Finding a high quality cheap e-juice is the most important thing if you’re wanting to vape as affordably as possible, but you might be left with several questions.
How much does e-juice cost most of the time?
Is there any benefit to expensive e-liquid at all?
How much do vapers spend on e-liquid on average?
Is it worth getting into DIY e-liquid if you want to save money?
We’ve collected some information here to answer these questions and more.
How Much Does E-Juice Cost?
Short answer:
Cheap vape juice costs between $0.10/ml to $0.30/ml
Premium vape juice costs between $0.37/ml to $0.67/ml
The cost of e-liquid varies quite substantially, depending on what type of e-liquid you vape. The cheapest e-liquid really doesn’t cost much at all – ranging between $0.10 per ml to $0.30 per ml.
For example, the Alchemaster Classic has 60 ml bottles for $14.99, about $0.12 per ml, and the Sauce LA’s BOGO deal offers 240 ml for $24.99, just over $0.10 per ml.
However, this is towards the bottom end of the cost. At the other end of the scale, expensive e-liquids like Five Pawns’ offerings cost $21.99 per 60ml ($0.37 per ml), Black Note’s Latakia Tobacco is $33 per 60ml ($0.55 per ml), and Glas Vapor BSX Nic Salts cost $19.99 per 30ml ($0.67 per ml) – averaging at about $0.53 per ml for higher-end vape juices.
However, as a general answer to “How much does e-juice cost?” a figure in the middle is about right.
For Cosmic Fog, for instance, the price of $23.95 per 60 ml bottle comes out to $0.40 per ml, and Element E-liquids are a bit more expensive at $24.95 for 60 ml, about $0.42 per ml.
There is a lot of variation, but for tasty e-juice outside of the most affordable e-juice brands, about $0.25 per ml is a decent estimate.
Desonvape's e-juice is of good quality and affordable, so it's a very good choice!
How Much Vapers Spend on E-Liquid on Average
The question of how much vapers spend on e-liquid on average isn’t an easy one to come up with an answer for.
As noted above, the cost of a bottle of e-liquid varies wildly, and on top of this, the amount of e-liquid vapers get through per day varies quite a lot too.
There aren’t any recent surveys on the topic, so the best we can do is look at ECF and Reddit posts on the topics and the responses. While it varies substantially, especially depending on the type of vape pen or vape pod you’re using, between 5 and 10 ml per day is a good estimate.
Using the $0.40/ml “average” cost of vapor juice, this can be used to work out how much vapers spend on e-liquid on average. At a 5 ml per day consumption over 30 days, it would work out to $60 per month on e-liquid. For a 10 ml consumption, this would be $120 per month.
These estimates are very rough, and of course they would vary depending on the specific e-liquid you’re vaping. With the cheapest e-liquid, a 5 ml per day consumption would be $15 per month, and 10 ml per day would be $30 per month.
For the most expensive e-juice, 5 ml per day would be $175.50 per month and 10 ml per day would be $351 per month. Of course, nobody would really vape so much expensive e-juice per day, but this shows how much variation there can be depending on your habits and choices.
Cheap vs. Expensive Vape Juice: Pros and Cons
So if you’re wondering whether it’s worth picking up the best cheap vape juice, or whether you should just focus on quality without worrying much about cost, what should you do?
Here, we’ll go over some of the pros and cons of cheap e-liquid vs. expensive e-liquid.
Cheap Vape Juice
Pros
Wide selection of flavors. Ordinarily, cheaper e-liquid brands have more e-juice flavors on offer than more expensive mixers.
Less cost per month. This is obvious: if you want to save as much money as possible, cheap e-juice flavors are the way to go.
More variety in PG/VG and nicotine. As a general rule, more affordable e-juice companies offer a selection of PG/VG ratios and a wider selection of nicotine levels. This means you’ll have an easier time finding e-juice that suits entry-level devices and just-switching smokers.
They can still be delicious. Just because you get cheap e-juice doesn’t mean you’ll get bad e-juice. There is plenty of cheap good e-juice (such as the options listed above), so as long as you do your homework you’ll still get something great.
