Premium Juice Prices In Perspective
- Thread starter Alex
- Start date
Funny, but slightly absurd.
How fast can you drink 2.25 liters of e-juice?
...and if it were to be made any cheaper, would you drink it any faster?
Funny, but slightly absurd.
How fast can you drink 2.25 liters of e-juice?
Depends, now if were talking Five Pawns - Gambit..
Yes it seems as though only SkyBlue Vapours are selling e-juice at market prices.
The price per ml to mix up 18mg strength is R1.91 which works out as R19.10 for 10ml.
Selling locally mixed e-juice for the same price as what it costs to import international brands only makes every man and his dog want to setup an e-juice company.
If you vape 20ml a week then you are spending R3000 extra a year....it's crazy.
I was thinking of importing myself but because there was a local SA supplier selling at a fair price, I will support them instead.
The price per ml to mix up 18mg strength is R1.91 which works out as R19.10 for 10ml.
Selling locally mixed e-juice for the same price as what it costs to import international brands only makes every man and his dog want to setup an e-juice company.
If you vape 20ml a week then you are spending R3000 extra a year....it's crazy.
I was thinking of importing myself but because there was a local SA supplier selling at a fair price, I will support them instead.
well...if u smoke 20 cigs a day = 36 Rand/day = 13140 Rand/year. The cost of manufacturing cigs is also very low, but the governments of this world get a nice income. In SA that income gets used where? Building mansions for certain people maybe?
calculations aside.... I vape exclusive juices, even at a heftier price tag, simply because vaping is not just feeding my addiction....its for my enjoyment! A tool to relax. There are good juices at good prices, me thinks right now VM (the only SA brand I have tried), and I would always buy that. But I am also tired of buying cheap, artificial tasting flavours just because they are cheap. Always remember: if you buy cheap, you buy twice
And besides.... What's a few extra bucks towards a premium blended juice giving u great complex flavours, FDA approved ingredients, and saving your lungs, those around u and the environment
Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk
Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk
well...if u smoke 20 cigs a day = 36 Rand/day = 13140 Rand/year. The cost of manufacturing cigs is also very low, but the governments of this world get a nice income. In SA that income gets used where? Building mansions for certain people maybe?
calculations aside.... I vape exclusive juices, even at a heftier price tag, simply because vaping is not just feeding my addiction....its for my enjoyment! A tool to relax. There are good juices at good prices, me thinks right now VM (the only SA brand I have tried), and I would always buy that. But I am also tired of buying cheap, artificial tasting flavours just because they are cheap. Always remember: if you buy cheap, you buy twice
You can import the best quality base ingredients, with certificates of authenticity and flavours that are 100 natural and farmed organically, again with certificates of authenticity from the USA, and if you are making over a litre it will only cost you R1.00 per ml, this is sourced from reputable sources, if you source from China you can do it for 50c per ml. In my opinion a fair market price for top quality locally mixed should be from R1.50 to R2.50
I did manage to get a top quality juice locally within that price range but the vast majority were over R3.50.
Making a lot of money in the e-juice market is going to be all about creating a brand and you aren't going to establish that with overpricing, you just create more competition.
if you look at VM juice, its 120 bucks for the 30ml. This is more then fair and good pricing. you would rate that as too expensive? you cant calculate the asking price just from ingredients if you DIY.
Btw, here in Germany juice is much more expensive. No name brands cost already 5-6 Euro for just 10ml.
- Joined
- 2/2/14
- Posts
- 95
- Awards
- 9
- Age
- 40
I get that organic juices tend to have more labour and ingredient costs than those crafted from artificial flavours so a premium tag is acceptable.
I also get that it may take months of trail an error and a bucket load of sub-par attempts to formulate that artfully crafted vape, tag that as premium.
What I don't get is making a simple juice, let’s argue 1-3 flavour concentrates make up the flavour, slap it in a glass bottle and label it premo. That in my mind is milking your customers.
Don't get me wrong, some of the simple flavours are the greatest, but premium I think not.
If you argue that you sourced your nicotine from virgin rainforests and your glycerine from naked concubines and that makes it premium then I simply argue that it's a "quality" juice, not premium.
Just my humble opinion, and my thoughts on the label "premium"
I also get that it may take months of trail an error and a bucket load of sub-par attempts to formulate that artfully crafted vape, tag that as premium.
What I don't get is making a simple juice, let’s argue 1-3 flavour concentrates make up the flavour, slap it in a glass bottle and label it premo. That in my mind is milking your customers.
Don't get me wrong, some of the simple flavours are the greatest, but premium I think not.
If you argue that you sourced your nicotine from virgin rainforests and your glycerine from naked concubines and that makes it premium then I simply argue that it's a "quality" juice, not premium.
Just my humble opinion, and my thoughts on the label "premium"
All e-liquids are advertised as premium, but I have yet to see anyone advertising offering proof of authenticity.
