Vaping Costs Too Much? Here’s What You Can Do

Do you vape? If so, there’s a good chance that you’ve noticed a bit of a creep in prices over the last few years. It began with the supply chain issues that almost every industry faced in 2020 and continued with the semiconductor shortage that happened almost immediately after. Those issues have mostly been resolved at this point, but you know how things are with consumer prices: Once they come up, they rarely go back down. 

The good news is that there are actually several easy ways to save money on vaping – and none of them require you to accept a lower level of satisfaction. If you find that vaping costs too much, here’s what you need to do.

Buy Vapes in Bulk

One thing you can probably agree on is that the classic vape shop business model has become outdated in the age of disposable vapes. A modern disposable typically lasts somewhere in the range of 7-10 days, and you dispose of it when it’s out of e-liquid. That means you’re most likely using three or four vapes per month.

You can go to your local vape shop and buy new vapes as you need them, but plenty of people don’t shop that way. They’d rather buy in bulk, which means that they won’t have to think about stocking up again for a while.

The problem with most vape shops, though, is that your price per vape doesn’t change regardless of how many devices you buy; it’s the same price whether you buy one or 10. That model works if you’re buying refillable vapes, but it’s hardly ideal for disposables.

What’s the solution? Find a shop that offers bulk vapes with a pricing model that makes sense for bigger purchases. A vape shop that’s set up to sell disposable vapes in bulk will give you a better price per unit as you buy more. 

Change Your Vaping Patterns

When people switch from smoking to vaping, they sometimes notice that they end up vaping more often than they previously smoked. That’s because vaping has two key differences from smoking. The first is that it tastes dramatically better; people are often shocked by how smooth vaping is without the harshness of cigarette smoke. Put simply, vaping is more enjoyable than smoking.

The second difference between smoking and vaping can affect the cost even more dramatically than the superior flavor: It’s the fact that vaping doesn’t automatically limit your usage in the way that smoking does. 

When you smoke cigarettes, your usage is limited in several ways. You remove a cigarette from the pack to smoke. You can see how many are left, and you want to conserve because cigarettes are expensive. A cigarette also only lasts just a few minutes. After you puff on it about 10 times, it’ll burn out.

Vaping, on the other hand, is completely different. A device doesn’t have enough e-liquid for a few minutes – it has enough to last days. A single device can give you thousands of puffs. Between that and the fact that disposable vapes taste great, it’s possible that you keep your vape in your hand and puff on it almost non-stop all day long. The end result is that you’re probably vaping more often than what’s necessary to satisfy your nicotine requirements. 

The solution to this problem is very simple: Try putting your vape down when you aren’t using it. If you put it on a table across the room from where you usually sit, that’s even better. Keeping the device out of your immediate reach means that, when you feel compelled to vape, you’ll think about whether you actually need the nicotine before you walk across the room to grab it. That one difference will probably be enough for you to reduce your vaping by as much as half, which essentially means that you’re also making vaping half as expensive.

Try a Refillable Vape

If vaping is still too expensive for you even with bulk purchases, it might be time to consider switching to a different type of device. Although the price per vape has gotten higher as time has gone by, disposable vapes are still more affordable over time than they used to be because they hold much more e-liquid. It was once typical for a disposable vape to come pre-filled with about 2 ml of vape juice. Today, it’s more like 20 ml. That definitely makes disposables more affordable than they used to be, but it’s nothing compared to the savings you’ll enjoy if you switch to a refillable vape.

How much cheaper is a refillable vape compared to disposables? For one thing, the same $20 or so that typically gets you one disposable vape is more than enough for a solid middle-of-the-road refillable device designed to deliver a good experience with the same type of high-strength e-liquid you’re using now. Replacement pods usually cost just a few dollars each and typically last at least a few weeks. The best part, though, is the e-liquid itself. A typical bottle of nicotine salt e-liquid contains 30 ml of vape juice and costs about $7. Once you’ve switched over, your savings will only add up.

Buy Vapes on a Reservation

Do you live near tribal land? If so, there’s a good chance that you sometimes bought your cigarettes from a smoke shop on the reservation when you were a smoker. Cigarettes cost less on reservations because they’re on sovereign land. Federal taxes still apply to cigarettes purchased at tribal smoke shops, but state taxes sometimes don’t.

Here’s what’s changed about tribal smoke shops over the last few years: Many of them are now basically vape shops because so many people have switched to vaping. If you’re fortunate enough to live near a reservation, take advantage of that fact by buying your vapes on tribal land. State taxes sometimes won’t apply, and there is no federal tax on vapes as of September 2026. The end result is that your prices can be dramatically lower. Your actual experience, however, may vary depending on your state’s laws and any agreements in place with that tribe.