19 replies to this topic

[mark40511]

Hello, I'm new to this board. I have used vitacost, iherb, swanson, etc to purchase and I too am leary of NSI especially since I have read their supplements recentaly failed consumerlabs studies. I know Swanson follows GMP and their supplements are some of the cheapest I've seen. I was wondering does anyone know if Swanson can be considered "as good" as the name brands? Anyone had any problems with them? Thanks

[edward]

Hello, I'm new to this board. I have used vitacost, iherb, swanson, etc to purchase and I too am leary of NSI especially since I have read their supplements recentaly failed consumerlabs studies. I know Swanson follows GMP and their supplements are some of the cheapest I've seen. I was wondering does anyone know if Swanson can be considered "as good" as the name brands? Anyone had any problems with them? Thanks

I've ordered a few things from them and don't have any complaints but then again have they been tested by consumerlabs?

[niner]

I've bought some things from them and never been disappointed. Their prices are good. They have a tendency to promote some of the less well-proven supplements; that's about the worst thing I could say about them. I'd also have to balance that against the good aspect of them bringing new things to people's attention. They are well established; they've been around since the 60's I think.

As for Consumerlabs.com, at first I thought that was a great idea; a thing that the marketplace needed, but I've gotten a little disenchanted with them. They aren't in business for the public good, they are in business to make money. Free marketeers take note, that in itself is not the problem; the problem is what influences act on Consumerlabs. They have an interest in getting a good result, because they then charge the supplement maker a lot of money to be listed. When they get a bad result, they dangle it in front of the public in order to get people to subscribe to their data. I'd rather see a system where the only incentives were to get the most accurate data on the supplements that people actually take, and disseminate that data widely. A Consumerlabs result is a one-shot deal, and there is no guarantee that the bottle you buy will be anything like the one they tested. The best option we have today seems to be vendors like Anthony that test every batch. Generally speaking, I'm fairly comfortable with the large supplement companies that have been around for a long time.

[dannov]

I've bought some things from them and never been disappointed. Their prices are good. They have a tendency to promote some of the less well-proven supplements; that's about the worst thing I could say about them. I'd also have to balance that against the good aspect of them bringing new things to people's attention. They are well established; they've been around since the 60's I think.

As for Consumerlabs.com, at first I thought that was a great idea; a thing that the marketplace needed, but I've gotten a little disenchanted with them. They aren't in business for the public good, they are in business to make money. Free marketeers take note, that in itself is not the problem; the problem is what influences act on Consumerlabs. They have an interest in getting a good result, because they then charge the supplement maker a lot of money to be listed. When they get a bad result, they dangle it in front of the public in order to get people to subscribe to their data. I'd rather see a system where the only incentives were to get the most accurate data on the supplements that people actually take, and disseminate that data widely. A Consumerlabs result is a one-shot deal, and there is no guarantee that the bottle you buy will be anything like the one they tested. The best option we have today seems to be vendors like Anthony that test every batch. Generally speaking, I'm fairly comfortable with the large supplement companies that have been around for a long time.

I agree with Niner. I have frequented Swanson's site for some time--I have no complaints.

[stayin_alive]

Hello, I'm new to this board. I have used vitacost, iherb, swanson, etc to purchase and I too am leary of NSI especially since I have read their supplements recentaly failed consumerlabs studies. I know Swanson follows GMP and their supplements are some of the cheapest I've seen. I was wondering does anyone know if Swanson can be considered "as good" as the name brands? Anyone had any problems with them? Thanks

I've ordered a few things from them and don't have any complaints but then again have they been tested by consumerlabs?

When I subscribed to consumers lab, I was certain I would find negative results for swansons. I recall being surprised - so I think they tested good on whatever product they tested. I also found that mixed ingredients tended to result in less accuracy. That is, if you were buying now products, if it were a formulation or mixture, rather than say simply vit c., the results tended to show more inaccuracies.

[mark40511]

Hello, I'm new to this board. I have used vitacost, iherb, swanson, etc to purchase and I too am leary of NSI especially since I have read their supplements recentaly failed consumerlabs studies. I know Swanson follows GMP and their supplements are some of the cheapest I've seen. I was wondering does anyone know if Swanson can be considered "as good" as the name brands? Anyone had any problems with them? Thanks

I've ordered a few things from them and don't have any complaints but then again have they been tested by consumerlabs?

When I subscribed to consumers lab, I was certain I would find negative results for swansons. I recall being surprised - so I think they tested good on whatever product they tested. I also found that mixed ingredients tended to result in less accuracy. That is, if you were buying now products, if it were a formulation or mixture, rather than say simply vit c., the results tended to show more inaccuracies.

