Old Goat
Administrator
Letâs get one thing straight, loud and clear: the idea that DIY e-liquid is âbad for businessâ is some of the most backwards, bootlicking corporate garbage Iâve heard in a long time. And thanks to the VSML podcast The Pack Breakers for lighting this fuse â because this goatâs ready to charge.
You Think DIY is the Problem? Wake the Hell Up.
Some folks out here are clutching their pearls like a vaper with a burnt coil, claiming that people mixing at home are tanking vape shops. Youâve gotta be kidding me. DIY mixers arenât a threat â theyâre the damn reason your shop exists. Every top-shelf juice brand on your display rack? That started in someoneâs kitchen. One dude, one set of scales, a nose for flavor, and the guts to experiment. The only difference? Some got lucky with funding. Most didnât. And now theyâre getting told theyâre bad for business?
Get real.
The Real Parasite? Disposables.
You want to talk about whatâs actually draining the industry dry? Look at that wall of rainbow-colored disposables behind your counter. Thatâs not variety â thatâs a landfill in waiting. They donât encourage exploration. They donât teach you a damn thing. They sell once and end up in the trash. Thatâs whatâs killing juice sales. Not the dude in his garage fine-tuning a strawberry custard like itâs a Michelin-star dish.
Disposable culture is fast-food vaping. No commitment, no curiosity, no soul. Itâs everything we used to stand against. And now vape shops are throwing DIYers under the bus while building a shrine to the very thing thatâs gutting the culture from the inside out? Thatâs goatshit, plain and simple.
Regulations: A Gilded Cage for the Big Dogs
Letâs not ignore the real reason DIY is under siege: the rules are built to suffocate the little guy. Testing costs, compliance paperwork, licensing fees â itâs a labyrinth of red tape designed to keep the hobbyist out and the corporations comfy. Thatâs not safety. Thatâs gatekeeping.
And while weâre at it, letâs talk theft. Because more than a few DIYers have seen their hard-won recipes show up on a shelf with a shiny label and zero credit. No compensation. No acknowledgment. Just quiet appropriation, hidden behind the excuse that the âlittle guyâ wasnât legit enough to protect their work. Thatâs not business. Thatâs exploitation.
DIY Isnât a Threat â Itâs the Soul of Vaping
The DIYer isnât your enemy. Theyâre your most loyal customer. They know their gear, they understand flavor layering better than most manufacturers, and theyâre the ones dragging newbies into the light with education, not marketing. They donât just keep the culture alive â they built it.
Shops that are smart know this. They hold mix meets. They stock concentrates. They offer advice. Because they know that selling a few bottles of flavoring now builds a relationship that lasts years. Because DIYers donât leave. They donât flit from brand to brand. They stick with what works. And if your shop works with them? Youâre golden.
Yes, Thereâs a Wrong Way to DIY â Thatâs Why We Teach
Look, Iâm not saying every bottle brewed in a kitchen is pure gold. The 2019 EVALI crisis proved what happens when people cut corners or chase profit with zero care. That vitamin E acetate mess in THC carts wasnât just dangerous â it was deadly. But lumping all DIY into that chaos? Thatâs lazy, fear-mongering trash.
What we should be doing is giving DIYers the tools and education to do it right. Food-safe concentrates. Quality base liquids. Mix workshops. Community support. You want safety? You build it. Not with bans â with knowledge.
The Final Word from the Old Goat
DIY isnât the problem. It never was. Itâs the heart of what made vaping worth fighting for in the first place. The innovation. The independence. The refusal to settle for what someone else thinks you should like.
So to the shops whining about a few hobbyists stealing their thunder â sit down and reevaluate. Because if you canât see the value in a customer whoâs deeply involved, educated, and passionate? Maybe youâre the one who's bad for business.
Raise your bottle to the homebrew heroes â the unsung alchemists of the vape world. Because without them, there is no culture to save.
Want to follow the Old Goat into battle for vaping sanity?
