Paging /u/MelodyMist

I was just discussing this and MelodyMist had this to say:

"There is a common misconception that initial set-up cost is high.. certainly not in my experience. Initially I bought 100ml each of VG & PG, a few 10ml bottles of flavour concentrate, and 30ml bottle of nicotine, and a pippette. Cleaned out some used juice bottles. Total cost around £20. I made a few batches of 70/30 at 7mg. It worked out around 10pence per ml. Coming from premium juices my expectations were low, but I was delighted with the results and have only DIY'd since. That was around a year ago. Just add to the stock ingredients as you go, maybe including a scale to mix by weight for increased accuracy in repeating recipes. Buying larger quantities now, it's even more cost effective."

I was pretty hesitant at first as well. I spent about $200 CAD for my first order. In the first three months of DiY I probably spent close to $1000 on DiY.

Now, after not smoking for just over a year, Ive saved about $3000. In total Ive spent 1200-1500 on vaping. How can you afford to not DiY?

Do you have friends who vape? In my experience you will be able to sell them better juice, than what they buy at a B&M. Even if you sell it for double what it costs you to make it they will have a very inexpensive juice tailored to the device they use. Now take the extra few bucks you make and expand your flavors or simply put it in the bank to "pay back" that initial investment. If you get tired of vaping... You have better self control than me.

I was vaping 5-10 ml of juice a day. So far I have spent $300 on diy. If I had been buying pre made juice I would have spent around 300 by now. Now I got around 200 ml of home made juice steeping in my closest, and enough ingredients for the next year... Doesn't feel cheap at first, but one day you will realize you made the best decision you could of for vaping.

Find a juice or juices you really like then search for a clone recipe.

Only buy the flavors needed to make that recipe.

If you enjoy DIYing, go further. If not, hopefully you have some juice you like.

Old bottles will work just fine as long as they are similar flavors or are washed thoroughly.

A couple syringes, PG/VG, flavoring, nic and maybe a graduated cylinder and you're off to a good start.

Good luck!

I felt the same way about the initial investment. But there are so many resources on this subreddit you will love the juice recipes and realize it was a great decision. I found a couple recipes I really liked and made 60 ml bottles. You will end up saving money in the long run assuming you wish to continue vaping. I began just copying recipes but now I'm starting to add flavors to my favorites to try to improve on them. It makes vaping fun!

I started a little smaller. I only purchased the PG/VG off Amazon. Nic, some syringes, and a few small bottles of flavors.

However, even that small dip into DIY saved me enough money each week to purchase more flavorings, nic, and some other things. Truly, once you have your startup equipment you won't need to buy anything for a long while.

Almost a year ago I wanted to get into DIY, but I didn't for largely the same reasons you are expressing. I also added a layer of "what if I suck at this?" and "what if there is some part of retail liquid that I can't live without?"

I figure I spent near to five hundred dollars US on juice in the time that I waffled, and while I don't regret my purchases I do find myself wishing that I had started DIY sooner.

Here are some things to consider on your first purchase:

• You likely already have a considerable amount of materials on-hand. Do you need new glass/plastic bottles or can you sterilize some of the empties you have lying around?
• The 100+ euros that you have already spent will make more than 100 euros worth of juice.
• Most recipes are only expensive because they use trace (<1%) amounts of specific flavors, which means that you can make a 2nd batch by buying just a few "core" ingredients.
• You can always make juice for your vaping friends to recoup the materials costs after you quit.

Here goes,

Compare the per ml cost of the shop stuff vs what you will end up making. Use 15% flavoring as a base for the cost. If there are savings is it worth it to you? This is pretty simple really. Cost vs Risk i think.

Have a nice day.

For me I always go back to what the stinkies cost. I was about a pack every day and a half. With packs approaching $20 each ($17 when i switched) here in Canada, suddenly things don't seem all that expensive.

How long have you been vaping for now? If you are that much in doubt, then I would buy a cheapish ecig mod and buy vendor juice for a couple months. If you stick with it that long, then maybe it's time to take the plunge into DiY.

you COULD have started cheap... save some bottles from what you were buying/vaping, get some flavors with drip tops, some VG and some PG nic [if you need higher PG ratio, otherwise i prefer maxVG] and just a few syringes for the nic and VG.

count drops to do your flavor ratios and add the VG and nic. could have gotten IN for $30? at least enough to get started... and buy flavors as you go, maybe a scale.

THEN order bottles and all that other stuff.

I mean you already took the plunge, but you could do what I'm doing which is buying the base liquid from velvet cloud, and then just buying random flavors from different flavorings sites and making your own that way in smaller batches

I'm probably in it for about $750 - $1,000 a little less than a year in. I go through about 15 ml per day. I would have spent at least $2,700 on vendor juice. My breakeven was about 4 1/2 months. Plus I have enough supplies on hand to make at least a year of delicious, made to my specifications juice.

I spent FAR more than necessary but I do that with everything.

Start cheap, stick with it for a short period of time. If you don't like it, you really can't lose.

Just sell it. Someone is always getting into it.

It isn't rocket science just jump in and you always have this sub to fall back on for help.