DHV Market Dope

I recently saw a post where a well-known maker had decided to quit the dry herb vape space (yet again), claiming that: given the declining condition of the market over the past few years, no one in there [sic] right mind would decide to make an entry.

That got me wondering so I looked into it:
Pretty eye-opening numbers, but I only track a handful of artisan makers so have no context for their veracity. Given the sheer size, you’d assume some fact-checking had been done.

On the one hand, the variety and quality of vapes available today does feel like we’re at a peak and climbing. Even cheap factory junk can deliver a solid session. On the other, the numbers suggest millions of units sold in a niche where many of us are the only vaporists we know.

Curious to hear what others think.

thanks for posting that. My only observation is where they have market share broken down by heat method. Conduction seems like 50 % and that probably accounts for the myriad of PAX sold. But 25 % for Induction heating.. Really?

In talking to a few business owners in the industry, including what I've witnessed, the market has changed over the past decade. There are many factors at play including the fact that people who are most likely to dry vape, have already started vaporizing. Part of the issue is simply outreach - many prospective customers simply don't know that dry vaporizers exist (or they tried a crappy one years ago and never gave them a second thought). Additionally, during the height of covid people stopped socializing which lead to a decline in introductions to herb and dry vaporizers in general which has reduced the market for new customers just entering the DHV scene.

From a vaporizer brands/options standpoint, there are now countless choices on the market. Unless you're running a tight ship on slim margins, it's hard for a small vaporizer business to make a nice profit these days due to the decrease in total prospective customers.

And lastly there's the issue of advertising. Since vaporizers are tobacco related products, all social media platforms and basically the entire internet bans us from paid advertising (no youtube, google sponsored search ads, product ads, facebook/instagram boosted posts, etc. . So aside from word-of-mouth referrals, it's hard for any small business to succeed because it's practically impossible to get attention. For those of you who take time to give shoutouts to their favorite small businesses in this industry on various social media platforms - thank you, without your referrals companies like mine and others would not survive.

For those of you currently not, consider reaching out in other 420 groups or among your friends and preach the benefits of dry vaporizing, or give a shoutout to your favorite small businesses in a social media discussion to give them more exposure - it's the best form of gratitude you can give to us for a job well done.

Just my $0.02 having watched this industry evolve from a handful of name brand portable vaporizers and desktops, to what it's become today

Delta3DStudios said:

Additionally, during the height of covid people stopped socializing which lead to a decline in introductions to herb and dry vaporizers in general which has reduced the market for new customers just entering the DHV scene.

Click to expand...

See, I would have thought covid would have had more the opposite effect. What I mean is people having more free time on their hands discover and delve into more hobbies...in this case dry-herb vaporizing. I know a number of people who discovered this hobby and got into it because of that.

Ramahs said:

See, I would have thought covid would have had more the opposite effect. What I mean is people having more free time on their hands discover and delve into more hobbies...in this case dry-herb vaporizing. I know a number of people who discovered this hobby and got into it because of that.

Click to expand...

At the start of covid, absolutely. 4/2020 was an insane month for the industry overall as you can imagine - world's going to shit but you get to spend the whole month working from home

But what we're seeing now is a decline in the younger generation of kids (Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha) who aren't sparking up for a variety of reasons, just like how they aren't drinking. During covid, lots of kids were not socializing on campus like they once were, so the industry "lost" that new generation of "prospective customers" who have disposable cash to spend on their toys (compared to older adults who often have more fiscal responsibilities and a tighter budget to work with), and that'll continue to leave a ripple in the industry for a few more years before that levels out.

And we haven't even touched on the global economy as well - so many people have been forced to tighten their wallets due to increased housing and food costs. My own business has been hit not only with a major downturn in sales over the past two years, but also increased costs (for everything from raw supplies to operating costs). However instead of raising prices, I'm working hard on reducing costs so I can lower prices on the cool stuff like my scoop tools which are 3D printed in stainless steel (Recently I managed to increase stainless steel print quality, while cutting prices in half!)