We’ve got a shorter update for you today, and a more cheerful one than the last! This one is about base liquid, and it comes with a discount rather than prices rising...

From today, until 30 September, code BASE15 gets you 15% off all VG, PG and Base Mix, every size, no minimum!

In the last update I explained why some larger product prices had to go up. It would be fair to ask why we’re now doing the opposite on base. The short answer is that base is the main thing every mixer needs, and without it, there is no mixing. We want you to be able to keep mixing long into the future!

This discount loses us money on almost every order, especially once subsidised shipping is considered. VG & PG in their pure form are the tightest-margin products in our range.

Our Glycerine is 99.7%+ pure pharmaceutical-grade, and the highest common standard/ (EP/USP grade) are 99.5%+. We don’t use palm derived products, and the source material is always of vegetable origin rather than synthetic. This quality of product costs more than those with more basic specifications, and we do it because it is totally clear and odourless, so it allows the ingredients you want to experience, such as flavours and nicotine, to shine. It makes the overall experience of our products as good as can be.

By the time you take 15% off and account for the delivery we subsidise, production costs, card fees, and packing, there’s nothing left on the typical order. Sometimes less than nothing.

We’re running it anyway, because base is the thing everything else depends on. When your VG runs out, mixing stops, and you’re back to paying finished-liquid prices. It has always suited us for every mixing customer to have plenty of base in stock, which is why we’ve kept it close to cost for years. 

Right now there’s one more reason, and it’s the same one behind almost everything we’ve written since spring: After 30 September, the government adds more tax to a litre of base than the litre costs by a factor of 30!

Here are the numbers, because they still surprise people: 

Vape Duty applies to all vaping liquid from 1 October. Not just nicotine. Not just flavoured liquid.

HMRC’s guidance names propylene glycol and vegetable glycerine sold for vaping specifically.

Plenty of people in the comments haven’t believed this, which I understand, so don’t take my word for it: here’s HMRC saying it themselves...

The rate is 22p per ml, with VAT charged on top of the duty. What that means for the products in this
promotion:

• A 1L bottle of VG with BASE15 today: £3.82. The duty and VAT-on-duty on that same litre
from October: £264.
• 5L of VG today with the code: £16.11. The tax on it from October: £1,320.

I’ve read those numbers dozens of times over the past few months and they still look absurd to me.
But they’re real, they’re law, and they start in four weeks.

What you’re actually buying from us

Since we’re asking you to buy base in quantity, it’s worth explaining what the stuff is.

Ours is USP/EP grade minimum, which means it meets the pharmacopoeia standards used for medicines. Our glycerine is higher still, as mentioned earlier in this article.

That’s the grade you want in something you inhale. There’s cheaper base around, particularly on marketplaces, but some of it can be food or industrial-grade. Both are perfectly legal for what they’re meant for. Neither is meant for a coil.

We buy from a small number of suppliers of the highest quality ingredients, we test batches when they arrive, and we’ve done it that way for over a decade. It’s why our base tastes of nothing, which is the whole job of base, and it’s why it keeps for years.

How much to buy

Work from how much you vape. If you get through about 20ml a day, that’s roughly 6 litres of base a year, and 12 litres covers you for two. It sounds like a lot. It’s one small storage box. Storage is the easy part. VG and PG naturally resist bacterial growth and keep for years sealed.

Cool, dark, lids on tight, oldest bottles first. A cupboard away from a radiator is all you need. No fridge required, though it wouldn’t hurt. The full storage rundown, including nicotine and concentrates, is in our long-term storage guide.

If you know your ratio, Base Mix saves you the measuring. If you like flexibility, buy VG and PG separately and you’re covered for any recipe you drift towards.

One more thing coming down the road

The duty is confirmed law. Behind it sits a consultation, closing 2 October, proposing plain packaging, display restrictions and single-word flavour names. None of that is law yet, and consultations have to run their course, but the direction the government is taking isn’t hard to read.

From October there are also duty stamps on every retail bottle, with pre-October stock sellable until the end of March 2027.

I mention it not to pile on the doom, but because it’s context for why we keep saying the same thing: the products, the prices and the freedom to stock up the way you want all exist in their current form until 30 September. After that, the rules change and everyone’s costs change with them, ours included.

The deal

BASE15. 15% off all VG, PG and Base Mix, until 30 September. We lose a bit on it, you save the biggest single amount available anywhere in DIY right now, and both of us walk into October in better shape.

Free UK delivery over £40 as always, and if you’re unsure about grades, quantities or storage, email info@darkstar.co.uk or use the live chat. We’d rather help you buy the right amount than the largest
amount.

Thank you, as ever, for the support you’ve shown us through all of this. The comments on the last letter meant a great deal.

Happy mixing!

Rob Scammell - Managing Director 
DarkStar