Buying Basics

The practical end of the site: two methods you can run yourself, on any product, in a few minutes.

Supplement products are, as a rule, designed not to be comparable. Not maliciously — just as the natural result of everyone optimizing their own label. One brand sells 60 capsules at a two-capsule serving; another sells 90 at three. One discloses doses; another blends them. One prices per bottle; another prices per “package” of six. Put them side by side and the honest answer to “which is better value?” is that you cannot tell yet.

You can, though, make them comparable. It takes a couple of minutes and a common denominator: convert everything to cost per day and dose per day, then line the ingredients up. What survives that normalization is a real comparison. What does not survive it — usually the proprietary blends — is telling you something too, namely that this product has opted out of being checked.

The second piece here is about the checkout itself, which is where a surprising share of the real risk lives: subscriptions you did not notice agreeing to, refund policies that quietly exclude the shipping you paid, and sellers whose contact details vanish the moment you need them.

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