The Costs of Vaping: A Complete Picture of What It Takes to Vape

Vape prices are usually the first things in people’s minds when they think about the costs of vaping. It is a good thing to think about if they are thinking about picking up a vape.

There are other costs, though, both real and unseen. People might not think about them at first, but they come up later if someone vapes a lot.

These other costs affect emotional, physical, social and even personal life of vapes. No matter if they vape e-liquid, herbs or concentrates or CBD, there is more to the costs of vaping than just money.

The Costs of Getting Started

There are many ways people start vaping. People who have no experience vaping often buy a starter kit.

Starter kits feature all the tools and accessories people need to start vaping, things like tanks, batteries, coils, chargers, and sometimes, even e-juice.

The cost of these starter kits varies, as they have a lot of differences between them.

The most basic e-cig starter kit features the following:

·A battery
·A removable and refillable tank, or a pod
·A charger
These e-cig starter kits have a price range between $15 and $50.

The Juul starter kit, for example, is one of the most popular starter pod vapes. It retails at about $20 and includes:
·a Juul pod vape,
·four pre-filled e-liquid pods,
·and a charger.

There are many vapes like the Juul, which are commonly called pod mods. These types of vapes have replaced older, glass tank-and-battery combos that were the first kind of starter mod. The new generation of starter kits is smaller in size, more portable, and more discreet.

They also don’t look anything like cig-a-likes that copied the shape and size of real cigarettes. These vapes are more futuristic in design and often have no buttons to press at all.

Another important distinction is that they can either be disposable or reusable, with the latter costing a little more than the former.

These devices are cheap compared to larger, more advanced vaping mods. Their low cost is due to their simple designs and functioning. Although they are easy-to-use and easy to carry around, they also do not have a lot of performance power or different features.

Other Costs: Juices and Supplies

E-Juices and Nicotine salts

A vape without e-juice is like a car without any gas.

It’s nice to look at from the outside, but without fuel, it is pretty worthless. E-juice is a necessary investment for any vaper. It is also an ongoing one, as e-juice is the most perishable item in a vaper’s world.

Picking the best nicotine salt or e-juice comes with its own criteria. It is mostly down to personal taste, but the cost is another crucial factor to consider as, again, e-juice is an ongoing cost associated with vaping. There are also several ways to buy e-juice.

For beginners, it might suit them to get many flavors at once or buy e-juice in a bundle so they can try different styles and different flavors.
Many e-juice vendors offer this latter option, but there are also e-juice subscription services that let people sign-up for monthly deliveries of new e-juices.

·Buying a bundle of e-juice can run anywhere from $40 for three or four bottles of different sizes, like 30 or 60ml.
·Individual 10ml bottles of regular e-juice can cost as little as $5 on some sites.
·Premium e-juice, however, costs a little more.
*Premium e-juice costs more because it uses unique ingredients and is made in small batches.

High-end e-juices often start at $20 and go up from there, depending on the bottle size. For anyone who wants to avoid the minefield of picking the right e-juice, there is the option of having e-juice included in your starter kit.
If the kit uses pre-filled pods (like the Juul do use prefilled with nic salt pods) that takes the guesswork out of having to choose a specific e-juice, which could be overwhelming for someone starting vaping, another thing for beginners to consider is to get several one-flavor e-juices at once.
E-juices can have several flavors blended into one e-liquid, or have only one taste. Vapers who have never tried e-juice could start with characteristics that are familiar to them, like tobacco or menthol, and then expand from there.

Supplies

Vape supplies can mean anything a vaper needs to keep their device in good working order or accessories that add a personal touch to their rig.
Vape supplies can include:
·spare parts (screws, o-rings),
·replacement parts (like glass tanks or coils),
·and interchangeable parts like drip tips.

For people starting to vape, the cost of vaping supplies is not something they have to worry about.
Items like replacement tank glass or coils come standard in modern starter kits, so a vaper would not have to worry about those until they run out or need them. When they do need them, a replacement pack of coils, for example, can run from between $5 and $20, depending on the type of coil.
The cost of vape coils or wires is something that DIY vapers have to worry about. These experienced vapers make their own coils, and they need supplies (like resistance metals, wick material, and tools) to keep making them. The cost of vaping supplies for coil building can be a little less than buying pre-made coils, but only people with the skill and knowledge to make their coils can do it.

Moving On from Starter Kits

For higher-end, more advanced starter kits that come fully-accessorized, vapers can expect to pay anywhere between $20 and $80.
Prices start to go up when vapes DO have higher performance and make use of other, programmable, or variable features.
The larger, more advanced vapes like vape mods, mech mods or vaporizers are more durable and built to last. This longer product life means larger battery sizes and capacities, more features installed on the battery, a sizable, refillable glass tank, and interchangeable coils – all typical things of an advanced vape set.

The Cost of Vaping in Numbers

Basic Vape Kit Cost

You can start vaping having only $20 in a pocket. But we recommend buying a bit more qualitative devices and spend at least $20 on vape pen amd $15 on e-juice or nic salt
After covering the initial set-up costs of vaping (buying a vape for $25-75, buying e-juices for $5-25, and other supplies, etc.) next comes the regular expenses of vaping.

