New Survey Reveals Scale of Disposable Vape Black Market

• Disposable vapes were banned in the UK in June 2025.
• A survey by Haypp reveals over 60% of vapers still use disposables.
• 35% of disposable users say they are actively purchasing disposables.
• Their ability to do so indicates the presence of a thriving black market.
• Another potential impact of the ban is vapers returning to cigarettes.

In June 2025, disposable vapes were officially banned in the UK.

At the time, industry experts warned that this could lead to a rise in black market activity, with consumers potentially turning to illicit channels to purchase their favourite products.

Since the ban, there have been anecdotal reports of a rapidly growing black market for disposable vapes.

Indeed, previous Haypp research found that around a quarter of UK vape retailers were still selling disposable vapes after the ban. Trading Standards have also been regularly making seizures of the now-illegal product.

New research from Haypp has uncovered the scale of the black market in disposable vapes, confirming fears that the ban is not working.

In October 2025, Haypp commissioned an independent survey of 1,000 vapers across the UK, and the results were worrying, if unsurprising.

A huge 62.5% of vapers are still using disposable vapes, four months after the ban was implemented.

This figure is significantly higher for those aged 25-34, with 82% saying they are still using the banned devices.

More alarmingly, 35% of disposable vape users say they are still actively purchasing disposable vapes.

This indicates that they are buying said products from the black market. While it is not illegal to possess a disposable vape, it is illegal for them to be sold.

That such large numbers of vapers are still able to purchase these banned devices nods to the existence of a thriving black market, which certainly poses a challenge for the authorities.

Clearly, there appears to be many unscrupulous retailers willing to sell the banned products.

The survey also asked people where they typically purchase black-market disposable vapes, and there looks to be a very wide range of sources:

• Local corner shops: 55% 
• Specialist vape shops: 37% 
• Supermarkets : 34% 
• Online retailers: 28% 
• Market stalls: 18% 
• Social media sellers: 14% 
• Private via friends/family: 12% 
• Car boot sales: 10% 

This data shows that it’s not just market stalls or social media dealers that are selling disposable vapes. In fact, corner shops and vape stores are the main sources of the black-market products.

Unfortunately, this trend is set to continue, as 14% of those surveyed admitted that they plan to continue purchasing disposable vapes in the future.  

 Another potential impact of the ban was that some vapers would return to smoking, and around 6% of vape users said they had started smoking cigarettes again. 

Markus Lindblad, Head of External Affairs at Haypp, said:

“The data from our latest report clearly demonstrates that the disposable vape ban is not yet working as expected. A staggering 62.5% of vapers continue to use these illegal devices.

The widespread availability of these illegal devices points to a very active black market that will be very difficult to police.

 In addition, we see that people have obviously stockpiled large quantities of disposable vapes, which presents its own safety issues.

In this context, the government’s plan to introduce a retail licensing scheme for tobacco and nicotine products is a welcome and necessary move.”