Why is e-liquid selling at such high prices ?

[Tangaroav]

With the price of PG, VG and flavoring I fail to understand why the big web players and the local shops are selling it at such a high price. The small shops with low sales volume an higher price may be understandable but not for the high volume web sites.

I tried some of the cheaper chinese products and did not see a difference with others. Unkonwn or Inadequate quality control keeps me away from those.

I have started to make my own as the end price is on average about 10 times less. I would certainly quit making my own if I could pay a fair price for commercial e-liquids. 2 to 3 times my cost but no more. I guess it is a matter of principle as much as economical

 

[Susan~S]

Short answer - supply and demand. Though anyone starting and running a business knows it's more complex than that.

 

[NathanielFT]

What's the typical price for 30ml of good liquid out there in the states? Over here in the UK it is ridiculously expensive, if you want a nice full flavour liquid you're looking at £15+ ($25) for 30ml. Mass produced garbage liquids in the UK are typically about £5.00 ($8.50) for 10ml. American imported liquids are £18+ ($30) for 30ml, which is crap because right now i'm addicted to suicide mothers milk and quacks goose juice

 

[Blackboar]

I enjoy a few eliquids from mount baker Vapor, which is the least expensive place I've found. I've also found Vape Dojo to have good prices on their eliquid. But honestly, even the boutique/gourmet eliquids prices are WAY WAY cheaper than my old pack a day habit!!

 

[Susan~S]

.... because right now i'm addicted to suicide mothers milk and quacks goose juice

Consider DIY! - My first go at mixing Mothers Milk Clone - Lets start with a question

 

[retired1]

Having been involved on the manufacturing side of things (non-ecig related) in the past, there's a HUGE expenditure for equipment. You can't just grab any filling machine and start filling bottles.

Sure, DIY is cheap. But you aren't using pharmaceutical grade equipment to fill your bottles, either.

 

[440BB]

Most vapers will pay a premium for convenience and are not interested in mixing and figuring out recipes. They are used to walking in a shop and paying a pretty big price for a pack of smokes, and want to make no more effort than necessary to vape. The other factor is that the repetitive sales of liquid is the only consistent money maker for many vendors, and subsidizes the low markup on equipment.

I can understand paying about three times the cost of DIY when I buy liquid - 1/3 for materials, 1/3 for overhead expenses and 1/3 for profit for the vendor. Unfortunately, most of the premixed liquids I like enough over my DIY are five to eight times as much as my DIY cost, so they are just occasional treats.

 

[Tangaroav]

Having been involved on the manufacturing side of things (non-ecig related) in the past, there's a HUGE expenditure for equipment. You can't just grab any filling machine and start filling bottles.

Sure, DIY is cheap. But you aren't using pharmaceutical grade equipment to fill your bottles, either.

.... but more than 10 times the price of the product just for mixing it ????

 

[retired1]

One manual filling pump can easily run nearly $10,000. If it's air run, you're now looking at industrial compressors with filtered and treated lines to keep the moisture out of the pump. Automated lines with capping machines are going to be even more. Not to mention the electricity bills.

 

[Tangaroav]

One manual filling pump can easily run nearly $10,000. If it's air run, you're now looking at industrial compressors with filtered and treated lines to keep the moisture out of the pump. Automated lines with capping machines are going to be even more. Not to mention the electricity bills.

This argument would warrant selling gazoline at 30$/gallon.

 

[Ryedan]

With the price of PG, VG and flavoring I fail to understand why the big web players and the local shops are selling it at such a high price. The small shops with low sales volume an higher price may be understandable but not for the high volume web sites.

I tried some of the cheaper chinese products and did not see a difference with others. Unkonwn or Inadequate quality control keeps me away from those.

I have started to make my own as the end price is on average about 10 times less. I would certainly quit making my own if I could pay a fair price for commercial e-liquids. 2 to 3 times my cost but no more. I guess it is a matter of principle as much as economical

When I was buying juice I was generally paying about $0.30 a ml. Now that I make my own it's considerable less, though living in Canada it's at least a couple of times more than you are able to make it for. If we were making it in large quantities it would be cheaper too.

However, as Susan~S said, it's more complex than that.

I haven't done any research on this and I haven't run any numbers as I'm not interested in making and selling juice. However a few things come to mind.

Even a small home based shop needs a very clean space for this business. You can't be making juice in a room of your house that the dog walked through yesterday. You need clean, safe space to store your supplies in, concentrated nic base needs to be safely stored and handled in a ventilated space with adequate safety measures taken for the people who are working with it, clean containers and mixing and measuring gear, nic testing supplies, labeling equipment and packing. A system for making sure your orders are filled and shipped accurately. Bookkeeping has to be done and business income tax has to be taken care of. You need a lawyer. Someone has to answer the phone and email when people ask you questions. You also need knowledge of what is safe and know best practices for doing this job. Plus you need recipes for juices that people want to buy.