Regular Costs

These expenses are how much vaping in general costs someone every month. People might think that with all there is to a vaping device (batteries, e-juices, coils) that prices might be more than a smoking habit.
With that said, when comparing the cost of vaping to cost of smoking, it’s best to measure the cost of buying e-juice regularly for buying a pack of cigarettes. Comparing these two items is the best way to examine the costs associated with both.
There are not a lot of regular costs, using the example of a box mod kit (tank and mod), other than buying e-liquid for about $10-25, with using this particular setup.
Vape mods are meant to be durable, so if the device does not break or experience some other user problem, the only cost that comes with using it would be the e-juice.

Other possible costs for vaping habits are hard to pin down.
·The life of a coil (which is probably the only other perishable vape product) is too hard to qualify, as its product life depends on vaping habits (it can be a few days to a few weeks).
·E-juice, though, is a constant. People always need e-juice, and the usage pattern is easy to identify.

Monthly E-Juice Consumption/Cost

In a 2014 online poll conducted by E-Cigarette Forum, over 22% of vapers polled said their daily e-juice consumption was between 4-5ml. Using the highest value of 5ml/day, an average vaper would get through about 150ml, more or less, of e-juice/month.
A 100ml bottle of e-juice can start anywhere from $12-$15 and go up from there. 

·So for one month of vaping (excluding everything else), a person would spend more than the daily value of a pack of cigarettes (average price of a pack of cigarettes: $6.49),
but that is for the whole month! Of course, this calculation depends on if the person is a pack-a-day smoker, and if that is true, the comparison between the two is:
·The monthly cost of a 100ml of e-juice: $15
·The monthly cost of a pack-a-day smoking habit: $200
·The monthly savings of vaping over smoking (in this case): $185
Cost Comparison: Vaping vs. Smoking
Using the figures above, we can estimate the yearly cost of an e-juice supply (again, based ONLY on the cost of e-juice and no other vaping necessity) to be:
·$15/month for one year = $180
While a year-long, pack-a-day habit for cigarette smokers comes out to:
·$200/month for one year = $2400

Other Vaping Costs

Different Vapes, Different Prices
Nicat Nasibli/Shutterstock 

The above calculations are based on the vaping habits of someone with a specific type of device, namely a vape mod with a refillable glass tank. 
The costs change (go higher or lower) if someone uses a disposable e-cigarette or a pod mod. With these latter devices, the cost of e-juice is far less, and almost non-existent if the person is using pre-filled cartridges. 

Going Strong at the Beginning 

A person may also smoke less than the figures cited here as averages. 
They may vape more or less than 4-5ml, especially if they are starting to vape. If vapers are making the transition to e-cigarettes from real cigarettes, they tend to use high-nicotine content juices, which means they do not use as much e-liquid. Only, this usage pattern is not always the norm. 
People who are trying to quit smoking may vape a lot of e-juice, no matter the nicotine content, as their withdrawal symptoms kick in. The same standard used in nicotine replacement therapies (starting with high nicotine content, and gradually decreasing) applies to nicotine e-juice. People begin at a high level and then wean themselves off nicotine by using lower-strengths. 

Is Vaping Cheaper than Smoking?

Vaping can be less expensive than smoking if someone is smart about their purchases.
 After all, a smoker needs to only buy cigarettes (maybe a lighter or two, as well). Like with smoking, though, the costs associated with vaping stem from a person’s consumption habits, like how often they vape, what kind of device they use, and other vaping variables. 
If a person vapes a lot, like if they smoke a lot, then their costs will be higher, as they will go through more e-juice and other products. Another thing that complicates estimating the daily, weekly, and monthly costs of vaping is the different prices of items like e-juice and coils. 
There is a wide price range for vaping items, so finding one that is both economical while meeting a person’s standards is a challenge. 
If a vaper invests in a durable, hard-working device and stays within their average consumption habits, they can find that the costs of vaping are much less than the costs of smoking. 

Some Cost-Saving Tips and How To Save Even More

Do It Yourself

A strong DIY (do-it-yourself) current runs through all of vaping. 
People who wanted more from their devices made modifications to them that resulted in significant advancements. Things like refillable cartomizers, sub-ohm vaping, and squonking were all innovations introduced by vapers. 
Many vapers continue in this tradition as they build and mount their coils rather than using pre-made, stock coils. The DIY ethos does not only apply to coils, though. 
People also make their vape juice, as all the base ingredients are readily available, and vapers can adjust them to their tastes. 

One reason to do all this is to save money. People can buy the basics of coil building like resistance wire, wick material, tools, and accessories, and save on the costs of having to buy new coils every week or two weeks. The one caveat about building coils or making e-juice is that a person needs to have a specific skill set and knowledge about what they are doing.
Building coils is not as simple as it looks. People need to know the right resistance wire to use and the correct battery voltage to apply to the wire. If they get it wrong or they do not do it properly, a malfunctioning vape could not only lead to a bad experience but a dangerous one. 

Look For Deals

Vape deals are all over the internet. Online retailers offer them, so do vape reviewers and bloggers. The savings can apply to all kinds of vaping gear from vape mods, tanks, and coils to e-juice, pod mods, and refillable cartridges. 
There are a lot of ways to save, like buying used or clearance items or choosing to get older models that are still in good working order. 

Conclusion: Adding Up All the Costs

Like any other habit vaping takes its mean amount. But is it a sin to buy for joy? Spending about $100 per month on guilty pleasure people often reward them. And vaping is one of the least harmful ones.