Buying wholesale? Prices for all our wholesale disposables are on one page. Minimum order quantity from 10 pcs on many models, no minimum order value, retail orders even from 3 pcs.
Choosing a wholesale supplier is the single decision that shapes everything else in a vape business. It sets your margins, decides how fast you can restock, and determines whether you spend your week selling or chasing an order that never shipped.
This guide covers what to actually check before you place a first bulk order.
1. Minimum Order Quantity: The First Filter
Most wholesale suppliers publish a minimum order quantity, or MOQ. Some sell only in large lots per product. For an established chain that is nothing. For a shop that opened last month, it is a serious bet on a device you have never sold.
The question is not simply “who has the lowest MOQ”. It is whether the supplier lets you scale. A supplier that only sells in large lots forces you to guess. A supplier that lets you order 10 pieces first and 500 later lets you find out.
What to ask: Can I order a small test quantity of a new device? What does the price ladder look like as I scale up? Is the MOQ per product or per order?
2. Where the Stock Physically Sits
This matters more than most new retailers expect. A supplier can offer excellent prices and still be the wrong choice if every order takes several weeks to arrive.
There are broadly two models:
Shipping from Asia. Lower unit prices, wider selection, but longer lead times — typically 8 to 12 days for air freight, considerably longer by sea. Customs handling is on you or your supplier depending on the terms.
Shipping from a European warehouse. Higher unit cost in most cases, but delivery in days rather than weeks and no customs handling on arrival. For restocking a best seller, this is usually worth the difference.
A common approach is to use both: European stock for fast-moving products they cannot afford to run out of, Asian stock for planned bulk purchases where the lead time is not a problem.
3. Understand How Tiered Pricing Actually Works
Wholesale pricing is almost never a single number. It is a ladder: order 60 pieces and you pay one price, order 500 and you pay less per unit.
Two things are worth checking carefully:
Is the full ladder visible before you order? Some suppliers show one price and reveal better tiers only after you ask, or after you have already placed an order. You cannot plan your margins against a number you have not seen.
Where does the ladder actually jump? Sometimes the step from 400 to 500 pieces saves more than the step from 100 to 400. If you are ordering 450 units, it is worth knowing that 500 might cost you less in total.
4. Compliance Is Your Responsibility, Not Just Theirs
In the European Union, e-cigarettes and refill containers fall under the Tobacco Products Directive. Among other requirements, the directive sets limits on nicotine concentration and container sizes, and requires products to be notified to national authorities before being placed on the market. Individual member states add their own rules on top, and several have introduced or announced further restrictions on disposable devices.
If you are selling into the EU, verify what applies in your specific market before you commit to stock. Ask your supplier directly which products in their range are notified for your country, and get the answer in writing. A supplier who cannot answer that question clearly is telling you something.
This is also the point where it is worth paying for an hour of proper legal advice rather than relying on a forum post. The rules differ by country and they change.
5. Test the Supplier Before You Test the Product
Before the first large order, send a few ordinary questions and see what happens.
- How long until someone answers?
- Do they answer the question you asked, or send a catalogue?
- Can they tell you what is genuinely in stock right now?
- What happens if a shipment arrives damaged or short?
Response time on a pre-sale enquiry is the best available predictor of response time when something goes wrong. If it takes four days to get an answer while they are trying to win your business, expect worse afterwards.
6. Know What Sells Before You Buy It
Demand varies by market. In our own shop the most ordered device is the RandM Tornado 15000.
But that guarantees nothing about your customers. Local price sensitivity, flavour preference and competition all decide what moves in your shop. This is exactly why a low first-order quantity matters: it lets you replace assumption with evidence.
A Practical Checklist
- Can I place a small test order before committing to volume?
- Is the full price ladder visible before I order?
- Where does the stock ship from, and how long does it take?
- Which products are compliant and notified for my market?
- How fast do they answer before I am a customer?
- What is the process if something arrives damaged or missing?
- Is shipping included in the quoted price, or added later?
How We Handle This
At ClioVapes we ship from both a European and a Chinese warehouse. Products marked EU Warehouse arrive in 4–7 days; everything else ships worldwide in 8–12 business days. Full details are in our shipping policy.
Many wholesale models have a minimum order quantity of 10 pieces, and our retail shop starts at 3 pcs, so you can test a device with your own customers before scaling, for example the RandM Tornado 15000 from €9.63/pc at 10 pcs, down to €6.35/pc at 1000+. Every product page shows the complete price ladder before you order, and you can browse the full wholesale range or the European stock directly.
If you have a question that this guide did not answer, contact us at info@cliovapes.com.
This product range contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive substance. For adults 18+ only.