Why is e-liquid selling at such high prices ?

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lasttango

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It really wouldn't be equitable for many (smaller) vendors to sell their liquid much cheaper... The cost of being in business is also mediated by the profit margin... I don't think a of of vendors would bother having business if they had to sell much cheaper... People are going into this business... trying to be competitive and unique and offering us cool new things because there is a profit to be made... if you start nibbling away at that profit, then they lose incentive to go into business.

They are charging as much as they can get away with... as any business does.
 

Kropotkin

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Eh. Americans are weird people.

On the one hand they apparently worship "free" market capitalism and "entrepreneurship" and all that, but on the other hand they scream bloody murder whenever some ordinary citizen tries to make a decent living on his own wits. So what's that about? I guess the parasitic bankster deserves his billions, while the little guy producing an actual product deserves a kick in the teeth?

Good grief. I never saw a bunch of people so damn good at resenting exactly the wrong things!
 

Midniteoyl

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Eh. Americans are weird people.

On the one hand they apparently worship "free" market capitalism and "entrepreneurship" and all that, but on the other hand they scream bloody murder whenever some ordinary citizen tries to make a decent living on his own wits. So what's that about? I guess the parasitic bankster deserves his billions, while the little guy producing an actual product deserves a kick in the teeth?

Good grief. I never saw a bunch of people so damn good at resenting exactly the wrong things!

Its called 'capitalism'...
 

Kropotkin

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Its called 'capitalism'...
Yes, it is.

And even I, who hate neoliberal capitalism like poison, apparently understand it better than the phony free-marketeers who throw a hissy fit every time an enterprising neighbor makes a nickel over cost.

Do they want every American to be making minimum wage in service to the Walton family? I guess they do.
 

Tangaroav

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Eh. Americans are weird people.

On the one hand they apparently worship "free" market capitalism and "entrepreneurship" and all that, but on the other hand they scream bloody murder whenever some ordinary citizen tries to make a decent living on his own wits. So what's that about? I guess the parasitic bankster deserves his billions, while the little guy producing an actual product deserves a kick in the teeth?

Good grief. I never saw a bunch of people so damn good at resenting exactly the wrong things!

Nobody here is out to ''get'' the little guy, whom after all just follows the market laws. The complaint here is to the fact that mixing easily obtainable liquids, (as in mixing a simple drink), and be charged more than 10 to 20 times the real cost of this mixture.

Pls note that the ''easily obtainable liquids'' may become un-obtainable in the new future. The we will be charge 20 to 40 times its value.
 
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Midniteoyl

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Yes, it is.

And even I, who hate neoliberal capitalism like poison, apparently understand it better than the phony free-marketeers who throw a hissy fit every time an enterprising neighbor makes a nickel over cost.

Do they want every American to be making minimum wage in service to the Walton family? I guess they do.

Hmm.. so when you buy, anything, do you go looking for the lowest price, or the highest?
 

DeliciousClouds

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Nobody here is out to ''get'' the little guy, whom after all just follows the market laws. The complaint here is to the fact that mixing easily obtainable liquids, (as in mixing a simple drink), and be charged more than 10 to 20 times the real cost of this mixture.
Non-premium beer also sells for at least 5 times its wholesale price when you order a pint at the bar. But you can't say "Oh, how unfair that these e-liquid manufacturers charge so much!" when they have infinitely larger costs to deal with than your average DIY person. Of course, that has been talked about in this thread already, but we simply do not know just how high these costs really are. Some manufacturers probably do their best to rake in as high a profit as they can, while others run a less effective business and have high overhead costs to deal with.

Unless one of the brands steps forward with their cost breakdown, it's a bit unfair to call them overpriced.
 
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Kropotkin

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Hmm.. so when you buy, anything, do you go looking for the lowest price, or the highest?
Some of us prefer fair trade prices because we understand that the constant driving down of prices - and therefor of wages - hurts workers globally, ourselves included.

I expect most here are too young to remember, but it used to be that all working Americans understood this, and always looked for union labels and locally produced goods. But that worldview is long gone, and we see the results of this loss every day: declining wages, unemployment, staggering household debt, and a bitter, resentful working population that knows full well that the American worker's best days are behind him.

I understand that the vaping industry is a teeny, tiny drop in a gigantic bucket, but these threads always drive me nuts because they're so perfectly representative of the wrong-headedness that permeates our entire economic culture.
 

DeliciousClouds

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I expect most here are too young to remember, but it used to be that all working Americans understood this, and always looked for union labels and locally produced goods.
Was it really this noble, or just fueled by xenophobia and patriotism? Because that's still the case today in Japan, for example. Not implying that it's wrong to buy locally manufactured goods, by the way.