You should have liability insurance which isn't cheap, or you will be on your own if someone sues you. You'll need a commercial website. And to run all this you'll need to put in your own time or pay someone else to do that. How much (or how little) are you willing to pay yourself per hour?

If you can't work from home you'll need to rent a commercial unit.

I know there is money in this, but it's not as easy as it may look at first glance

 

[retired1]

This argument would warrant selling gazoline at 30$/gallon.

Ad hominem argument. Has nothing to do with the topic.

 

[crxess]

Mass production also drives pricing down, even in the face of higher initial cost. At least that is how it is supposed to work. Yes, I have also been in manufacturing.
No, a USA made product, even mass produced will not reflect pricing if off shore products. We have much higher related cost.
Still, many of the so called Premium mixes are not automated and are made to order. i.e. small batch production through manual labor. Some specialized Mixers consider their creations art so to speak and demand higher prices for their work.

Consider this - An entrepreneur does not expect to work his/her fingers to the bone to make a buck.
Like cotton Wicking - Less is more
Less investment in product is more profit

 

[skoony]

.... but more than 10 times the price of the product just for mixing it ????

mixing it. paying and training the mixer. equipment cost. special and general commercial licencing. rent. utilities. taxes. materials. advertising. website. transportation to the B&M. oh,did i mention profit.

regards
mike

 

[cocoloco]

I hear a lot of comments regarding e-liquids made in China. Mostly I hear (or read) negative comments. I suppose there are some questionable products coming from China, but it's a bit hard to believe that all liquids from that country are of lesser quality. Plus, when you consider that U.S. manufacturers aren't sharing their QC efforts with you, it makes me wonder what I'm getting from them.

I have been vaping a tobacco flavored e-liquid from China (FastTech) for over a year now. I have used it blended (with a US juice) and unblended. I haven't grown any additional limbs or suffered from any kind of poisoning as a result.

I keep a two-year supply in rotation in case the FDA gets frisky.

The price? Well, the price is just too good to pass up. If I only bought one 100ml bottle of it for $7.60 and ignored the lower bulk rates altogether, it would cost me just 13 cents to refill my cartomizer. I typically vape around 30 cartomizers a week, which comes to $3.90 or by extension, $15.60 a month.

I suppose I could go USA all the way, but the much higher price for those make me wonder if I'm getting more refined products or just ones with exploitative, get-rich-quick mark-ups.

 

[Tangaroav]

I see a lot of defense for higher than normal prices. I'd be curious to know who has a vested interest here and who is just compliant.

 

[Elizabeth Baldwin]

If its a single guy operation then what's the point in him mixing juice without getting a good profit from his efforts? It wouldn't be much fun to sit in a room and fill 100 bottles or 1000 bottles a day for little profit. If he has a few employees he has to pay those people. If he's rented a space for a bigger operation he has to pay rent, electric, etc... I would guess most of the premium or gourmet juices have a few to several employees and rented a place to work in.

Very few of these vendors have resources to mass produce like an assembly line. Some may have equipment to mix and fast steep their juices. Equipment isn't cheap.

I make my own juices but I also buy juices too. I have no problem paying premium prices if I like a juice. I know they have employees and have business expenses.

 

[rzil]

What's the typical price for 30ml of good liquid out there in the states? Over here in the UK it is ridiculously expensive, if you want a nice full flavour liquid you're looking at £15+ ($25) for 30ml. Mass produced garbage liquids in the UK are typically about £5.00 ($8.50) for 10ml. American imported liquids are £18+ ($30) for 30ml, which is crap because right now i'm addicted to suicide mothers milk and quacks goose juice

I found a nice vendor who sells 100ML for 18$ , at first I thought that there must be something fishy about his liquid because of the low price , but later while going over some PBusardo reviews I ran into a review about his liquid and it surprised me that so many people outside of Israel buy his liquid.
so I guess this guy Yaeliq probably trying to make a name of himself and that might be reason for his prices.
I recently bought 100ML tiramissu juice for only 10$ !!! amazing juice

 

[Elizabeth Baldwin]

I had my own business for quite a few years. After paying over head - rent, utilities, supplies, employees, and "unknown" expenses that always pop up you get a feel for "why" prices are high. Sure, it may seem like you are being over charged but in reality these businesses aren't doing themselves justice if they are barely breaking even.

 

[Elizabeth Baldwin]

Look at Lucky 7. If he had charged slightly higher prices and hired a few more employees he would still be in business. He discounted his prices so much he drove himself into the ground.