E-Cigarette reviews for the rest of us

Why Are Some E-Cigarettes So Expensive?


One of the things that makes the e-cigarette industry so confusing to first-timers is the enormous price variance from one model to another. If you can find good e-cigarette starter kits for $50 and below, why do some e-cigarettes cost over $150 — and sometimes as much as almost $350? The difference isn’t the quality of the product so much, but rather what vendors think the market will bear. Some of the companies that charge the most for their e-cigarettes also have very large advertising budgets, which means that one of these companies may have been the one through which you first heard about e-cigarettes. Therefore, you might conclude that the high price is simply normal. The secret of the e-cigarette industry, though, is that the e-cigarettes selling for $100 or more are often exactly the same as the ones selling for $50 or less.



E-Cigarettes Expensive

E-Cigarette Suppliers: The Industry’s Worst-Kept Secret

Although USA-made electronic cigarettes are available and often extremely high-quality, the Chinese are the inventors of the electronic cigarette and Chinese manufacturers supply most of the e-cigarettes sold throughout the world. So, whether you’re buying a Blu, a White Cloud or any of the other big e-cigarette brands you can name, you’re getting something built by one of China’s big e-cigarette manufacturers. For all I know, the same manufacturer may supply all of the companies I’ve just named. So, why would you pay well over $100 when another company’s e-cigarette looks the same, tastes the same and performs the same for under $50? You should only think about paying that much if you’re getting a kit with a ton of accessories and supplies, which is something I discuss in my article about the best e-cigarette for beginners.

E-Cigarette Knockoffs: What Intellectual Property?

The Chinese company Ruyan invented the electronic cigarette and has been selling e-cigarettes and similar products since at least 2004. However, if you look at a list of the current top e-cigarette manufacturers, you may not even see their name — in spite of the fact that Ruyan holds patents for the e-cigarette around the world. The problem is that knockoff products are a way of life in China, and so many companies have taken up e-cigarette manufacturing that some vendors in the United States and elsewhere are now essentially selling low-cost knockoffs of knockoffs. This isn’t to say that I advocate buying a $150 e-cigarette kit just because the vendor is a trusted “name brand.” Even when purchased from China’s top manufacturers, the wholesale price of an e-cigarette kit is often $15 or less. Even at around $50 per kit, the vendor’s profit margin will be excellent — and for most kits, that’s the most you should be willing to pay.

The Importance of E-Cigarette Reviews

Although there’s less variation between e-cigarette brands than the marketing would have you believe, there are a few brands that don’t quite perform as they should. Some companies sell some pretty bad e-liquids and others sell e-cigarettes that simply don’t produce enough vapor or don’t live up to the vendor’s claims for battery life. If you get burned by one of these bad products once, you’ll probably never buy another e-cigarette, so it’s important to read an honest review before buying.


  1. The most irritating featyure of rechargeble e-cigs is the poor Q of the usb-socket. They are so feebly attached, that they break loose relatively fast, and it is not possible to repair them for a reasonable cost.

    • Yeah, that’s the most retarded part. I’ve had two batteries, a Veco one & a iJust S, and they’re dead or not working.

      My third one (which is again a Veco one), won’t charge at all since yesterday, and I have to buy a new one.

      Worst thing is that no one sells standalone batteries, except the more expensive mods, so I have to buy the whole kit.

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