After my favorite vape store messed up a 120 ml order (for my ADV, no less), I've decided to have a go at DIY. I'm hoping it will turn out to be cheaper in the long run, but I remember thinking the same thing when it came to vaping in general... Anyway.
Luckily I am within driving distance of the B&M I ordered from (I had ordered online for convenience), and hopefully they can resolve my issue today, but just thinking about the hassle ahead made me pull the trigger here.
So I ordered the Heartland Vapes starter kit recommended in the side bar with 3 additional flavors to get started with. Can't wait!
P.s.: It will also be nice to be able to make non-nic flavors of my future (and hopefully good) creations for my wife to try.
There are companies online that will do customs mixes for you. If you REALLY wanted it to be dirt cheap you could find some recipes that sounds good with good reviews, have them made, try them, find one you love and ONLY order the stuff to DIY it. The truth is you will spend your kids college fund on every new flavor that comes out to tinker around. The good thing is you can offset this cost by selling some of your creations to people you know lol.
Thank you for this! I've been lurking in this sub for a while and have not wanted to jump in for fear of having to try 5 different guavas, 4 different custards, etc. This is how I'll do it. I'll find the highest rated recipes that are up my alley and pay a premium for someone else to make them. I will endeavor to only order flavors that are in recipes I already know I love. If it becomes a hobby and I start creating recipes, so be it (by then, I'll have some knowledge to work with). But my initial goal will be ADVs for dirt cheap.
http://www.vapecrafter.com/
something like that to make it and
http://e-liquid-recipes.com/list?exclsingle=0&sort=score&direction=desc
something like this filtered by popularity would get you where you want to be.
Wow! Thank you! Both links are awesome. Vape Crafter's simple package will let me just tell them any flavor I want to vape, with specific PG/VG ratios and very specific nicotine levels... and it's $14 for a 30ml. I'm amazed that they will concoct a flavor for way less than a premium brand costs. On top of this, they send you the recipe. That is an absolutely incredible value if they are top notch at creating recipes. Thanks again!
I actually tried that about a year ago, and came up with a pretty decent flavor that I liked, but even after that, I was still hooked on my local B&M. As far as selling DIY juice? Ehh... I'm not sure how comfortable I'd feel doing that. In my mind, it should be the same as selling homebrew--in that, at least in the US, it's illegal. I would definitely vape-forward anything I made that was ok but not my fav.
Initial startup is going to cost but let just just state that I absolutely love that fact that zi could probably make a liter of juice for around $25 give or take.
Ballpark $15 for the VG
Lets assume 10%[100ml] total mixing concentrates ~ $10
Nicotine - ~$3
Find a good clone recipe and compare that to what a store would want for a liter 0_0
Totally agree about startup costs--I have way too many hobbies as it is! But ~$100 for the starter kit and extra flavors seemed like a pretty low entry-level bar. I know it's going to cost more until I get comfortable with it, but I already have some stuff like a digital scale and a stir-plate (among other things) that I can use from my home brewing equipment.
Not sure if the prices in the US are the same, but I did the math on my juice prices here in Germany. A 10ml bottle of ready2vape juice costs about 5€ (about 5.60$) in most B&Ms and online shops. When I make the same amount of (1.2% nicotine) juice and use a cleaned bottle I have standing around, it comes to about 0.80€ (0.90$) for the same amount of juice. If I have to buy a new bottle, it's 1.30€ (1.45$). So with used bottles I save 4,20€ (4.73$) per 10ml of juice. With new bottles it's still 3,70€ (4,17$).
This would be a serious relief for my wallet, if I wouldn't use most of the saved money to buy new mods and attys.
Let me say that you will want to buy a scale. It will be a $30 investment, but worth it. Trust me.
As for how much you save. Well, I used to buy $20 juices (30mL). Now I can make 30mL for $1.50.