iherb.com - iHerb, should uHerb?
Written: Aug 02 '09 (Updated Aug 03 '09)
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| Full Review |
Though I had been ordering my vitamins and supplements solely from Swanson and Vitacost for well over a year, I began to notice a dramatic increase in cost cutting- most notably with their packaging. One of my more recent orders with Swanson, for example, arrived in a paper-thin bubble mailer that naturally resulted in a damaged product. I forgave them the first time, but when the same scenario happened again I decided to give Swanson the boot and search for another online store for bargains on health products. I had heard from a couple of my health-nut friends that iherb.com was the only way to go, but figured it to be another rinky-dink health store as I had never heard of iHerb before. I decided to give iHerb a shot, however, after finding that they carried one of my favorite resveratrol products at an affordable price.
What is iHerb?
Like Swanson, Vitacost, Vitaminshoppe, etc.- Iherb.com is a large (definitely not rinky-dink) vitamin/supplement/health product online store that features a huge variety of products ranging from good ole supplements, skin/hair care products, all the way to heath foods.
Selection:
While iHerb offers a relatively small selection of health food, beauty products, and other miscellaneous health products, there is definitely no shortage of vitamins or supplements. Whether you are looking to grow hair, gain muscle, fight aging, treat liver problems, etc. etc. iHerb will likely carry something in the form of a pill or powder geared for your health concern.
Although iHerb doesn't provide the biggest selection of name-brands (Vitacost and Swanson carry far more supplement brands), the name-brands that they do carry generally have some of the best reputations in the industry and abide by GMP standards. Some of the name brands that can be found at iHerb include Life Extension, NOW, Aubrey Organics, Doctor's Best, Country Life, Source Naturals, Jarrow Formulas, etc. etc. iHerb claims to offer 600 brands total. Unfortunately iHerb does not offer a home brand.
When it comes to products being in stock, I have never had an incidence where iHerb was out of something that I wanted to buy. If something is out of stock, however, it is listed on the product page - there are no surprise e-mails informing you that the product you just ordered is out of stock.
Navigation:
Though iHerb's home page is a bit cluttered for my taste, the site is still super-easy to use and pages are always fast to load. iHerb allows its visitors to search for products by "product type" or "brands" and allows the user to modify search results to show best rated, best selling, lowest price, etc. iHerb also provides a pretty good search engine, however it will oftentimes show off-the-wall products that have absolutely nothing to do with my search query. I do, however, like that iHerb's search engine compensates for slight misspellings. So, for example, if I misspell resveratrol as "resveritol" it will ask something like "Did you mean resveratrol." I like this feature as I am a horrible typer.
Finalizing an order is also kept simple. After registering with iHerb (requires you to fill out a typical short billing/address information form) you are ready to check-out. If you are a first time customer I highly suggest using one of the billion $5-off coupon codes that can be found online before checking out, as it will save you $5 instantly on any purchase. The information you give iHerb will be conveniently stored in their database for quick future checkouts.. Shortly after you place an order at iHerb, a confirmation letter is sent and within a short time and a tracking number is sent thereafter; you can track an order convienantly from your account page. iHerb consistently updates the status of your order, which is always viewable from your account page. Payment methods at iHerb include all major credit/debit cards: Discover, Visa, JCB, American Express, and MasterCard.
Prices:
The prices at iHerb range anywhere from good to excellent; only on a rare occasion do I find a product that is priced significantly higher than competing online stores. Though I sometimes will find a product cheaper at Swanson or Vitacost, I simply send iHerb a link to the cheaper product and they will match the price and credit back the difference to my card. Also, when you take into account that all orders over $40 get free shipping and the 5% off that you now get on orders over $60 (this is a new discount) I usually end up saving a significant amount more at iHerb than I did with either Swanson, Vitacost, or Vitaminshoppe.
Shipping:
All online stores should use iHerb's excellent shipping rates. If your order comes to under $40 you can either choose $4 flat UPS shipping ($6 for 2nd day air) or USPS where you are likely to get shipping for even cheaper. If there is one thing I hate about shopping online it's the oftentimes high shipping rates, so it's refreshing to see that iHerb is making no money off of their shipping charges. Now, if your order comes to over $40 (down from a minimum of $60) you get completely free UPS Ground shipping! I don't think I have ever got out of iHerb spending less than $40, so I always get free shipping. Note: iHerb does ship internationally.
Arrival Time:
Shipping and processing is always fast at iHerb. The past 5 orders that I have placed with iHerb were shipped out of their facility within 36 hours (at the most) and I have always received my supplements in around 5 business days after placing my order. I live all the way across the country from iHerb's facility in California, so I imagine those who live in Cali or anywhere on the West Coast would receive their orders much faster.
Product Condition:
Unlike those non-protective bubble mailers that I was getting with both Swanson and Vitacost, iHerb always ships my products using a well insulated cardboard box. This is important to me, as I order products that are relatively heat sensitive and having them in a non-insulated plastic bag quite possible could damage the chemical make-up of the product, especially supplements like Resveratrol. I already mentioned that some of these thin bubble mailers resulted in damaged goods, where my supplement bottles had been completely smashed along with their contents. That said, I am delighted that iHerb uses logical and thoughtful packaging of their products for shipment as I have never received a damaged good from them.
Return Policy:
If you are not satisfied with anything from iHerb you can send it back to the company for a full refund within 60 days of purchase: there are no restocking fees or other crazy charges.
Rewards program:
When you buy something from iHerb for the first time you are given a unique iHerb code that rewards the person who uses it with $5 off of their first purchase. By getting someone to use your code you make commission. It's a 4 level earner, so you will also make money off of the person who used your code's code. etc. It's kind of a wordy explanation- if want more info iHerb explains it best. Does it work? I have not put any effort into promoting my code, but I hear it has been lucrative for many people.
Customer Service:
Customer service is excellent. I oftentimes will forget to add a product to my shopping cart after I have already checked out- iHerb's customer service has never had a problem adjusting my order after it has already been placed. The customer service team is also nice and unlike some stores that have long customer wait times, I have never had to wait for more than a few minutes to talk with a live iHerb representative. I also like how many lines of communication iHerb offers: you can contact them through their "live help" feature, e-mail, toll-free phone, or snail mail.
Final Verdict:
iHerb is an excellent well-rounded heath-product online store. iherb offers excellent customer service, the selection is great with some of the best brands in the industry, packaging is superb, and the prices and shipping are more than fair. If you are looking for any type of dietary supplement/vitamin, heath food, or even organic soaps or shampoos I definitely recommend checking out iHerb.
-Thanks for reading
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? L-Carnosine, Vitamin K-2, Resveratrol, Life Force Multi, Omega-3, etc
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