Why aren't there juice companies that sell 100ml juice for 25$?

[nwasiq]

So I was doing some calculations for fun the other day to see how much profit could be made by selling 100ml juice for 25$, based on my own DIY experience, and I was surprised by my findings. You could make around a 1000ml juice for about 2000 dollars and you could make 10 times as much if you manage to sell all of that juice. And also, you'd be really popular among the vaping community for selling so cheap.

My point is, why does juice have to be so expensive? Are there other costs you have to account for besides PG, VG, flavors and nic? Are taxes so high on importing?

 

[Waddle]

I figure it costs me about $6 for 100ml (3mg/ml) of juice. Maybe less. But I don't have to pay for rent, package & labelling, labour, taxes, advertising, utilities, etc. that a brick & mortar shop must pay. While I agree that e-liquid is expensive, I doubt your business would succeed at $25 for 100ml. Having said that, you can buy e-liquid (Hangsen) on FT for that much or even cheaper. But these companies produce in such volume to be able to supply at such prices. The set-up costs for production would be quite high I think.

 

[nwasiq]

Would setup costs be so high if a company operates online and advertising is done through Facebook or something? And juice production is only on demand? I guess the primary problem would be getting noticed

 

[Waddle]

 

[sofarsogood]

My cost of ingrediants for flavored DIY is 1.2 cents per ml so $1.20 for 100 ml but I use very little flavor (1%). To get that cost you invest about $100 up front. Another way to go is use unflavored DIY to dilute commercial e liquid. I find 1 part pre mix to 3 parts unflavored DIY works fine. That saves money and takes a lot of the guess work out of mixing. ITC vapes sells flavors around $20 for 120 ml.

 

[Waddle]

Would setup costs be so high if a company operates online and advertising is done through Facebook or something? And juice production is only on demand? I guess the primary problem would be getting noticed

There are small micro-companies that do make liquid, however they do have to meet minimum health standards to get an operating licence. You need to have clean room facilities for a start. No disrespect, but I think you're vastly underestimating the true start-up costs to produce commercially made eliquid. Now if you're making it in your kitchen you may get away with it for a while, that is until people found out. How will you market and distribute your product?

 

[Waddle]

My cost of ingrediants for flavored DIY is 1.2 cents per ml ao $1.20 for 100 ml but I use very little flavor (1%). Another way to go is use unflavored DIY to dilute commercial e liquid. I find 1 part pre mix to 3 parts unflavored DIY works fine. That saves a lot of money and takes a lot of the guess work out of mixing.

We are talking about costs in Korea. Your costs have little bearing on the costs associated to DIY in Korea. You do realize your posting in the Korean forum?

 

[sofarsogood]

We are talking about costs in Korea. Your costs have little bearing on the costs associated to DIY in Korea. You do realize your posting in the Korean forum?

I did not realize this was a conversation about korea. I'll stand by my comments except may be the prices are different. I order hardware regularly companies in Asia and shipping cost to the US is not a factor. Once you have a good suply of nic the rest is easy. There are no legal restrictions on access to nicotine in the US. Are things different in Korea?

 

[Waddle]

I did not realize this was a conversation about korea. I'll stand by my comments except may be the prices are different. I order hardware regularly companies in Asia and shipping cost to the US is not a factor. Once you have a good suply of nic the rest is easy. There are no legal restrictions on access to nicotine in the US. Are things different in Korea?

Any liquids containing nicotine are taxed at about US $1.50 per ml over 20ml. So for example a 120ml bottle of nicotine, regardless of the base percentage, would cost you $180 in import tax alone. Hardware is probably double to triple to what you pay in the US. Like you we import our hardware from China, but its the liquids we are talking about, and I believe the OP was commenting on why commercially produced eliquid is so expensive in Korea. That was my understanding of the topic, not how much it costs us personally to make eliquid.

 

[spartanstew]

There's lots of companies that sell at that price.

Heck, VapeWild sells their 120mls for $20.

 

[sofarsogood]

Any liquids containing nicotine are taxed at about US $1.50 per ml over 20ml. So for example a 120ml bottle of nicotine, regardless of the base percentage, would cost you $180 in import tax alone. Hardware is probably double to triple to what you pay in the US. Like you we import our hardware from China, but its the liquids we are talking about, and I believe the OP was commenting on why commercially produced eliquid is so expensive in Korea. That was my understanding of the topic, not how much it costs us personally to make eliquid.

When did the taxes come into force? Has it reduced the number of vapers?

 

[nwasiq]

There are small micro-companies that do make liquid, however they do have to meet minimum health standards to get an operating licence. You need to have clean room facilities for a start. No disrespect, but I think you're vastly underestimating the true start-up costs to produce commercially made eliquid. Now if you're making it in your kitchen you may get away with it for a while, that is until people found out. How will you market and distribute your product?

Yeah man, I know I'm underestimating something because there's a reason it's not being done so widely. I was just curious what those exact reasons are.

See, in my country, there's a company that uses local courier services for distribution, you make orders through their website, and their advertising comprises almost solely of word of mouth. They use packaging similar to the one provided by Hiliq for distributors and as for health standards, sadly, they are of little concern to our government. That company sells 50ml for $20 dollars, which is relatively cheap, but still expensive; maybe, because there's little competition at the moment.

 

[nwasiq]

There's lots of companies that sell at that price.

Heck, VapeWild sells their 120mls for $20.

I meant in South Korea.

 

[spartanstew]

I meant in South Korea.

Sorry bud, I didn't even realize what forum this was in. My apologies.

 

[Waddle]

Yeah man, I know I'm underestimating something because there's a reason it's not being done so widely. I was just curious what those exact reasons are.

See, in my country, there's a company that uses local courier services for distribution, you make orders through their website, and their advertising comprises almost solely of word of mouth. They use packaging similar to the one provided by Hiliq for distributors and as for health standards, sadly, they are of little concern to our government. That company sells 50ml for $20 dollars, which is relatively cheap, but still expensive; maybe, because there's little competition at the moment.

What kills us here nwasiq, as you know, is that the government here regards all ecig paraphernalia as tobacco products. When they doubled the price of cigarettes last year they also went for the tax grab on ecigs. Fortunately I'm seeing prices for eliquid (zero nicotine) dropping. TheVapor actually has some reasonable prices for zero nicotine liquids and I've heard the B&M in Seoul have come down in price due to increased competition. I don't know, but how would you feel about purchasing eliquid from Pakistan? Obviously the cost of setting up a business and operating it in Pakistan would be much cheaper than in Korea. Thankfully we have been able to DIY, but I certainly understand where you are coming from. Pity the new vaper in Korea.

 

[nwasiq]

Yeah you do have a point, I'd be concerned about what I'm vaping.

And exactly, pity the new vaper in Korea. Any smoker who asks me about ecigs makes a comment on how rich I must be for a student!

 

[Waddle]

Yeah you do have a point, I'd be concerned about what I'm vaping.

And exactly, pity the new vaper in Korea. Any smoker who asks me about ecigs makes a comment on how rich I must be for a student!

You must be rich You're a foreign student who vapes first rate gear lol

 

[nwasiq]

hahah, I wish! I've just learned the value of saving, being somewhat independent here.