A local example I can think of is the Philips company. They basically were one of the Netherlands top companies at their peak, and almost every Dutch person has owned a TV or light bulb made by Philips at some point in their lives. However, quality began to decline at some point. Eventually they outsourced production to lower-wage countries and today they simply don't pump out high-quality consumer products anymore. However, many people still believe they are a great brand, and that they still manufacture their stuff in The Netherlands.
 
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Midniteoyl

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eLiquid is no different than any other product ... you get what you pay for.

juice can be bought for as little as $10 for 100ml ... maybe you are hoping for Filet Mignon to be the same price of Bolongna.

No.. not really. There are many lower priced juices that taste better than higher priced ones. That is the main crux of this conversation: Crappy juice selling for premium prices when they clearly are not premium.
 

DeliciousClouds

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No.. not really. There are many lower priced juices that taste better than higher priced ones. That is the main crux of this conversation: Crappy juice selling for premium prices when they clearly are not premium.
True, my experience has been the same. But it's rather hard to compare juices objectively, much hard than let's say a range of smartphones. Or even clothes.
 

WillyZee

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No.. not really. There are many lower priced juices that taste better than higher priced ones. That is the main crux of this conversation: Crappy juice selling for premium prices when they clearly are not premium.

Please do name some low priced juice that rivals a 5Pawns Gambit ... in my experience, all cheap juice reflects the juice quality in the price.
 

Mazinny

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Some of us prefer fair trade prices because we understand that the constant driving down of prices - and therefor of wages - hurts workers globally, ourselves included.

I expect most here are too young to remember, but it used to be that all working Americans understood this, and always looked for union labels and locally produced goods. But that worldview is long gone, and we see the results of this loss every day: declining wages, unemployment, staggering household debt, and a bitter, resentful working population that knows full well that the American worker's best days are behind him.

I understand that the vaping industry is a teeny, tiny drop in a gigantic bucket, but these threads always drive me nuts because they're so perfectly representative of the wrong-headedness that permeates our entire economic culture.

I am not sure what you are saying here. Do you think that the same worker you are talking about who makes minimum wage should pay $ 9 to buy 10 ml of crappy juice that the mom and pop vendor mixed in his basement, rather than pay the same $ 9 to buy 100 ml of Hangsen liquid or mix his own juice. What, in the hope that he is supporting his " enterprising" neighbor, and by doing so his wages will actually increase down the road ?

I don't think anyone is begrudging anyone anything. My concern is not for the educated consumer who knows all his options be it diy or lower cost mass produced liquid etc ... who chooses to buy five pawns. I am more concerned about the new vaper who buys a Chinese made eGo setup and 3 bottles of 10 ml liquid from his local vape store for $ 100 because he doesn't know any better. I also don't believe this is a viable business plan in the long term for the so called entrepeneur.
 

Mazinny

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Please do name some low priced juice that rivals a 5Pawns Gambit ... in my experience, all cheap juice reflects the juice quality in the price.

It's all subjective, yeah ? I can name many low priced juices that not only rival, but surpass Gambit because i dislike Gambit. My taste buds. I do like Castle Long though, but i chose to buy other juices with a similar profile at half the price, or try to clone it.

5P products are not inherently of superior quality because they cost more and have fancy packaging. Some like them and some don't. And some like some of them well enough, but don't think they are worth the price.
 

Kropotkin

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I am not sure what you are saying here. Do you think that the same worker you are talking about who makes minimum wage should pay $ 9 to buy 10 ml of crappy juice that the mom and pop vendor mixed in his basement, rather than pay the same $ 9 to buy 100 ml of Hangsen liquid or mix his own juice. What, in the hope that he is supporting his " enterprising" neighbor, and by doing so his wages will actually increase down the road ?
I think people should buy what they can afford. At the same time, I think they should drop the resentment when, for whatever reason, they can't afford a bottle of US made liquid or an authentic mod. (I also think they should immediately join the most militant labor union they can find, but that's a subject for another thread.)

I don't think anyone is begrudging anyone anything.
Really? I do. The ugly undercurrent in these threads always seems to be all about some crazy sense of consumer entitlement run completely amok. "You're just a regular shmuck like me! How dare you make something I can't afford! I think you're making money, you .......!"

My concern is not for the educated consumer who knows all his options be it diy or lower cost mass produced liquid etc ... who chooses to buy five pawns. I am more concerned about the new vaper who buys a Chinese made eGo setup and 3 bottles of 10 ml liquid from his local vape store for $ 100 because he doesn't know any better. I also don't believe this is a viable business plan in the long term for the so called entrepeneur.
And I don't think anyone would disagree with you there. Such people are crooks. But that's not what the opening thread was about, and it's not the topic on which we've all been are commenting.
 
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