Chris’s Corner: Safe Supplement Buyer’s Guide, Part 2
TL;DR (Too long; didn’t read):
5 ways to make sure your supplements are safe.
Technology and world-wide interconnectedness have made being an informed consumer incredibly challenging. 150 years ago, being an informed consumer meant avoiding any establishment with the words “doctor” and “emporium” in the same name. The problem is as we get better at detecting frauds, the fraudulent get better at being undetectable. Doctor Griftorium’s Medicinal Emporium became Honest Larry’s Discount Supplements became Emily’s Herbs. While the name alone of the first two would give anybody pause today (or possibly spark curiosity), I don’t have any reason to suspect Emily is anything other than above board. In part one of this series I wrote about the importance of avoiding the use of large platforms like Amazon, Walmart.com, and eBay for your supplements. Knowing what to avoid and why is only the first half of being an informed consumer. The other half is knowing who you can trust…
5 questions to ask yourself before purchasing supplements online:
1. Does the website also have a brick & mortar location? Anybody with a store front is unlikely to be stocking old/fraudulent products because people won’t have any problem finding them if they have a complaint. This is why we trust health food stores, natural grocery stores, and co-ops.
2. Do they sell unrelated items? If you do a general search online and come up with a store you’ve never heard of, search the site to see what else they sell. Do they sell three pieces of clothing, some hardware, and a dining set? You’ve just found a total scam site. Do not buy anything from them. There are sites that are able to grab on to your search term, no matter what it is, and say, “oh yah, we have that, come to our site”. They only exist to get you to enter a card number. You’ll never hear from them again.
3. Do they have third party sellers? If you are on a site who does not sell all their products directly, proceed with caution. Illegitimate sellers often hide behind these platforms because it is easy to set up shop and easy to disappear into the ether when things go sideways. This is why we say to avoid Amazon, Walmart.com, and eBay.
4. Are the products discounted? Occasionally, you’ll find legitimate discounts like 10% off everything if you join an email list, 15% off with coupon code letsgethealthy2024, etc. The ones to avoid are the too-good-to-be-true variety. For professional supplements, start questioning anything more than 20-30% off. There are two reasons for this: One, in most cases the seller is losing money when discounts reach 30-40%. Two, most professional brands have strict rules about pricing, discounts, etc. Have you ever searched for a product and found every (legitimate) source selling it for the same price? That’s because we have to if we want to keep selling that brand’s products. With some of our brands, I am only able to give members a discount because I’m not advertising specifics, and I’m not advertising outside of our email/patient list.
5. Does the label or container in the picture not look right? This is not a dead giveaway, but it’s something to look for. If there was a recent label change, not every site will have had a chance to sell through the old label and update the picture on their site. If you are on a site and you see a label you haven’t seen in a year or more, proceed with caution; they may be selling old stock. If you are on a site and the label looks different than anything you’ve ever seen, back away slowly. If you know it’s a brand that uses amber glass exclusively, but the picture shows a plastic bottle, run screaming.
I hope you found this information helpful. Stay tuned for part 3!
Chris Oppitz