You dont see "Our VG/PG is sourced from xxxxxxxx using only 100 percent natural organic flavours", they just say their product is "Premium" because they know that there are no real standards for e-liquids and they cant be sure of it's source.
I think it's important to note that if you want to achieve R1 a mil you're buying bulk. REAL bulk. And I don't think you're taking things like tax and duty into account. Then you're over looking the risk factor. Try buying bulk nicotine that pulls R30 000 out of your pocket for the first time and see how well you can handle it when it gets to customs.
Then there's the process of mixing it - creating something that will actually sell in the competitive market we have today. 80% of vapers don't vape to save money and most are very well aware that they spend way more they ever did on vaping than they do on cigarettes. 100% of vapers will agree they actually enjoy vaping. I don't know how many people will say that about smoking and therefor it's important to note that many are willing to spend more on something they actually enjoy rather than something they didn't.
Mixing an e liquid is easy. Mixing something good and truely unique is another. Then there's packaging and marketing overheads.
After all that is said and done, there's the hours that go into into it. Try working a 10 hour job, coming home, cooking for the family, puting the kids to bed and then spening another 8 hours preparing 100 bottles of liquid that people expect to be at their place in 48 hours time. Then go to bed, get 5 hours of sleep a night if you're lucky wake up and do it all over again.
If you ask me every single mixer that I know of in South Africa is severly underselling their product.
The going rate world wide is somewhere in the range of R180 per 30ml. If you buy anything anywhere for less than that consider yourself very lucky.
It's not just as black and white as cruching a few numbers out, waving a magic wand and all of a sudden you have a presentable liquid line. I found your post slightly disrespectful and I don't think you really have an idea of what it takes.
EDIT: Oh and when that's all said and done, visit the forum after you're day is done and read some nasty reviews and opinions on how you fail over and over again to produce something great. How your product is over priced and how someone else can really just do so much better by punching numbers into a calculator. That's a real motivator.
I understand what you are saying with the whole labeling thing and yes it gets out of hand sometimes. But don't knock the local guys mixing it up for they're going rates when you're already getting it easy.
Last edited:
I disagree, it's money for jam, which is why so many local companies, founded by vapers, have sprung up.
Low cost to enter the market.
Low equipment costs.
Little product knowledge required.
Labels and bottles can be printed/sourced per order.
Low weight/volume per order low shipping costs.
Considering the product is inhaled into a person’s lungs you would expect the companies selling this product to employ a pharmaceutical expert and to have extensive chemical handling experience, yet most of them are founded by vapers, and good on them... but to argue that this is a highly specialised industry is untrue.
To launch an ad hominem attack backed up with;
"It's not just as black and white as cruching a few numbers out, waving a magic wand and all of a sudden you have a presentable liquid line. I found your post slightly disrespectful and I don't think you really have an idea of what it takes."
without any substance to your argument is disrespectful, you have no idea as to my qualifications in voicing, what is obviously, my opinion.
What are you twelve?
As for my substance... I can tell by your attitude that you are obviously very new and off to a fantastic start mate. I'm a retailer. I play this game day in and day out. And it's an expensive one that requires much more than what you see on the surface. What did you say your qualifications were again besides voicing your opinion?
Why didn't you just say you were looking for a job.
Hey, we're in the same boat!
No one is forced to inhale anything. It's your choice as a consumer. You decide what you want to inhale aand where you want to buy from. Many companies use facilities these days to mix and bottle liquids and the mixing is done in lab-like locations. So please, don't assume all brands are the same. Anyone mixing at home will probably label a product hand crafted or will let you know in some way that the products are mixed by hand.
But by all means, the market is open to all.
Why don't you come show us how?
Low cost to enter the market.
Low equipment costs.
Little product knowledge required.
Labels and bottles can be printed/sourced per order.
Low weight/volume per order low shipping costs
You clearly have no idea what you are talking about.
You are more than welcome not to support any one you do not wish to. But there's no need to go waving your fingers about at the guys pioneering this industry in South Africa. Had it not been for them, there would have been no Ecigssa for you to put your cocky attitude on display.
Last edited:
I didn't just punch numbers into a calculator, I obtained quotes including duty and shipping costs.
If I mixed 2 bottles of what I paid R1500 for I could resell for R6000.
With that sort of markup you don't need my motivation
Incidently the chemicals concerned only cost R600 the other R900 was for shipping and duty, so with a better shipping plan the profits could be considerably more.
I didn't just punch numbers into a calculator, I obtained quotes including duty and shipping costs.
If I mixed 2 bottles of what I paid R1500 for I could resell for R6000.
With that sort of markup you don't need my motivation
Incidently the chemicals concerned only cost R600 the other R900 was for shipping and duty, so with a better shipping plan the profits could be considerably more.
That sounds like a fantastic juice line.
Can I pre-order now?