Cons
Simpler flavors. As a general rule, you’ll find simpler, one-note flavors if you’re buying e-juice for cheap. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but some vapers prefer unique and complex flavors.
Bigger risk of low-quality. You can find affordable e-juice that’s tasty, but there are many more crappy options than you’ll get with more expensive e-juice.
Minimal packaging and crappy bottles. One way to cut costs is to spend less on things like bottles. This means you’re more likely to get your e-juice in a basic plastic bottle with affordable brands.
Expensive Vape Juice
Pros
Complex flavors. In general, more expensive e-liquid has more complex and unique flavor combinations than inexpensive e-liquid. You’re much less likely to find a basic, one-note flavor in a premium line-up.
Specialist mixers. More expensive e-juice brands are more likely to specialize in a specific type of flavor. This can be really good if you have a favorite flavor type, because you get find a mixer that’s solely dedicated to those flavors. For example, Black Note is a tobacco specialist and Mad Hatter focuses on candy and dessert flavors.
Higher-VG mixes. As a general rule, expensive e-liquid from premium brands are more likely to be high-VG, cloud-friendly blends. This is great for vapers using sub-ohm tanks or rebuildable devices and any cloud-chasers.
More robust flavors. You’re much more likely to find a really flavorful vape juice from more expensive mixers.
Cons
Less viable as “everyday” e-juice. The cost of expensive e-juice makes it a bit difficult to only use high-quality e-juice as your “everyday” e-juice.
Prices can get really high. You know you’ll be paying more for “premium” e-juice, but sometimes the prices are so high it’s almost as if you’re paying for the “label,” rather than the quality. Castle Long Reserve by Five Pawns is a great example of this.
Less choice in nicotine level and PG/VG ratio. You’re rarely given a choice of PG/VG ratio with premium juices, and nicotine levels tend to be lower, making them a less viable choice for just-switching smokers.
Fewer flavor choices, especially smoker-friendly options. The downside to the widespread specialist mixers is that some flavors – tobaccos in particular – are harder to find in premium vapor juice brands.
Guide to Buying Quality Cheap Vape Juice
If you’re looking for the cheapest vaping liquid you can find, it can feel like you’re entering a bit of minefield.
How can you be sure you’ll be getting something delicious, rather than a basic flavor that will ultimately disappoint? Is it really worth taking the risk?
Here’s a brief guide to buying affordable e-juice to help you make sure you get something you’ll enjoy.
Look for guarantees of quality. No matter how inexpensive an e-juice is, it should use USP-grade nicotine, PG and VG, and ideally have lab results available to verify that the nicotine strengths are accurate and to show whether diacetyl or acetyl propionyl is present.
Choose brands that offer choice. More PG/VG options and more nicotine level options are generally a good sign for budget e-juice companies. Since companies like Mt. Baker Vapor do really well on this front, there is no reason to choose a company that doesn’t offer the sort of mix you’re looking for.
Look for the flavors you like, not the raw number of options. E-liquid companies offering inexpensive e-liquid often have huge ranges of flavors, but don’t be drawn in by the raw numbers alone. It’s better to look at the selection for the types of flavors you like than the total number of flavors altogether.
Read e-juice reviews. The most important piece of advice is not to be sold based on price alone. Yes, the e-liquid might be cheap, but checking out e-juice reviews from reputable reviewers gives you the full story about whether the brand is worth trying out.
Consider bulk e-juice purchases to save money. Even if the juice isn’t particularly cheap when you buy a small bottle, you can often save money with bulk e-juice, even from more expensive brands. This is a great way to get value e-juice without sacrificing quality.
Don’t choose the cheapest just because it’s the cheapest. You can still save a lot of money without choosing the very cheapest e-juice on the market. As long as you aren’t paying much more, prioritize quality over cost.
Conclusion
Getting the best cheap e-juice can be as easy as choosing one of the brands from our list and placing an order, or as complex as getting all of the ingredients and making it yourself.
But the key point is that there are tons of ways to save money when you’re vaping, and you can do it without sacrificing the quality of your e-liquid.
If you’re in the market for cheap vape juice, take a bit of time over your choice if you’re buying pre-made, or learn the basics for yourself and go DIY. If you do either of these right, you won’t be disappointed.
