From 29 October 2026 it is a criminal offence in the UK to give away a vaping or nicotine product for free where the purpose or effect is to promote it. That means no free samples, no free e-liquid bundled with a device, no free nic shots and no promotional coupons β in shops, at events and online. It is part of the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026, and it applies to every UK retailer, including us. Here is exactly what has changed, what is going from the Riot store, and what you can still expect.
Contents
- What changed on 29 October 2026
- What counts as a free product
- What this changes at Riot
- What is still allowed
- Why the law was written this way
- How this sits alongside the vape tax
- FAQs
Key Takeaways
β From 29 October 2026 it is an offence to give away any vaping or nicotine product, or a coupon for one, where the purpose or effect is to promote it.
β The rules cover England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and apply to online sales as well as shops and events.
β Charging a token amount instead is also caught β government guidance gives selling at a nominal sum such as 10p as a likely offence.
β Our free 10ml on orders over Β£20, free nic shots with shortfills, free e-liquid with device kits and free gifts in orders have all ended.
β Ordinary discounting is not banned. Multibuys like 4 for Β£10, clearance pricing and trade discounts continue as normal.
β This is separate from the vape tax, which added Β£2.20 per 10ml from 1 October 2026. Riot prices are held tax-free until 1 April 2027.
The good news
Many of our offers have stayed the same, just under new names. You will still get the same deals on devices and shortfills β the value has moved into the headline price, so you will see wording like "nic shot included in the bottle price" where it used to say free.
What changed on 29 October 2026
The Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026. Its first wave of measures commenced six months later, on 29 October 2026. Three of them matter to anyone who buys vapes or nicotine pouches.
The headline change for shoppers is the free distribution offence. Under section 15 of the Act, it is now an offence to give away any vaping or nicotine product, or any coupon for one, to a member of the public where the purpose is β or the effect will be β to promote that product. A coupon is defined broadly: anything redeemable for a product, service, cash or other benefit, physical or electronic, including an emailed discount code.
Alongside it sits a substantial discount offence. This exists to stop businesses charging 1p instead of giving something away. Government guidance describes a substantial discount as a price reduction that significantly lowers the cost compared with the standard selling price, and says selling e-liquid or devices at a nominal sum such as 10p would likely be an offence.
The same date also brought the age of sale for all vaping and nicotine products up to 18 β including nicotine-free vapes and nicotine pouches β along with a ban on vape vending machines and on-the-spot fines for underage sales.
The penalties are not trivial
A free distribution or substantial discount offence can draw a Β£200 fixed penalty notice in England, Wales and Scotland, or Β£250 in Northern Ireland. Beyond that, it can go to court: in England and Wales the maximum on summary conviction is 12 months in prison and a fine, rising to an unlimited fine and up to two years on conviction on indictment. That is why every legitimate UK retailer has moved on this rather than waiting to see how it is enforced.
What counts as a free product
The scope is wider than most people assume. It is not just loose samples on a counter β a free product attached to a paid order is still a free product.
| Promotion | Status from 29 Oct 2026 |
|---|---|
| Free e-liquid with an order | Not allowed |
| Free nic shot with a shortfill | Replaced β new pricing includes a nic shot in every shortfill |
| Free pods or coils as a gift | Not allowed |
| In-store or event samples | Not allowed |
| Promotional coupon or emailed code | Not allowed |
| Branded item promoting a vape product | Not allowed |
| Selling a product for a token 10p | Likely an offence |
| Multibuy pricing (4 for Β£10) | Still allowed |
| Clearance and end-of-line pricing | Still allowed |
| Bulk and trade discounts | Still allowed |
One narrow exception survives. Where a retailer has a formal agreement with a public authority β an NHS body or a council-funded stop smoking service, for example β vapes and coupons can still be provided free to that service's users. That carve-out exists because the evidence on vaping as a quitting tool was strong enough that the government did not want to cut off cessation schemes. If you are using vaping to stop smoking, our quit smoking guide is the place to start.
What this changes at Riot
We would rather tell you plainly than let you find out at checkout. Four things have changed:
Free e-liquid on orders over Β£20. The free 10ml that dropped into qualifying orders has ended. It was a free nicotine product attached to a purchase, which is squarely what section 15 covers.
Free nic shots with shortfills. A nic shot is a nicotine vaping product, so giving one away with a shortfill is caught in the same way. The deal itself has not gone β the nic shot is now included in the shortfill's price rather than advertised as free. Same bottles, same cost to you, different wording.
Free e-liquids with device kits. The "kit plus three free 10mls" style bundles that ran across our pod kits have ended as a giveaway. The kits themselves are unaffected and the same price still includes the e-liquid bottles that used to be given.
Free gifts in orders. The bucket hats and extras are paused while we check which items are genuinely clear of the branded-promotional-item rule. We would rather be cautious than clever here.
Beyond that, we have not announced a brand-new offer, and we are not going to invent one just to have something to say. When we have decided what good value looks like under the new rules, you will hear it from us directly rather than through a banner that quietly changes.
What is still allowed
It is worth being clear, because there has been a lot of noise suggesting all vape deals are finished. They are not. The guidance explicitly says these restrictions do not affect normal discounting practices β retailers can still reduce prices to clear stock, and bulk and trade discounts may still apply.
In practice that means multibuy pricing survives. Our Build Your Bundle mechanic, where you pick four 10ml nic salts for Β£10, is a discounted purchase rather than a giveaway β you are buying four bottles at a lower unit price, not getting one for nothing. The same logic applies to two shortfills for Β£20.
Why the law was written this way
The free distribution ban is aimed at a real problem. Free samples and pocket-money pricing were a genuine route to getting products into the hands of people who were not already smokers β particularly young people β and the case for stopping that is hard to argue with.
Our concern, and we have made it in public before, is proportionality. The same measure removes a tool that legitimate retailers used to help adult smokers switch: letting someone try a flavour before committing, or putting a free bottle in with a first kit so a new switcher does not run dry and reach for cigarettes. The Act does keep the cessation-service carve-out, which suggests the point was taken, even if the commercial route is now closed.
What matters now is enforcement that distinguishes between a brand pushing samples at a festival and a shop helping a 50-year-old smoker find something they will stick with. Nicotine vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking, and if you do not smoke or vape, you should not start.
How this sits alongside the vape tax
Two separate changes landed within a month of each other, and they are easy to conflate.
The Vaping Products Duty started on 1 October 2026 and adds Β£2.20 per 10ml of e-liquid, with VAT on top, regardless of nicotine strength β 0mg included. That is a tax on price. The free distribution ban started on 29 October 2026 and is a restriction on promotion. One makes liquid cost more; the other stops it being given away.
On the tax, our position has not changed: we over-brewed our best-selling lines before the duty landed, so Riot prices are held at pre-duty levels until 1 April 2027. The full detail is in our UK vape tax guide, and the stocked lines are on the tax-free e-liquid page. After April 2027, prices follow the duty like everyone else's.
Vape Law Changes and More from Riot
The rules have tightened, the freebies have gone, and the value now lives in the price rather than in a bonus bottle. That is a fair thing to expect from us, and it is what we are working on. In the meantime the ranges have not changed: nic salts in 5mg, 10mg and 20mg, shortfills for anyone mixing their own, a genuine 0mg range for people stepping down, and pod kits to run them in. Not sure where to start? The e-liquid strength chart will put you in the right place.
You must be 18+ to buy. These products contain nicotine, which is an addictive substance.
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