About VapoChecker — How Our Price Comparison Works

What is VapoChecker?

VapoChecker is an independent price comparison for dry herb vaporizers and accessories. Since 2020, we track prices of over 940 vaporizers and 14,000 accessories across 260 online shops in 50 countries. All data is available in 10 languages: German, English, French, Spanish, Dutch, Russian, Portuguese, Italian, Polish, and Czech.

Our goal: show every vaporizer buyer where to find the best deal — worldwide, transparent, and with no hidden costs.

How Are Prices Collected?

We run 257 automated web scrapers built on Scrapy, the leading Python web scraping framework. Two systems work together:

  • Discovery Scraper: Runs once nightly (4:00 AM CET) and scans all 260 shops for new products and URLs. Duration: approximately 3 hours.
  • URL Scraper: Updates prices every 3 hours across approximately 35,000 active product URLs. Each run captures around 13,000 vaporizer prices and 29,000 accessory prices.

Prices come directly from the official retailer websites — not from feeds, third-party APIs, or estimates.

How Are Prices Validated?

Every captured price goes through multiple checks before entering the database:

  1. Minimum Price Filter: Vaporizers below EUR 25 and accessories below EUR 10 are excluded (prevents incorrect prices from currency errors or scraping artifacts).
  2. Outlier Detection: Prices below 30% or above 400% of the product average are automatically quarantined and manually reviewed.
  3. Cross-Shop Consistency Check: Extreme deviations between shops are flagged.
  4. Stock Status Detection: A confidence score (0-100) evaluates stock status using 10+ weighted signals — including JSON-LD data, shop APIs, cart forms, and notify-me buttons.

A weekly automated price outlier scan additionally detects anomalies and presents them for manual review.

How Does the Shipping Calculator Work?

For each of the 260 shops, we manually researched and stored shipping costs to 50 destination countries — 15,700 entries in total. Three modes exist:

  • Fixed: Shipping costs are known and added to the product price.
  • Checkout: Shipping costs are calculated at checkout — we show the product price with a note.
  • Unavailable: The shop does not ship to that country.

For international orders, our import duty calculator estimates customs duties and import VAT based on HS tariff code 8543.40 (electrical devices).

How Are Product Specs Verified?

Each of the 940 vaporizers in our database has complete specifications with 100% coverage across all fields:

All specifications are verified against official manufacturer data. Discrepancies are manually corrected.

Transparency and Affiliate Program

VapoChecker shows actual retailer prices — no markups, no manipulation of shop order to favor partners. We fund ourselves through affiliate commissions: when you buy through our links, we receive a small commission from the retailer at no extra cost to you.

We currently work with two affiliate partners:

  • Storz & Bickel (via Awin)
  • Pure Vape (via GoAffPro)

At exactly equal prices, partner shops appear first — that is the only advantage. The cheapest price always ranks first, regardless of partnerships. All affiliate links are clearly marked.

Price History and Price Alerts

For every product, we offer historical price charts spanning 30, 90, and 365 days. This lets you see whether the current price is a good deal or if it is worth waiting for a price drop.

With our free price alerts, you receive an email notification as soon as a product reaches your target price — no account required, just your email address (double opt-in).

Contact

Questions, feedback, or found an error? Write to us: [email protected]

Frequently Asked Questions

How often are prices updated?

The URL scraper runs every 3 hours (8 times daily). The discovery scraper runs once nightly to find new products. In total, approximately 42,000 prices are captured daily.

How many shops are monitored?

Currently 260 online shops in 50 countries, including all major European, North American, and Asian vaporizer retailers.

Does VapoChecker profit from the displayed prices?

No. The prices are the actual retailer prices. VapoChecker earns affiliate commissions — from only two of the 260 shops. The cheapest price always appears first, regardless of partnerships.

Can retailers pay for better placement?

No. Sorting is based exclusively on total price (product + shipping). At identical prices, affiliate partners appear first — this is transparently marked and the only advantage.

How often are prices updated?
The URL scraper runs every 3 hours (8 times daily). The discovery scraper runs once nightly to find new products. In total, approximately 42,000 prices are captured daily.
How many shops are monitored?
Currently 260 online shops in 50 countries, including all major European, North American, and Asian vaporizer retailers.
Does VapoChecker profit from the displayed prices?
No. The prices are the actual retailer prices. VapoChecker earns affiliate commissions - from only two of the 260 shops. The cheapest price always appears first, regardless of partnerships.
Can retailers pay for better placement?
No. Sorting is based exclusively on total price (product + shipping). At identical prices, affiliate partners appear first - this is transparently marked and the only advantage.

Editorial responsibility

VapoChecker was founded by Jens Röcker in 2020. The editorial process compares manufacturer sources, structured product data and current shop data. A page is described as hands-on tested only when a documented test exists; otherwise it is a source-based editorial review. Affiliate links can generate commission without changing the displayed shop price.

Not sure which one?
Our interactive buying guide helps you find the right vaporizer in 5 questions - based on your budget and usage style.
Try the Buying Guide →
Scroll to Top