Check out my full rants and reviews at oldgoatvape.com
Or come shout with me on Instagram: @old_goat_82
Disposables are the disease. DIY is the damn cure.
You Think DIY is the Problem? Wake the Hell Up.
Some folks out here are clutching their pearls like a vaper with a burnt coil, claiming that people mixing at home are tanking vape shops. Youâve gotta be kidding me. DIY mixers arenât a threat â theyâre the damn reason your shop exists. Every top-shelf juice brand on your display rack? That started in someoneâs kitchen. One dude, one set of scales, a nose for flavor, and the guts to experiment. The only difference? Some got lucky with funding. Most didnât. And now theyâre getting told theyâre bad for business?
Get real.
The Real Parasite? Disposables.
You want to talk about whatâs actually draining the industry dry? Look at that wall of rainbow-colored disposables behind your counter. Thatâs not variety â thatâs a landfill in waiting. They donât encourage exploration. They donât teach you a damn thing. They sell once and end up in the trash. Thatâs whatâs killing juice sales. Not the dude in his garage fine-tuning a strawberry custard like itâs a Michelin-star dish.
Disposable culture is fast-food vaping. No commitment, no curiosity, no soul. Itâs everything we used to stand against. And now vape shops are throwing DIYers under the bus while building a shrine to the very thing thatâs gutting the culture from the inside out? Thatâs goatshit, plain and simple.
Regulations: A Gilded Cage for the Big Dogs
Letâs not ignore the real reason DIY is under siege: the rules are built to suffocate the little guy. Testing costs, compliance paperwork, licensing fees â itâs a labyrinth of red tape designed to keep the hobbyist out and the corporations comfy. Thatâs not safety. Thatâs gatekeeping.
And while weâre at it, letâs talk theft. Because more than a few DIYers have seen their hard-won recipes show up on a shelf with a shiny label and zero credit. No compensation. No acknowledgment. Just quiet appropriation, hidden behind the excuse that the âlittle guyâ wasnât legit enough to protect their work. Thatâs not business. Thatâs exploitation.
DIY Isnât a Threat â Itâs the Soul of Vaping
The DIYer isnât your enemy. Theyâre your most loyal customer. They know their gear, they understand flavor layering better than most manufacturers, and theyâre the ones dragging newbies into the light with education, not marketing. They donât just keep the culture alive â they built it.
Shops that are smart know this. They hold mix meets. They stock concentrates. They offer advice. Because they know that selling a few bottles of flavoring now builds a relationship that lasts years. Because DIYers donât leave. They donât flit from brand to brand. They stick with what works. And if your shop works with them? Youâre golden.
Yes, Thereâs a Wrong Way to DIY â Thatâs Why We Teach
Look, Iâm not saying every bottle brewed in a kitchen is pure gold. The 2019 EVALI crisis proved what happens when people cut corners or chase profit with zero care. That vitamin E acetate mess in THC carts wasnât just dangerous â it was deadly. But lumping all DIY into that chaos? Thatâs lazy, fear-mongering trash.
What we should be doing is giving DIYers the tools and education to do it right. Food-safe concentrates. Quality base liquids. Mix workshops. Community support. You want safety? You build it. Not with bans â with knowledge.
The Final Word from the Old Goat
DIY isnât the problem. It never was. Itâs the heart of what made vaping worth fighting for in the first place. The innovation. The independence. The refusal to settle for what someone else thinks you should like.
So to the shops whining about a few hobbyists stealing their thunder â sit down and reevaluate. Because if you canât see the value in a customer whoâs deeply involved, educated, and passionate? Maybe youâre the one who's bad for business.
Raise your bottle to the homebrew heroes â the unsung alchemists of the vape world. Because without them, there is no culture to save.
Want to follow the Old Goat into battle for vaping sanity?
Check out my full rants and reviews at oldgoatvape.com Or come shout with me on Instagram: @old_goat_82Disposables are the disease. DIY is the damn cure.