffrent vendors in china, but i will order from them again, I think Hardpack's point is " once you know what works ie; 510, Ego, 808 etc... make a hefty 1 time purchase for hardware and save money. Personally, i buy hardware in more bulk (if 10 atomizers and batts is bulk) and buy juices from US vendors AFTER reading reviews of it.

works for me!

 

[NinetyNine]

The downside is that if a $500 order gets screwed up, you may be out $500.

Plus, I'm using the cost vs. smoking metric, so even if I ended up spending $1700 on stuff, I'd still be over $3000 richer after a year and a half thanks to New York State's cigarette taxes.

 

[Vapulicious]

Krisb, A 'cartomizer" is a combination "atomizer and cartridge" all in one, its a little newer design than the 3 piece system (cartridge+atomizer+battery)
but its not necessarily better, i still prefer the atomizer cartridge, just havent really liked the performance of the cartos. Its an individual preferance.
Drip tips are a open topped mouth piece, instead of a cartridge, used to drip juice directly onto the atomizer (not convienient for travel or mobility really)
Lots of people like the "drip method" as the flavor and even vapor production can be better. People who use carts+atty or cartomizers usually refill these periodically throughout the day, both work to varying degrees, i use carts and cut my own polyfil (fluval) and get them to wick very well
you'll have to experiment with lots of this yourself, i like a 510 or ego, while others may prefer the 808 or the 901- there are several models to choose from each with its own pros and cons.

go to the ECF library you'll find tons of info on models, techniques, how to's, everything a vaper needs to know!

 

[Automaton]

I've spent peanuts since my first order, which was around $110. I got a DIY kit right out the gate, I take good care of my stuff, and I do PIF and swaps. And in the nearly 3 months that have followed, I've spent... maybe 50 bucks? And a lot of that was shipping for PIF's/swaps.

And I've wound up with more than I need. In fact, I'm probably going to be downsizing and giving away a lot of my juice collection, even though it doesn't compare to what some people here have. Don't need it, and don't vape a lot of it.

E-cigs don't need to be expensive.

 

[Para]

This would be fine if you assume that everyone is going to find their perfect vape right out of the gate (or that the ones that work for you will work for them too). I'd hate to see someone spend $1000 on Pv's they can't figure out how to use and juice they don't like or that's too weak and have nothing left to rectify it with.

Exactly....
The learning curve is the key. Learn quickly and learn from others; however, there's no way to keep from making "mistakes" along the way.

 

[croman67]

I've spent $500 in the last 2 weeks, but now I know what I like. Now I can get what I need, and try new stuff and be way ahead of smoking costs. It's definitely worth trying different things. In a year and a half I would have spent about $4000 on smoking! So you're way ahead of the game by only spending $1700!

 

[Windpray]

well, just my 2 cents, I prefer to spend my money with USA Suppliers, yes I know that most of the stuff comes from China, but the money spent by me also helps the suppliers here. Soooo I will spend a little more and help our USA suppliers

 

[Hardpack]

$1700. for 2 people for 1 1/2 years and enough supplies for another 2 is not bad. Just looking back I could have saved $1200 if I knew what I do now. Not necessarily suggesting anyone else go that route. It's just what I would do. We all have different preferences.
I don't think it is any less likely to have a China order problem unresolved than 1 from the US. Eliguid/Microcig/Royal Smokers/CentralTrade etc. doesn't want unhappy customers. They follow this forum and can't afford bad reviews.

 

[Rosa]

I totally DO get what you're saying though.

That's why I've started recommending people start with an eGo or something similar instead of the basic 510 like I started with. Too many of us upgrade within a week of starting - so much easier to bypass the basic unit and start with the big guns.

 

[Automaton]

$1700. for 2 people for 1 1/2 years and enough supplies for another 2 is not bad. Just looking back I could have saved $1200 if I knew what I do now. Not necessarily suggesting anyone else go that route. It's just what I would do. We all have different preferences.
I don't think it is any less likely to have a China order problem unresolved than 1 from the US. Eliguid/Microcig/Royal Smokers/CentralTrade etc. doesn't want unhappy customers. They follow this forum and can't afford bad reviews.

I dunno man. If you had good experiences with those suppliers, great. But... well, just look around the forums. They have a LOT of bad reviews.

I have never bought from them (due to their bad reviews), but I have used some of their products through trades - Royal Smokers and E-Liquid.cn in particular. And they were garbage. I feel sorry for the person who DID pay for them.

If you look at any of the CE2 threads, it's basically 70% complaints about the products and/or service. And I have yet to see any of their reps step in and address people directly on this forum. Maybe they have, I dunno - but I haven't seen it. And as my post count will tell you, I surf here a lot.

I've always bought US, from well-known and/or ECF suppliers. And I have never had a bad experience. Not once.

There are a couple Chinese suppliers I would trust based on their reviews - Heaven Gifts, Health Cabin, a couple others. But the ones you list... well, I just haven't seen a lot of people have good things to say about them.

 

[HighHeeledGoddess]

$1700 divided by 4 (2 people for 2 years) is still only $425 per person, per year.

I can only speak for myself, but $425 would have only covered 2 1/2 months of smoking for me back when I started vaping. I've spent a lot of money on vaping this year - I don't want to add up how much - but it is worth it to me to not smoke.

 

[Hardpack]

"I have never bought from them (due to their bad reviews), but I have used some of their products through trades - Royal Smokers and E-Liquid.cn in particular. And they were garbage. I feel sorry for the person who DID pay for them."

If they are garbage then most likely most of the U.S. are also garbage. I think most supplies come from China.

 

[Automaton]

I have never bought from them (due to their bad reviews), but I have used some of their products through trades - Royal Smokers and E-Liquid.cn in particular. And they were garbage. I feel sorry for the person who DID pay for them.

If they are garbage then most likely most of the U.S. are also garbage. I think most supplies come from China.

They do sell things that seem to be unique to that network of suppliers - CE2's, Kanger knock-offs, etc. I have also read a couple accounts of them trying to pass of M40x knock-offs as 510's.

And, well, all of them have some pretty discouraging reviews.

All supplies (apart from most mods) do come from China. And I am very happy with my Chinese Kr8's, 510's, and 901's. But there's some Chinese crap, too.

And, yes, there is also American crap. Rath juice, the Vapezilla mod... American-made, and utter crap.

It's not a nationalist issue. Crap can come from anywhere. Some of it just so happens to come from China.

 

[jereader]

I've spent peanuts since my first order, which was around $110. I got a DIY kit right out the gate, I take good care of my stuff, and I do PIF and swaps. And in the nearly 3 months that have followed, I've spent... maybe 50 bucks? And a lot of that was shipping for PIF's/swaps.

And I've wound up with more than I need. In fact, I'm probably going to be downsizing and giving away a lot of my juice collection, even though it doesn't compare to what some people here have. Don't need it, and don't vape a lot of it.

E-cigs don't need to be expensive.

+1 It would be really easy to make this into a full time "hobby" with all the devices and choices, but I started this to stop using tobacco, and it's working wonderfully for that. Swaps and PIFs are the way to go. So far, I am about $200 into this give or take a few bucks, and don't really have plans to put that much money into it as I probably wasn't spending much more than $5-600 a year on tobacco.

Now, I just need an alternative to my addiction to saltwater fishtanks...