Which online shop is the best for buying supplements?

Who answers the complaint: the two things a buyer needs someone to answer for, the product and the money, and the first three kinds of shop, the brand's own site, the UK specialist retailer and the UK pharmacy or supermarket site

Which online shop is the best for buying supplements is a question that is usually answered by price and delivery speed, both of which are the same across most shops most of the time, and the question that actually separates them is the one a buyer only asks when something goes wrong: who answers the complaint. A supplement bought online can go wrong in two ways, the product can be wrong, a dose below the label, a contaminant, an allergen not declared, a tub that arrives opened or expired, and the money can be wrong, a charge for an order that did not arrive, a refund not given, a subscription not cancelled. Under the UK rules two different businesses answer for those two things: the product is answered for by the food business operator whose name and address are on the label, under the food rules, and the money is answered for by the seller who took it, under the consumer rights and distance selling rules. The best shop is the one where a UK business clearly answers for both, and every online shop is one of five kinds, which differ exactly in who those businesses are.

The first kind is the brand's own site. The brand is the responsible operator on the label and the seller who took the money, so one UK business answers for both, the returns terms are the brand's and the cancellation right under the distance selling rules applies; the price is usually the list price without a marketplace's promotions, and the range is one brand's. For a buyer who knows the brand they want, it is the simplest answer to the question, with one address for both complaints.

The second kind is the UK specialist retailer, the online supplement shop that stocks many brands: the retailer took the money and answers for it, with its own returns terms and the cancellation right, and the brand's responsible operator answers for the product, with the retailer as the intermediary who sourced it; for an imported brand the retailer or the brand's importer is the UK operator on the tub, which the buyer reads on arrival. Two UK businesses answer, one for each thing, and a good specialist retailer sources only from the official channel so that the product complaint has a UK address to go to. The third kind is the UK pharmacy or supermarket site, which is the same split with a stricter buyer: a pharmacy chain or supermarket group has a buying department that audits the brands it lists and a reputation that a bad product damages, so the product it sells has passed a check the specialist retailer may not run, at a range that is narrower and a price that carries the group's premium. For a buyer who wants the shop to have done the checking, it is the kind that has.

Three kinds read with a UK business answering for both things, and the two marketplace kinds, the seller line, pooled stock, the worked example and the verdict in the next section.

The fourth and fifth kinds, the marketplace listing sold by the brand or a UK seller and the listing sold by an overseas third party; the seller line, the responsible operator's address and pooled stock; the worked example; and the verdict

The fourth kind is the marketplace listing sold by the brand or by a UK seller. On a marketplace the money is handled by the platform under its own returns guarantee, which for a buyer is often the most generous money-answer of any shop, and the product is answered for by whoever the seller line names: if the seller is the brand itself, the brand is the responsible operator and the seller both, and the listing is as good as the brand's own site with the platform's returns added; if the seller is a UK retailer, the split is the specialist retailer's. The seller line, which says sold by and dispatched by, is read before the price on every marketplace listing, because the same product page can be sold by several sellers at once and the buy button defaults to one of them.

The fifth kind is the marketplace listing sold by an overseas third party, and it is the kind where nobody in the UK may answer at all. The money is still the platform's, and the platform's guarantee usually holds; the product is answered for by a seller in another country who is not the UK responsible operator, has not labelled the tub for the UK, may have sourced it from anywhere, and may be unreachable when the complaint is made. That is the grey import again, and a brand's reputation does not attach to it; the buyer who sees an overseas seller on the line, a price well below every UK listing and a dispatch time measured in weeks is looking at the fifth kind, and puts it back. A further complication on some marketplaces is pooled stock: identical listings from several sellers may be fulfilled from one pooled inventory, so that the tub which arrives may not be the one the named seller sent in, and a counterfeit or expired tub from one seller can reach the buyer of another; the defence is to buy from the brand's own listing, where the brand controls what goes into the pool under its name, and to check the responsible operator's address and the batch and expiry on arrival.

The worked example is sold under its own name on one marketplace, which places it in the fourth kind: {FL}, 1500mg magnesium bisglycinate stated as 300mg elemental at 80% NRV, two capsules with the evening meal, is listed with the brand as the seller and as the responsible operator at a UK address on the label, so the platform's returns answer for the money and the brand answers for the product, with the batch tested for lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium and the certificate by lot available on request, UK made under GMP and BRC, 180 capsules for £19.99 at 22p a day. The full label breakdown is here. It is not sold through third-party sellers, which is the brand's choice about the pool.

