> This is a price comparison for if you were to buy only what you needed to get started with 20 of the top recommended flavors, VG, PG, Nic and bottles. A scale is “optional” but highly recommended. At the time of putting this together the LB-501 is $32.95 but the price fluctuates and I’ve seen it as low as $22.86. A cheaper options is the Smart Weight scale which also measures up to 500g @ 0.01g resolution and is currently $13.99 (it doesn’t include calibration weights or the ability to plug it into the wall like the LB-501) Volume measuring supplies are available at most of the vendors but the price will vary depending on how many and what type of syringes you get. > > > While the top 20 flavors are useful, I would recommend picking your flavors based on recipes that fit the profiles you like and are also highly rated. I only chose the top 20 flavors to keep the comparison as uniform as possible. > > For the 2 (US) vendors that don’t have nicotine available I added VapersTek nic because it is IMHO the best quality for the price and their shipping is (AFAIK) the lowest available when buying a 120ml “Sample size”
Bull City Flavors -- Best in class, best selection and almost unanimously lauded for their excellent customer support. They also have a large variety of flavor packs created by mixers in the DIY community.
^Volume ^measuring ^supplies ^are ^available ^on ^their ^site. ^Payment ^Options: ^Paypal, ^Credit ^Card
- Top 20 flavors: 10/13ml ($37.50)
VG: 1000ml ($12.50)
PG: 225ml ($4.50)
Bottles: (10) 10ml (10) 30ml ($8)
Shipping: $13.26
Nicotine: N/A (Recommend VapersTek 120ml 100mg ($14.99 + $4.82 S/H USPS -- $19.81)
Total: $95.17
EcigExpress -- Excellent selection of concentrates and one-shots all wrapped up in a terribly slow and cumbersome site. They also have a couple exclusive brands that make great flavors (Jungle Flavors & Flavor Express) ^Volume ^measuring ^supplies ^are ^available ^on ^their ^site. ^Payment ^Options: ^Credit ^Card
- Top 20 flavors: 10/13ml/30ml ($48) - ^2x ^LA ^only ^available ^in ^30ml
VG: 1000ml ($11.99)
PG: 250ml ($5.29)
Bottles: (10) 10ml (10) 30ml ($6.30)
Nicotine: 120ml 100mg ($14.99)
Shipping: Free
Total: $86.57
Nicotine River -- A one stop shop like ECX but with lower prices on most of their selections and also like ECX they have a couple flavor companies exclusively sold on their site (Purilum and Flavor Revolution)
^Volume ^measuring ^supplies ^are ^available ^on ^their ^site. ^Payment ^Options: ^Credit ^Card
-
Their DIY Kit: 15 flavors (of your choice) 1000ml of VG, (10) 30ml bottles, 150ml 48mg nic.
Add:
PG: 240ml
The rest of the top 20: $6.25
Shipping: Free
Total: $60.63 -
Top 20 flavors: 10ml ($35.82)
VG: 1000ml ($6.49)
PG: 240ml ($4.19)
Bottles: (10) 30ml ($5)
Nicotine: 150ml 100mg ($13.99)
Shipping: Free
Total: $65.49
Gremlin DIY -- Best customer service IMHO and great selection with a lot of companies flavors available in 5ml bottles, making them a great way to try a large variety of flavors at a small price. But their lack of bottles, nicotine, and measuring supplies make them a poor choice for a one stop shop.
^Payment ^Options: ^Paypal, ^Credit ^Card
- Top 20 flavors: 10/15ml ($43.25)
VG: 1000ml ($15)
PG: 240ml ($5)
Bottles: N/A (Recommend Ebay (15) 10ml $5.59 (15) 30ml $8.09 Free Shipping)
Nicotine: N/A (Recommend VapersTek 120ml 100mg ($14.99 + $4.82 S/H USPS -- $19.81)
Shipping: $20
Total: $116.74
Wizard Labs -- Large selection, great prices and yes, they’ve taken care of their security problems. Volume measuring supplies are available on their site.
^Payment ^Options: ^Credit ^Card, ^Bank ^Transfer ^or ^Paypal ^when ^not ^purchasing ^nicotine
- Top 20 flavors: 8ml ($31.73)
VG: 1000ml ($13.99)
PG: 250ml ($5.49)
Bottles: (10) 10ml (10) 30ml ($7.65)
Nicotine: 120ml 100mg ($15.99)
Shipping: Free
Total: $74.85
Liquid Nicotine Wholesalers -- Mixed reviews of their nicotine and their selection of flavors is lacking. Only 12 of the top 20 are available from them, which isn’t terrible, but some pretty useful brands are missing.
^Volume ^measuring ^supplies ^are ^available ^on ^their ^site. ^Payment ^Options: ^Credit ^Card
- Top 12 flavors: 15ml ($24.18)
VG: 1000ml ($7.99)
PG: 240ml ($5.99)
Bottles: (10) 15ml (10) 30ml ($6.98)
Nicotine: 120ml 100mg ($12.99)
Shipping: $11.67
Total: $69.80
And for the Canadians...
The Broke Vaper -- I see them recommended a lot here and they are a verified vendor, which basically means you might be able to page them here (maybe)
^Volume ^measuring ^supplies ^are ^available ^on ^their ^site. ^Payment ^Options: ^Credit ^Card
- Their DIY Kit (x2 for uniformity) 20 flavors, 2 liters of PG/VG, 10 30ml bottle, 10 10ml bottles, 4 120ml bottles, 2 5ml syringes, 2 nitrile gloves, 120ml of 100mg nicotine. Shipping: $20.95 (to Canada)
Total: $160.95 (CAD)
- Top 20 flavors: 10ml ($93)
VG: 1000ml ($13)
PG: 500ml ($10)
Bottles: (10) 10ml (10) 30ml ($6.50)
Nicotine: 120ml 100mg ($40)
Shipping: $20.95 (to Canada)
Total: $183.45 (CAD)
DIY-Ejuice -- Also a verified vendor and possibly the largest selection of flavors in Canada but I’m not 100% sure because this post is getting long and I’m too lazy to research.