I subscribe to consumerlabs as well. I was certain I would find some good results for Swanson and NSI. To my surprise when I joined a while back, I didn't see any results for NSI. I saw a few on Swanson, the only thing they failed was the Glucosamine. Swanson discussed this on their blog. I went back to consumerlabs the other day and saw where almost everything I saw from NSI Failed . I guess you really do get what you pay for. I have bought some things from them but have been very leary of them since I learned from this very website that their products are produced in China. I get most of my supps from swanson, but not always their own brand. I tend to get Countrylife or name brand. I think swanson has best prices of any site I checked, but they don't always have every name brand the other sites do.

[ajnast4r]

http://www.imminst.o...rol-t20853.html

[Gerald W. Gaston]

I buy a few thing there myself and my biggest complaint is with their screwy order system which always seems to charge my card more than the original total shown. Granted it is only a little more... this last time $1.34 more. Which is the most it has been off so far.

[krillin]

I buy a few thing there myself and my biggest complaint is with their screwy order system which always seems to charge my card more than the original total shown. Granted it is only a little more... this last time $1.34 more. Which is the most it has been off so far.

Could it be sales tax? I think Puritan's Pride used to do that to me when I lived in one of they states they collect it.

[Gerald W. Gaston]

Could it be sales tax? I think Puritan's Pride used to do that to me when I lived in one of they states they collect it.

No they finally replied yesterday saying: "We were experiencing a cache issue over the weekend, which did not allow the system to read prices correctly. This is being addressed." They did credit my account.

And my stuff got here quick. Quicker than their reply (which was still acceptable).

[Gerald W. Gaston]

Could it be sales tax? I think Puritan's Pride used to do that to me when I lived in one of they states they collect it.

No they finally replied yesterday saying: "We were experiencing a cache issue over the weekend, which did not allow the system to read prices correctly. This is being addressed." They did credit my account.

And my stuff got here quick. Quicker than their reply (which was still acceptable).

Just to be clear, I do plan to keep buying from them. But here are some of the order problems I've seen:

• Promo codes have disappeared during checkout. Cancelled checkout and added back and all was well.
• Web special prices have disappeared during checkout. Normally if this happens I see this at some point before the order checkout is completed, and can cancel checkout, remove/add item back. This last time it looked right all the way through checkout, but the receipt after checkout showed regular non-spec price for one item. Once I got the actual email for shipment confirmation, the itemized list showed the web spec price for that item. SO that one worked itself out.
• The third issue just happened for the first time on my last order... I was charged the price of an item at the point of shipment, not when I ordered it. i.e. I bought 2 items at $2.02 but the price went up to $2.69 the next day and that is what I was charged.

[J. Galt]

Could it be sales tax? I think Puritan's Pride used to do that to me when I lived in one of they states they collect it.

• Promo codes have disappeared during checkout. Cancelled checkout and added back and all was well.
• Web special prices have disappeared during checkout. Normally if this happens I see this at some point before the order checkout is completed, and can cancel checkout, remove/add item back. This last time it looked right all the way through checkout, but the receipt after checkout showed regular non-spec price for one item. Once I got the actual email for shipment confirmation, the itemized list showed the web spec price for that item. SO that one worked itself out.
• The third issue just happened for the first time on my last order... I was charged the price of an item at the point of shipment, not when I ordered it. i.e. I bought 2 items at $2.02 but the price went up to $2.69 the next day and that is what I was charged.

I've experienced identical "glitches" with Swanson's discounts/B1G1 promotions during checkout on no less than three occasions. It's definitely part of their business model.

.
having ordered from Swanson, Vitacost, and Puritan's Pride multiple times over the past year, with purchases consisting mostly of their respective house brands (Swanson's Best, NSI, and Puritan's Pride), I'd like to briefly weigh in on my experience with all three of them.

I have experienced terrible customer service and shipping mishaps with Swanson, and only continue to order from them because they are ultimately the best value (pre-encapsulated) source online for many supplements in my regimen. Their service really really sucks. shipping is slow, and their "Swanson's Best" packaging is absolutely hideous (not like that really matters, but seriously it's like they go out of their way to make their products as ugly as humanly possible). Vitacost definitely kicks Swanson's ass on all of these fronts, but when it comes to selection and price, Swanson often dominates dominates -- at least in terms of breadth, carrying many excellent-but-lesser-known supplements that are ignored by Vitacost, whose emphasis is more on depth, even if much of it is redundant). Prices are usually similar between the two sites, and it's clear that the NSI and Swanson's Best are being priced against each other. IMO Swanson's Best and NSI are generally comparable in both value and quality, though I'd probably give NSI the slight edge here. I have never had a major issue with the quality with either brand, and consider them in the same vein of quality as Jarrow and NOW Foods, and quite often superior to Source Naturals, Natrol, and others. To Swanson's credit, it's also worth nothing that they tend to offer greater variety of dosage and quantity, making them easier to work with on a tight budget.

