Online pricing trends in the United States

Down, down, down

The budget buy?

Bang for the buck

No pressure

There has been a significant downward trend in U.S. online prices for rechargeable cigalike starter kits, cartomisers, and e-liquid over the last 12 months.

Despite the wild price variations shown above, box mods do – unsurprisingly – become consistently more expensive as their power output increases.

Prices vary dramatically for identical box mods sold by the top ten multi-brand sites. This suggests there is little competitive pressure on prices in the U.S. online e-cigarette market for these products.

20

40

60

80

100

120

lowest price average price highest price

$

Once, vaping on a budget seemed a no-brainer: cigalikes cost much less than the other options. But by mid-2015, the average price of eGo-style starter kits had slipped below the average of rechargeable cigalike starter kits for the first time.

Does this really make the eGo devices cheaper, though? It’s a tougher question than some shoppers may realise.

True, a first purchase of e-liquid costs about another $10 on top of the eGo kit, which drives up the initial investment. But over the longer term, the eGo approach offers more cost-effective vaping. So the consumer’s choice is more complex now than simply comparing price tags.

box mods by output

$33.97

20W

$37.97

30W

$47.20

50W

$67.97

70W

$79.14

100W

$89.39

150W

(mid-2015 average price across top ten U.S. multi-brand e-cigarette Websites)

cigalike starter kit

$32.29

eGo-style starter kit

$30.68

cartomisers

-19.93%

2015

$2.17

2014

$2.71

e-liquid

-13.28%

2015

$8.23

2014

$9.49

cigalike starter kits

2015

$32.29

2014

$38.97

Eleaf iStick 30W1

1

1

1

Kanger SUBOXMini 50W KIT

2

2

2

2Innokin iTasteMVP 3.0 PRO 60W KIT

3

3

3

3

Joyetech eVic-TC60W KIT

44

4

4

Pioneer4you iPV Mini II 70W

5

5

5

5

Sigelei 150W6

6

6

6

$24.99

$59.99

$68.95$64.99

$57.95

$77.95

$35.48

$76.38

$79.14

$83.06

$67.97

$89.39

$44.99

$83.99

$97.99$103.49

$77.95

$108.49

-17.14%