Starting my own e-liquid business?

[NCVaper]

Long time lurker, but finally took the plunge, and made an account last night.
I'm looking at starting my own e-liquid business, but still have a few questions.

Which merchants will accept payments for e-cigarette items?
I've seen that this is a huge problem, and that most companies will shut you down.

The liquid will be made by myself, what kind of regulations are there on this?

Where to get labels made for bottles?

I've looked around and can't really find anything that isn't super pricey! Do any suppliers on here print their own labels?

I can take care of the registering business side of everything, it's just the operating, and legal issues that I'm having trouble rinding any information on.

And to everyone that helps me out here I'll send you a free bottle of liquid or something... If I can actually get into business!

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[pm2006]

I can't help you with any of that but good luck in your new venture.

 

[NCVaper]

I can't help you with any of that but good luck in your new venture.

No problem, I just need some suppliers to open up and atleast point me in the right direction. I'm not looking at going huge, I just want to make some extra money in my free time... And I think I'm addicted to shipping/receiving packages in the mail...

 

[gramakittycat]

I would search through vendor sites to see who they use for payment to them. Also for info on what disclosure is given on these sites to the consumer on their products ie juices.I'm not aware of any formal certifications at this time ;I'm sure there will be in the future though. Goodluck and feel free to PM me though I;m by no means an expert .

 

[pm2006]

No problem, I just need some suppliers to open up and atleast point me in the right direction. I'm not looking at going huge, I just want to make some extra money in my free time... And I think I'm addicted to shipping/receiving packages in the mail...

I don't remember seeing you in PIF. Now THAT is where the addiction happens. lol. I am not sure how helpful the suppliers are going to be. You are their competition after all. You may want to google the questions and do some research there.

 

[keelalagirl55]

Starting out, you may want to go with paypal....and yes they do not accept anything with the terms e-cig, e-liq, etc. Most payments to vendors through paypal use "gift" or other such "description" for the funds transfer.

Paypal will be the easiest to utilize as a start-up biz.....and will keep your overhead costs down till you see how you do with this venture.

 

[NCVaper]

[/B]

I don't remember seeing you in PIF. Now THAT is where the addiction happens. lol. I am not sure how helpful the suppliers are going to be. You are their competition after all. You may want to google the questions and do some research there.

Yeah well I'm pretty new here, I have precious/base metals to blame for my shipping addiction. I've probably spent around 25 hours the past 3 days researching, but those were the questions that I couldn't really find answers for using google.

 

[burnsmary95]

I have seen a lot of sites using paypal, you just have to be careful how you describe your business, also there is google check out if you want to look into that one. I have not heard of any problems there, but also have not seen it being used much in the e cig world. Best of luck to you.

 

[NCVaper]

Yeah I might just go the route of being maybe a e-mail order service, until I get enough demand to take the risk of opening a full on web-store. I mean would any be interested in doing something like that? Would you buy e-liquid from a guy through e-mail and paypal? Kind of puts me in a crappy situation because I'm new here and have no feedback, and low post count.

 

[sandyk]

My hubby and I were just about this Friday night at a party we had. The legality of it all.

Juice=liability. If you are doing it part-time, that would be a concern...what if a kid drinks his mother's ejuice at 36mg....is it going to kill him and are you liable? What if someone has an allergic reaction to PG or VG and dies? Are you responsible?

Some day I feel this is gonna happen and I hope these vendors have some kind of liability insurance or under a LLC...because it is gonna wipe them out personally.

Just telling what we were talking about over a few beers the other night. Something to think about before you jump in for a few extra bucks.

 

[NCVaper]

Yeah that's the biggest thing that is weighing on my mind. I definitely want to go above and beyond in labeling the bottle as being dangerous, and child proofing is a must. I have a sole-prop right now, but I know I'll have to open a LLC. so If I get sued I won't lose everything I have. Liability insurance would be a must, but is there a way I could put a disclaimer waiving my liability for any accidents that a customer, or their kids, dog, cat etc. may encounter?

 

[Cassie]

Sandy, (and joogler) =)

I think if things are labeled correctly with ALL the warnings stated on the website and the individual bottles then the responsibility falls onto the consumer for not heeding the warnings and storing properly. But there's always the chance of getting a sue happy customer no matter what kind of business you have. Best you can do it declare yourself not liable after purchase, maybe even have an agreement saying just that for people to check/mark before payment of product.

 

[NCVaper]

Sandy, (and joogler) =)

I think if things are labeled correctly with ALL the warnings stated on the website and the individual bottles then the responsibility falls onto the consumer for not heeding the warnings and storing properly. But there's always the chance of getting a sue happy customer no matter what kind of business you have. Best you can do it declare yourself not liable after purchase, maybe even have an agreement saying just that for people to check/mark before payment of product.

That would definitely be the way to go, even if you do have liability insurance. I won't purposely poison anyone you know, but just look at what food accidently goes out that has e-coli, and things like that. It can happen from time to time. But I think you would almost have to purposely put things into e-liquid to make it more dangerous, or as dangerous as cigarettes IMO.

