What to Stock Up On Before the Vape Tax (And How Much)

The vape tax starts on 1 October 2026. If you mix your own e-liquid, the question worth asking is not “should I panic buy?”

It is: what do I actually use, and what is worth buying before the duty starts?

This guide covers what to prioritise, how to work out your own numbers, and how to store everything so it is still good in a year’s time.

Why October Matters

Quick recap if you missed our full vape tax explainer: from 1 October 2026, vaping liquids made in or imported into the UK carry a new duty of 22p per ml. That is £2.20 on every 10ml, £22 on every 100ml, and £220 on every litre, before VAT gets added on top of the duty.

HMRC guidance says products manufactured or imported before 1 October 2026 are not classed as excise goods and carry no VPD liability. In plain English: what you buy before the duty starts was made before the duty existed, so the new duty is not built into its price.

That window closes on 1 October and does not come back.

The Priority List

The duty is a flat rate per ml, so it hits big bottles hardest. That tells you what to buy first.

Priority 1: VG, PG and Base Mix

This is the big one.

Base liquid is almost pure volume. A 500ml bottle of VG sold as a vaping product after the duty applies carries £110 in duty, plus £22 VAT on that duty, before anyone has paid for the liquid itself, the bottle or the shipping.

Nobody knows exactly what shelf prices will look like in October. What we can say is that £220+VAT is without doubt the amount of tax on 1000ml of liquid intended for vaping use (£2.20/10ml x100), so large bottles of base will never be this cheap again. Not by a very long way!

If you mix regularly, base should be the first thing in your basket. Work out what you use (there is a table for that below), decide how much cash and cupboard space you can commit, and buy accordingly.

To make the decision easier, we are running 10% off all VG, PG and Base Mix, every size, with code VGPGBASE. No minimum. We would rather you sort your base out now than wish you had in November.

Priority 2: Nicotine Shots

Nic shots take the same £2.20 per bottle hit as any other 10ml. Worth stocking, but with more care than base, because nicotine degrades with heat, light and air.

A 12 to 24 month supply is sensible for most people, but given the possible savings, many will want to go further than this. Longer is possible with proper storage (details below). If you're planning to fill a freezer with five years of nicotine shots, be sure you know what you are doing - safety is a factor if food is in the same freezer, so a dedicated appliance would be best for this, and of course you want to be sure you've only stocked up on products you're sure you'll want to use!.

Priority 3: Concentrates and Flavour

Concentrates are also worth stocking, your regular flavours especially, but they are third on the list for a reason. A 10ml concentrate carries £2.20 of duty after October.

Annoying, but nothing like the £220+VAT on a litre bottle of base.

Stock the flavours you know you love. This is not the moment to buy fifteen experimental flavours you have never tried. We have all done it. It never ends well!

How Much Do You Actually Need?

Your base usage depends on how much you vape and your mixing style. If your flavour sits at around 10% of the mix, base makes up nearly all the rest.

A 20ml-a-day vaper uses roughly 6 litres of base a year. That sounds like a lot until you see it stacked in a cupboard. It is one small storage box.

For nicotine, the rule of thumb on a typical 3mg mix is one 18mg nic shot per 50ml of finished liquid.

For concentrates at 10%, one 10ml bottle makes about 100ml of finished liquid.

Bottle Shots and One Shots vary by format and recommended percentage, so check the product listing and scale accordingly.

What Does Getting This Right Save?

Six litres of base, a year’s worth for a typical mixer, carries £1,584 of duty and VAT- on-duty after October. That is not the price of the product. That is just the tax. Those numbers speak for themselves.

A Worked 12-Month Example

For someone vaping around 20ml a day at 3mg:

• Base: around 6 litres
• Nic shots: around 144 × 10ml
• Concentrates: around 24 × 30ml bottles of your proven favourites (fewer if you use Bottle Shots or One Shots)
• Empty bottles: enough for your usual batch sizes
• Labels: more useful than you think

Adjust for your own habits. Vape less, buy less. Already have stock, count it first. The goal is a plan, not a bunker.

Storing It All Properly

A year of supplies only helps if it is still good in month eleven. Everything here stores well if you treat it right, and we wrote a full guide to storing e-liquid and base long-term. The short version:

VG and PG are easy. Sealed, cool, dark. A cupboard is fine. A garage is fine if it does not roast in summer. Sealed base keeps for years. No freezer needed.

Nicotine needs respect. Sealed until needed, fridge for longer life, freezer for long- term storage. Light and heat are the enemy. Slight darkening over time is normal. Heavy browning or a harsh peppery smell means it is past its best. Wear gloves when handling, and store separately from any food if you can't use a dedicated freezer.

Concentrates are low-maintenance. Lids tight, cool and dark, not left open on a desk for a week. Most sealed concentrates last a long time, and some dessert profiles improve with a few months on them.

The Grace Period, Briefly

You might have read about transitional rules and duty stamps. Most of that is manufacturer and retailer machinery. It is our problem, not yours.

For customers it comes down to one sentence: products made before 1 October 2026 carry no VPD, so buying before the duty starts means buying before the duty is in the price.

One caution. Do not assume everything you want will still be on the shelf at pre-duty prices on 30 September. If a lot of people stock up, and they will, popular lines go early. Planning in August beats scrambling in September.

Don’t Forget the Boring Stuff

If you are placing a proper stock-up order, round it out:

• Empty mixing bottles
• Labels
• Gloves for nicotine handling
• A notebook or spreadsheet for recipes
• A clean storage box

None of it is glamorous. All of it makes the next year easier.

The Bottom Line

Base first, and with 10% off all VG, PG and Base Mix (code VGPGBASE) there has never been a better time. Nicotine second, stored properly. Concentrates third, favourites only.

This is not panic buying. It is doing the maths before the maths changes. If you mix regularly, an hour of planning now is worth hundreds of pounds later.

What is your stock-up plan? How much base are you putting away, and which flavours make your must-keep list? Drop it in the comments. Your plan might be the sanity-check someone else needs.

Start with our VG/PG base range (remember the code), then round out with nicotine shots, Bottle Shots, One Shots and flavour concentrates when you are ready to build your plan.

This article is customer guidance based on our current understanding of public VPD information. It is not legal or tax advice, and details may change as HMRC guidance develops.

This is Part 2 of our Vape Tax 2026 series. Part 1: The Vape Tax Explained. Part 3 coming soon.