Will The Disposable Vape Ban Lead To Cheaper Vape Kits?

On 1st June 2025, a ban on disposable single-use vapes came into effect, which makes it illegal for them to be sold and is expected to have a dramatic effect on how people will use their e-cigarettes.

The ban, which according to government advice makes it illegal to sell vapes that have a non-rechargeable battery, cannot be refilled and have non-replaceable coils if a particular device requires one. It covers all types of vapes, no matter the level of nicotine they contain.

A lot of the effects of the ban were seen in advance of the day itself, and there was a wide range of different reactions. Some people have stocked up to take advantage of clearance sales and evaluate their options, as disposable vapes are illegal to sell but not illegal to use.

Others, including people who also stocked up, are looking into their options and are trying to find a suitable replacement that uses renewable vape juice but retains the same familiar feel that they are used to with their preferred vape.

Another potential effect of the vaping ban could be the rise of high-quality vapes that are very similar in design, feel and price to the outgoing disposable vapes, offering the best of both worlds to people who rely on disposable vapes to stop smoking.

How Different Are Disposable Vapes To Other Products?

On a fundamental level, disposable vapes are not overly dissimilar to other vape products, which naturally begs the question of how difficult it would be to convert several popular designs or brands into refillable pod vapes or smaller prefilled units.

There are some differences in the designs, with disposables inherently being made from cheaper materials in self-contained designs, as neither the battery nor the tank would need to be refilled. They also lacked any of the adjustable settings or visual displays of a typical box mod.

On a fundamental level, however, disposable vapes use the same fundamental design as any other vape product, which means that manufacturers can transplant many of the same components used in disposable vapes into other types of refillable vape products.

Supply And Demand

As with any other consumer product, vape prices are often dictated by economies of scale. It is much easier and cheaper per unit to produce something at higher quantities than lower ones, as you can set up dedicated processes to make the process faster and more economical.

This is part of the reason why disposable vapes sold so cheaply; all of the components were easy to mass produce, were readily available and there was enough scope to cut costs.

Similarly, as the demand shifts towards refillable alternatives, whatever the market opts for instead will start to similarly reduce in price as they become more numerous and cheaper to make.

Exactly when this will happen will depend on what people who used to exclusively use disposable vapes decide to use instead. Some will rely on their stockpile, whilst those who already have a pod mod or box mod will just switch to that.

The final part of the market will have a lot of options to choose from, but time will tell which type of renewable vape they go for, as this will ultimately shape the cost of vapes.

Will A Refillable Vape Save You Money?

The irony of disposable vapes is that there was a degree of false economy to relying on them as a long-term replacement for smoking.

They were cheaper for a single unit than a refillable kit, but the more you buy, the more that value erodes as you need to buy a new disposable every time and safely dispose of the old one.

By contrast, whilst the initial cost of a pod mod or box mod vape was typically higher, and in the case of higher quality box mods considerably higher, the fact that replacement pods or bottles of vape juice were so much cheaper means that they will very quickly prove their value.

This has always been the case for people who vape a lot, even when refillable vape products were much more expensive than disposable ones, but as affordable starter kits get even cheaper, potentially reaching parity with disposable ones, these benefits will become more and more apparent.

What also helps is that modern vape tanks are far easier to fill than in the past, coils are easier to replace and the entire process can be skipped by using a pod-based system instead which makes it incredibly simple and straightforward.