^Volume ^measuring ^supplies ^are ^available ^on ^their ^site. ^Payment ^Options: ^Credit ^Card
- Top 20 flavors: 10ml ($88.50)
VG: 1000ml ($14.95)
PG: 250ml ($7.95)
Bottles: (10) 10ml (10) 30ml ($9.40)
Nicotine: N/A
Shipping: $8.47 (to Canada)
Total: $129.27 (CAD) without Nic
Bonus:
Chefs Flavours -- Massive selection of concentrates in the top 100 flavors and an even bigger variety of concentrates you’ve probably never heard of but want to try. They also have more one shots than any other vendor.
^Volume ^measuring ^supplies ^are ^available ^on ^their ^site. ^Payment ^Options: ^Credit ^Card
- Top 20 flavours: 10ml ($36.80)
VG: 1000ml (£14)
PG: 250ml (£4.01)
Bottles: (10) 30ml (£4.80)
Nicotine: N/A
Shipping: Free (UK delivery) (£5.00 outside UK)
Total: £59.61 (UK) or £64.61 (non-UK)
Another vote for Gremlin DIY! I absolutely love their customer service. I placed two orders in one weekend expecting them the following week and on Monday morning I received a phone call asking me if I wanted to combine the two orders into one box and keep the remaining shipping total as store credit.
Way to keep a customer Gremlin DIY.
Great post!
Great informative post. Only one thing I can think of that might be of interest. I mainly use two flavor sites. The speed at which my package is on its way varies between them. Most of the time site A has my order on its way, the very same day or the next at most. I'm not talking about just a shipping label created, its moving. Site B usually takes 2-3 days before it starts moving. Needless to say Site B has cheaper prices.
That's a good point and definitely one of the factors I consider when deciding who to grab flavors from. But I think for a first order that's somewhat less important. A lot of people get hung up on the start up cost of DIY and the idea of having to order from multiple places makes things more complicated. I was trying to simplify that part of it. My preferred vendor isn't the cheapest on the list but makes up for that with things like selection and shipping speed, things I think become more important on your second, third and twenty-fifth order ;)
Thanks, looking into DIY. Any recommendations on PG/VG?
Edit: Company recommendation
If you're planning to order it with everything else you need you really can't beat Nic Rivers price ($12.99/gal). I've personally never been able to discern a difference between one brand or another except for once when I ended up with some Humco, which wasn't even bad it just seemed slightly watered down.
The only brand I've ever seen a strong preference for was Liquid Barn VG and that is made by Musim Mas, which is the same company that Nic River gets their VG from.
thanks! was gona order all from BCV but they dont sell nic?
Was going go go with WL since it all can from from one place.. but idk if WL nic is decent.
I haven't ordered from them in a few years but I've heard that their new nic is better than before, so my dated opinion of their nic wouldn't be too helpful. If you do go with them and get a scale, make sure you pick up some pipettes because their 8ml flavors all come in vials.
edit: BCF doesn't sell nic anymore but when they did, they actually used VapersTek. It's just a coincidence that I picked them too.
Excellent post. This should be linked on the sidebar.
Also, to all Canadians: you have my sympathy.
It is sad that they can get a better deal ordering from across the Atlantic than they can in their own country or even their neighbors below. But their regulations, overall, don't suck as much as the US (yet) so I don't feel quite so bad.
Well, shipping is where it hurts canada... and I can always order from thebrokevaper and go pick up my order in person to save money. Or order from dashvapes, and get the free shipping. And Chef's might seem better until the exchange rate hits (the pound is more than $2Cdn quite often) but then Chef's carries things nobody in canada does. Then again.. I've ordered from Chef's, tbv, nic river, and a few more... if one site had reasonable shipping and competitive prices and carried every flavor and additive, it'd be nice.
At least at the time of posting it would be about $26 CAD less to buy those 20 flavors from Chefs than diy-ejuice and $30 less than thebrokevaper. Not sure if that price difference holds when you start getting flavors larger than 10ml but it seems like you Canadians just have to pay more for flavors in general.
Great informative post! Your posts here are few and far between but always top quality information. Do you mind if this winds up in the sidebar somewhere?
What do you think about prefacing it with something about "thinking of mixing your own juice, but aren't sure about the cost?" and reposting it to ECR?
Also, the last time the "First Order Flavors" thing was updated was in January 2017, with "What can I make with these flavors?" added as a new feature to help new mixers. Who thinks those flavors/recipes should be updated for 2018?
I typically hide out in the comments but hanging out in the sidebar sounds like fun. I'd definitely want to clarify a few things in the preface before it goes there or ECR. I'll PM you later after I find time to do that.
The "First Order Flavors" should probably be updated but I honestly doubt much of the list will change. Either way it's a good idea to show how well the staple flavors hold up to all their new competition and give some of the new flavors a chance to make the cut.
Alright, I'll await your clarifications before putting it anywhere.
I'll run the same sort of voting thing on the first order flavors/what can I make recipes that I did in December 2016 again after the Recipe of Year is announced. Don't want people to have more than one thing at a time to vote on.