Cheap E-liquid vs premium E-liquid, Whats the Difference?
As with all consumable products they tend to be classified into two categories. Cheap or premium. E-liquid is no different. What makes an E-liquid cheap or and E-liquid premium. There a few factors that can differ between these two types of e-liquids.
Ingredients- As with anything you purchase there is materials, ingredients or build quality to take into account. When manufacturing E-liquid there is also costs to these ingredients. A cheap E-liquid may be made with lower quality ingredients. Whether that’s cheap nicotine, VG, PG or flavoring there is a lot that can be saved per bottle of E-liquid when buying poor quality raw materials to make it. This may or may not be apparent in the end product. In most cases it is noticeable to the consumer. Most manufacturers luckily follow an un written standard to use only the best quality ingredients available. So when someone markets their products as cheap e-liquid or premium e-liquid it really comes down to the next factors more than ingredients itself.
Manufacturing costs- As you can imagine not all labor markets, insurance markets and property markets are created equal. This can drive the price of a product up substantially or conversely it can drive the price down. In many cases manufacturers make E-liquid in ISO 7 Laboratories. This is a clean room certification that states the air is very clean and filtered using HEPA. In respect to the air around you ISO 7 is around 10x-100x cleaner depending where you live. Maintaining this level of cleanliness comes at a cost. Many consumers never think to ask their manufacturers where they make their products. It may come as a surprise that some companies still manufacture in open air warehouses or even the basement of their homes. These differences really can change the price of the final E-liquid products. Luckily as regulation on vape products have gotten stricter worldwide it is driving these fly by night operations away.
Economies of scale- This can really depend on the manufacturer however some have automated equipment which helps bring down the cost of manufacturing. Also the more you make of one thing the cheaper it gets to make due to economies of scale. This allows many manufacturers to take advantage of this by purchase large quantities of raw materials at once to get discounts and pass those savings forward. Sometimes these savings are not actually passed on but instead used to invest back into the company or perhaps spent on marketing.
Marketing- This is a big cost for many manufacturers. While marketing of products may traditionally be television or radio ads. For vaping most parts of the world restrict this form of advertising of vape products. Instead we usually attend very expensive trade shows/expos to show off our vape products to consumers and retailers alike. These shows are generally very expensive and all over the world so travel and accommodations for a large crew get costly as well.
Packaging- E-liquid packaging has become more standardized in the last couple of years with the invention of the chubby gorilla bottle. Chubby gorilla makes the best bottles for E-liquid on the market, however as with anything they are often imitated. These knockoff bottles can come at a 50% discount however generally provide a terrible experience for consumers due to leaking. Cheap E-liquid may use a lesser quality bottle while a premium E-liquid may use authentic chubby gorilla bottles.
As you can see there are many factors that go into whether a product is cheap E-liquid or premium E-liquid. One thing to remember is a lot of times this just comes down to marketing of the E-liquid in an attempt to capture the consumer with a cheaper price or more premium quality feeling E-liquid. If you love the taste of an E-liquid and it was made by a reputable manufacturer then just enjoy it!