 

[wevie]

And coffee doesn't seem dangerous, either, but a hot cup of coffee from McDonalds led to a lawsuit.

 

[Cassie]

And coffee doesn't seem dangerous, either, but a hot cup of coffee from McDonalds led to a lawsuit.

and now they have signs and warnings on the drive up windows & cups =)

 

[NCVaper]

And coffee doesn't seem dangerous, either, but a hot cup of coffee from McDonalds led to a lawsuit.

Yeah definitely! You can pretty much get sued for anything these days though.

Just check this out:
The 10 Most Ridiculous Lawsuits of All Time

 

[John Edwards]

Yeah I might just go the route of being maybe a e-mail order service, until I get enough demand to take the risk of opening a full on web-store. I mean would any be interested in doing something like that? Would you buy e-liquid from a guy through e-mail and paypal? Kind of puts me in a crappy situation because I'm new here and have no feedback, and low post count.

im in the same boat you are. i made a post a few months back about becoming a vendor and ive done a lot of research but to those questions youve asked i still havnt found anything helpful except that fro what ive gathered, theres a few online stores and especially modders that started out doing it just thru email or on here. nobody hold me to this but im pretty sure thats how kick bass vapor started. ive been wanting to start a booth at a flea mall and sell kits and diy juice. i can get the business license and ive got a wholesaler ive been looking at, i already make juice for my family and friends they all think its the bomb the way i do it, its just been a matter of getting up the money for my overhead. but i still got more research to do in the process. ill be following this thread and if theres anything i can do to help just let me know cuz im out here searching for the same answers you are, only difference was im hoping to do it flea mall style instead. ill be looking more into labels and stuff too and ill let u know but i think kinkos or a print shop could probably lead you in the right direction, but im thinking walmart sells sheets of labels that u can run thru your home printer but i have know idea what software to use for it. i know that ive bought from several vendors in the past, and then when i get their bottle of juice in my hands i think, this label was SOOO made off of a home computer, which was good. it reminded me that i dont have to have flashy red high gloss boxes inside of boxes with wacky cartoon characters all over them to sell eliquid. my favorite brand of juice (and im vaping it right now) just simply says website name and "VR4 tobacco 26 MG" on a white paper label sticker. i hope somebody comes in with some good information. id be interested to hear about it too. best of luck to you!

 

[NCVaper]

im in the same boat you are. i made a post a few months back about becoming a vendor and ive done a lot of research but to those questions youve asked i still havnt found anything helpful except that fro what ive gathered, theres a few online stores and especially modders that started out doing it just thru email or on here. nobody hold me to this but im pretty sure thats how kick bass vapor started. ive been wanting to start a booth at a flea mall and sell kits and diy juice. i can get the business license and ive got a wholesaler ive been looking at, i already make juice for my family and friends they all think its the bomb the way i do it, its just been a matter of getting up the money for my overhead. but i still got more research to do in the process. ill be following this thread and if theres anything i can do to help just let me know cuz im out here searching for the same answers you are, only difference was im hoping to do it flea mall style instead. ill be looking more into labels and stuff too and ill let u know but i think kinkos or a print shop could probably lead you in the right direction, but im thinking walmart sells sheets of labels that u can run thru your home printer but i have know idea what software to use for it. i know that ive bought from several vendors in the past, and then when i get their bottle of juice in my hands i think, this label was SOOO made off of a home computer, which was good. it reminded me that i dont have to have flashy red high gloss boxes inside of boxes with wacky cartoon characters all over them to sell eliquid. my favorite brand of juice (and im vaping it right now) just simply says website name and "VR4 tobacco 26 MG" on a white paper label sticker. i hope somebody comes in with some good information. id be interested to hear about it too. best of luck to you!

Thanks for the reply. Flea market would be pretty cool. I have a few around here, but I probably wouldn't sell much. E-cigs haven't exactly hit central NC yet, especially out here in the middle of nowhere. Yeah I would probably end up going low tech with the labels, and just do them myself. For me, I'd rather have a good product, than a good looking product! Especially if making the the product look good ends up costing me more.

 

[keelalagirl55]

The types of lawsuits that come from spilling coffee for example are as a result of company neglect. McDonalds lost that suit, not because they didn't have their cup labeled, but because they had their temp settings set MUCH higher than regulation allowed. So they were penalized for for ignoring and breaking regulation.....the IDIOT that thought it was okay to put a cup of coffee between her legs just got to reap the benefits of McDonalds neglect.

Label responsibly....over and beyond and that should cover that part. And keep it all truthful and watch your suppliers carefully and you should be okay there.

I've ventured into several small businesses over the years, and we always sent a disclaimer with our product. The hardest part of coming up with that was trying to think like an absolute idiot and what they may potentially do with that product.....

ex. Do not use your hairdryer while in the shower......HELLO!!!!, but some idiot probably did just that very thing to have that statement put on the hairdryer boxes!!!

 

[Handthatfeeds242]

For labels you can get Avery labels and download a program from the Avery site that works with Microsoft office. If you need help with getting them setup pm me