Obviously Swanson and NSI are both crap next to Life Extension, but they are also usually 1/3 - 1/2 the price. This is where Life Extension really falls short in the marketplace, and where I think NSI and Swanson are playing immensely valuable roles in bringing a huge variety of generally high quality supplements within reach of many consumers who could otherwise not afford them.

As for Puritan's Pride, which someone mentioned above, I found the quality of their products to be far more suspect, and did not experience nearly the results I expected while taking them. Their selection is also a lot more limited, and their ridiculous B!G!, B2G3 price promotions almost always were out to be more expensive per gram than NSI or Swanson. Their shipping is also pretty slow, and worst of all I found their customer service to be virtually nonexistent (just TRY getting a live person on the phone when they screw up your order). Based on this holistically negative experience, I stopped doing business with Puritan several months ago and have no intention of returning.

Hopefully this discourse - while entirely subjective - was constructive. Has anyone else had similar or conflicting experience with any of these brands?

[KimberCT]

I'm a fan of Swanson's products.  Supplements like olive leaf extract smell very fresh and are very cheap even without promos.

Their website could definitely use some work though.  Very slow at times and promos are often quirky.

[aaron_e]

I've been using Swanson for my supps for about a year, I've only had one defective product (vitamin c powder that would not open) and the customer service has always been good. Some of the best deals I have found on national brands are at Swanson.

I'd be curious to know what time period J Galt had his bad experiences, sounds like a completely different company from the one I have dealt with in the last year.

edit: one thing I like most about Swanson is return shipping is free and generally give refunds no questions asked as long as you fill out the info slip. not sure if the other vendors are this accommodating.

Edited by aaron_e, 01 December 2010 - 12:25 AM.

[SATANICAT]

I buy most of my supplements from Swanson and they usually ship my order in 1-3 days. Their buy o e get one free deals are good too. But I have noticed that when compared to NOW and Natrol the Swanson brand doesn't compete, the brand names are generally more potent in terms of smell and you know what you taking when open the bottle. Swansons capsules generally don't have much of a smell, and their richness of the herb seems to be lacking. Most of the herbs are a duller. But they do have some effective supplements like their rhodiola rosea.

[seaexplorer]

Swanson has been a great source for getting reasonably priced Ubiquinol (Kaneka or however they're spelled) compared to other sources who sell the same thing. Also for those who megadose on multivitamins, their Longvital formula is very similar to LEF mix but about half the price. No problems so far for 3 years now

[adamh]

I just went over the listing of suppliers and did not find swanson listed. They used to be an advertiser here and now aren't even listed, not even crossed out.

I've used them for years with good results.

[leersa]

Great products I trust them

[Luminosity]

I've bought thousands of dollars worth of stuff from Swanson's and Vitacost. I like Vitacost's Boswellia the best of any I've tried. It is more potent and fresher. I haven't tried their other brand name products but in general, products from them are fresh.

I like some Swanson's brand products. I like their Type II Chicken Sternal Cartilage Collagen. Their source is NeoCell on that and it is the best. It is the best product at the best price. I like their Ascorbyl Palmitate capsules. I like their Black Currant Extract capsules. My response to their brand name supplements varies by the product, but I think they do contain what they say they do. They are usually in capsules, which is often the best way to make supplements, if not in a powder. It would certainly be cheaper for them to use tablets but they usually don't do that.

I've asked Swanson's lot of questions about their supplements. A lot of their herbs are freeze dried. That is probably because they hope that is the best way to preserve them. I find though, that it may change some herbs energetically and make them too "cold." I have not liked all of the herbal supplements I've gotten from them. I did not like their Boswellia. I found it to be ineffective. Their bamboo extract (silica) wasn't my favorite. It wasn't useless, but there was another brand that contained fewer inactive ingredients by volume so I go with that. Some of their supplements contained titanium dioxide, which I didn't like.

You can return anything you buy from Swanson's for a year and they pay the postage. I would not worry that their supplements don't contain what they say they do. I believe that they do. For me the question with each Swanson's supplement is, what do I think of the formulation and the source and the form of the main ingredient? I think they are often trying to do their best to make a good supplement according to their beliefs, and according to what they think the customers want. I don't always agree with them, and sometimes I really scratch my head like when they put titanium dioxide in a supplement, but overall I think they are sincere.

I am troubled by the posters who wrote about the disappearing discounts. That's no o.k. They need to stop that.

Edited by Luminosity, 14 February 2014 - 06:07 AM.

[jonnyD]

I had good experiences with Swansons Bacopa and Ashawagandha