Vape Carts - How to Select Vape Cart Hardware

Vape carts come in a multitude of shapes, sizes, materials, attachments, and hardware, which can make the selection process difficult. Choosing a vape cart requires consideration of multiple key factors: cart material usage, style and closure versus concentrate used, market access, and geographical considerations.

This article guides selecting the best vape cart hardware based on styles, materials, closures, and characteristics of vape carts that impact downstream processes and profitability.

Understanding sourcing challenges and vape cart import issues with US Customs & Border Patrol are also important decisions.

vape cartridge or all-in-one?
plastic, glass, or ceramic?
press, snap, or screw?
sourcing vape carts
labeling challenges & US customs seizures

vape cartridge or all-in-one?

The primary considerations between vape cartridges and all-in-ones are cost, sell-through, and ROI. All-in-ones usually cost $3-$4 vs $1.40 average for carts. While the user experience of an all-in-one is unbeatable, with the small reservoir size and low sell-through rate, all-in-ones often underperform except in tourist markets.

Where all-in-ones perform well are in large cities with tourism such as Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, and the NJ/NYC areas.

Even in these locations, cartridges still outsell all-in-ones at a lower relative percentage – cannabis taxation laws also mean all-one-in customers tend to pay a 50% premium for fewer products.

plastic, glass, or ceramic?

As of 2024, this is mostly a look-and-feel branding issue rather than a performance issue, most vape cart companies use similar ceramic atomizers, and the quality differences in the vapor produced are narrow. Ceramic cartridges make cured resin appear better but can make distillate and rosin appear washed out and diluted.

Plastic cracking and fiberglass wicks are mostly issues of the past, however, there are still a few foreign sellers trying to move these on Alibaba / foreign importation trade websites.

In regards to vape filling, plastic carts are the easiest to fill due to low heat capacity, which means they do not overtop during filling operations. Glass or ceramic carts filled to the maximum fill line usually need a wipe-down from resin residuals on the seal.

press, snap, or screw?

Why do closure styles matter? Carts and all-in-ones have 3 types of closure styles that impact leak rates and vape filling equipment. Learn about the pros and cons listed below.

Screw threaded closures
Pros	Easy hand capping No tools necessary
Cons	Product liability issues – customers/kids can open Some state-level bans are due to non-CRP design If automating – the slowest automated filling process

Press fit closures
Pros	Most secure with lowest cart leak rate High durability – to shocks and drops Fastest automated filling options
Cons	Requires tools for capping – arbor press or automation

Snap fit closures
Pros	Easy to cap by simple lever press
Cons	Has highest leak rate of all closure designs due to deformable cap and post junction

sourcing vape carts

There are 3 main options to purchase vape hardware: from established companies, foreign distributors, and foreign agents.

Purchase from an established company (C-cell or AVD and its distros)
Pros	Guaranteed compliant, heavy metal-free product Reasonable delivery time for non-branded product
Cons	Price – $1.20 to $2.00+ is a premium

Purchase from foreign agent distributors (Bold, 420packaging.com)
Pros	Mostly similar product to AVD / C-cell @ 20-30% cheaper
Cons	Fail rates are double that of brand names Long lead times

Purchase from foreign agents (ali-baba, made-in-china.com)
Pros	Lowest pricing ~ 80cents
Cons	No recourse on non-compliant product Some companies are fake Long lead times

labeling challenges & US customs seizures

United States Customs and Border Patrol seizes all products considered “drug paraphernalia.” This includes all carts with state warning logos and all brands that can be associated with drug use.

Some examples above of labels on products that will get seized if labeled. If you label your carts, you run the risk of seizure when importing even with an inspection rate of 5%. To mitigate these issues consider an automated cart labeling machine.