Really ? Is this how you represent your company online ? I will publish the quotes I obtained which backup my argument in this thread titled "premium juice prices in perspective", you can continue to lose your temper and be abusive.
My company is about more than just profit and I promise you that you have NO idea what we are about.
This is how I represent this community. Every member and every other retailer, some of which are my friends, that you so nonchalantly started bashing with total hogwash. And the sad part is - I don't even think you are aware of it.
I'm not intrested in your numbers. As I stated in my first post, it's not as black and white as simply numbers, but you don't seem to get it.
Welcome to the forum! Most guys would have started off with: "Hi, my name is Paul..."
Last edited:
Guys please cool it... online personal attacks are not allowed on the ecigssa forum. There are rational arguments on both sides but there is no need to get personal. By all means chat to each other privately but public personal attacks are not tolerated.
I'm sure you can both take a step back and see a little from the others point of view.
Many thanks.
I'm sure you can both take a step back and see a little from the others point of view.
Many thanks.
What is your argument here @Paul ? Yes, we can all agree that the ingredients can be bought relatively cheap. I personally know someone running a B&M shop, he stated as well that there is hardly any money to be made by selling mods. Liquids do make money. I also work for money, so that I can have bread and butter on the table. But cheaply acquired ingredients does not make a decent eliquid. I think that @RevnLucky7 had good valid points in his post above.
Once again, I believe that pricing in SA must be about the cheapest in the world. Just an example...I am paying 20 Euros for the same Witchers Brew that is sold in SA for much less. And that was the cheapest I could find in Europe. Ok, that is also imported into the EU, but then a local premium liquid like "House of Liquids" is selling the Cigar de Paris for 25 Euros/30ml. Or just an ordinary, not premium, not complex juice here in Germany goes for 5,90 Euro/10ml.
You know that there are huge profits made with coffee to go? The total cost for one is probably around 2-3 Rands, and they sell it for anything between 15 and 30 Rands. Do I or anyone else attack them? No, I love Cappucino take aways....
At the end of the day...you decide what you want to do. DIY, local or overseas purchases, vaping, smoking....its all up to ones own personal liking.
If you are not happy with the offered juices and pricing....go DIY. I would not do it because I am happy with the flavours I got now. No need to experiment, no need to be disappointed in what I possibly brew together. Most likely I would not get out what I want and there would be a lot of money wasted then.
Once again, I believe that pricing in SA must be about the cheapest in the world. Just an example...I am paying 20 Euros for the same Witchers Brew that is sold in SA for much less. And that was the cheapest I could find in Europe. Ok, that is also imported into the EU, but then a local premium liquid like "House of Liquids" is selling the Cigar de Paris for 25 Euros/30ml. Or just an ordinary, not premium, not complex juice here in Germany goes for 5,90 Euro/10ml.
You know that there are huge profits made with coffee to go? The total cost for one is probably around 2-3 Rands, and they sell it for anything between 15 and 30 Rands. Do I or anyone else attack them? No, I love Cappucino take aways....
At the end of the day...you decide what you want to do. DIY, local or overseas purchases, vaping, smoking....its all up to ones own personal liking.
If you are not happy with the offered juices and pricing....go DIY. I would not do it because I am happy with the flavours I got now. No need to experiment, no need to be disappointed in what I possibly brew together. Most likely I would not get out what I want and there would be a lot of money wasted then.
http://ejuice4u.com
Here is the quote including shipping and duty for 1000ml of 36mg.
I then purchase a 1000ml of local VG for R120.
I end up with 2000ml of 18mg, I sell for R60 for a 20ml bottle I would make R6000
I have always stayed on topic in this thread and backed it up with hard and fast evidence.
I am also sitting here vaping with a localy supplied ejuice which I purchased for R19.10 per 10ml. So either all these other companies are doing it wrong or prices for locally mixed juice is far too high.
Last edited:
Paul, instead of complaining... Please produce or bring us some 'cheap' juice. If it compares to the likes of SOV or 5pawns, you'll be so busy you won't keep up. Put your money where your mouth is
If you read the thread I did manage to buy some excellent local cheap juice from skyblue.
http://www.skybluevaping.co.za/e-liquids/DIY-e-liquids/Skyblue-diy-liquid
They must be so busy they can't keep up.
For a minute there I thought I started this thread attacking the price of juice, I didn't, I agreed with the original member's argument and supported it with real facts and figures. I have provided the contact info for a local and international supplier of "premium" juice at a price considerably less than most suppliers in SA are selling for...and in return I receive a torrent of personal abuse.
The original poster was refering to a complete brand.
You're pointing us to liquid nicotine and flavor extracts.
Why buy the apple when I can get the stork at a fraction of the price!
Have you ever tried Five Pawns or Witchers Brew or any other of these "Premium" juices?
Because I'm pretty sure you're under the impression it's as simple as buying a bottle of nic and adding some TPA or FA flavors to it.
Similar threads