The verdict: the best online shop for supplements is the one where a UK business clearly answers for the product and another, or the same one, for the money. The brand's own site answers for both with one address; the UK specialist retailer and the pharmacy or supermarket site answer with two, the latter having checked the brand first; the marketplace listing sold by the brand or a UK seller answers with the platform's returns on the money and the seller on the product; and the listing sold by an overseas third party may have nobody in the UK answering for the product at all. The buyer reads the seller line, the responsible operator's address and the returns terms, and the price last.

What to check on the label

Questions people also ask

Is it better to buy supplements from the brand or a retailer?

From the brand's own site one UK business answers for both the product, as responsible operator, and the money, as seller, which is the simplest arrangement; from a UK specialist retailer or a pharmacy or supermarket site two businesses answer, the retailer for the money and the brand's operator for the product, with the pharmacy or supermarket group having audited the brand before listing it; both are good shops, and the difference is one address or two, and whether the shop checked the brand or the buyer does; the price difference between them is usually a promotion and not a reason.

Is it safe to buy supplements from Amazon?

It depends on the seller line, not on the platform: a marketplace listing sold by the brand itself or by a UK seller has the platform's returns guarantee answering for the money and a UK business answering for the product, which is as good a shop as any; a listing sold by an overseas third party has the same guarantee on the money and possibly nobody in the UK answering for the product, which is a grey import with the brand's name on it; and pooled stock on some marketplaces means the tub that arrives may not be the named seller's, which is why the brand's own listing is chosen and the responsible operator's address, batch and expiry are checked on arrival.

What are my rights if a supplement bought online is faulty?

Two sets, against two businesses: against the seller who took the money, the consumer rights rules make the seller responsible for goods that are not as described or not of satisfactory quality, and the distance selling rules give a cancellation right on most online purchases within fourteen days of delivery for any reason, with the returns terms at the checkout stating how; against the food business operator named on the label, the food rules make that operator responsible for the product's safety and labelling, which is where a dose, contaminant or allergen complaint goes and which, for an imported product, is the UK importer; a shop where both are UK businesses is the one where those rights can be used.

Why is the same supplement cheaper from some online sellers?

Usually because the seller is in a different kind of shop: a marketplace listing from an overseas third party undercuts every UK listing because it carries no UK importer, no UK labelling, no UK responsible operator and often older stock sourced from anywhere, and the price is lower by exactly the cost of the things a UK buyer is protected by; a UK listing that is cheaper than the brand's own site is usually a promotion against a list price, which is the sports-nutrition model's ordinary pricing, and a UK listing that is far cheaper than all other UK listings is read for pooled stock and for a seller line that does not say what it seems to.

Where is this site's magnesium sold?

On one marketplace under the brand's own name, which places it in the fourth kind of shop: the brand is the seller and the responsible operator at a UK address on the label, so the platform's returns guarantee answers for the money and the brand answers for the product, and it is not sold through third-party sellers, which is the brand's choice about pooled stock; the product is 1500mg magnesium bisglycinate stated as 300mg elemental at 80% NRV, batch tested for four metals with the certificate by lot on request, UK made under GMP and BRC, 180 capsules for £19.99 at 22p a day.

Sources

1. The food information regulations on responsibility: the food business operator under whose name a food is marketed is responsible for the information, and for a food imported from outside the UK that operator is the importer, who must ensure a compliant label in English with a UK or EU address. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2011/1169/article/8
2. The Consumer Rights Act 2015: goods must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described, with a short-term right to reject within 30 days and remedies of repair, replacement or refund thereafter; a supplement whose contents do not match its label is not as described. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/contents
3. The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013: goods bought at a distance, online or by mail order, carry a 14-day cancellation right from delivery, with sealed goods unsealed after delivery among the exceptions for health and hygiene reasons. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134/contents
4. The marketplace commingled inventory problem: when a marketplace fulfils orders from pooled stock of the same product code supplied by several sellers, a buyer who orders from a reputable seller can receive a unit supplied by another, so that counterfeit units entering the pool through one seller reach buyers of all, which is why the listing, the seller and the unit received are three separate checks. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ipo-counterfeit-goods-research

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