I take so many supplements, and spend so much money on them every month. Isn’t there ANY cheaper way to buy them than at Wild Oats, etc? Some (vitamins, etc.) might be available at Walgreen’s, but for anything even slightly more specialized, you are out of luck. I can’t believe that there isn’t SOME way, somehow, somewhere, to save at least a LITTLE money. Aren’t there any buying clubs, supplement co-ops, ANYTHING??? I can’t believe I’m the only person who would like this question answered.
I’ve purchased vitamins online in the past and they have seemed relatively less expensive than at WF, etc. Am I allowed to post the website I get them from here?
How about trying to work more foods rich in the particular nutrients your after into your diet?
Other than not using supplements…
Have you tried http://www.vitacost.com ? Or http://www.puritan.com?
I’ve used them both. They were fine.
Wild Oats is probably one of the most expensive places to buy supplements. I don’t have any connection with these folks http://www.puritan.com/ but they seem pretty cheap & decent quality & customer service.
I’ve bought from Swanson Health Products (swansononline.com); they seem to have just about everything, either in their house brand or in one of the many other brands they carry. They ship fast too.
As part of its continuing effort to take over the retail world, Amazon.com recently launched Amazon Grocery, which carries lines of vitamins and supplements as well as nonperishable food and household goods. The catch: almost everything is sold only in bulk, albeit moderate bulk (six boxes of cereal, six boxes of tea, that sort of quantity). That’s how they keep the prices low and maintain their usual free shipping on orders over $25. See if they have what you want.
If any of them are herbal supplements and not vitamins or enyzmes, you could look into buying your herbs by the ounce and making teas.
I work in an herb shop and would be happy to send you a catalog if you want to email me your stats.
most of the supplements we deal in are just dried herbs in capsules, people take them when they dont want to make teas, but it is alot cheaper to buy teas.
My mom uses Vitamin Shoppe and seems to be very happy with them. She stopped buying her supplements locally. All online now.
You may want to re-consider, to some degree, the range and/or quantity of stuff you’re taking if it’s getting economically burdensome. Most docs with nutrition training say that once you reach a RDA level your body is not going to have make use of the additional levels of vitamins or minerals, and you’re mostly making “very expensive piss”, to quote one doctor, as your body just passes it through.
You should pick up a good herbal book if you want to go this route. Lots of places (I’m not saying your store, Analogue, just lots of places) will sell you absolutely useless things like Milk Thistle Seed Tea (Milk thistle doesn’t extract in water), dried nettles capsules (dried nettles loses it’s potentcy within weeks of drying) or chamomile tincture (why the heck would you pay for an alcohol extract of something that works and tastes better as a tea?). You really need to know what you’re doing if you’re going to become your own herbalist.
Sometimes dried herbs in capsules are fine, but many times the active ingredients need processing in oil, water or alcohol before they are released.
But for vitamins, minerals, enzymes, etc., I’ve been happy with Puritan’s Pride for over 30 years (literally, my mom bought from them while I was in utero.)
WhyNot,
herbalist
I’ve been buying from Puritan’s Pride for about 25 years, and have had no problems with their products. I always buy during one of their “3 for 1” sales, to save even more (I think there’s one in effect now), and of course you save even more if you buy larger bottles to begin with.
I can’t imagine buying from a place like Wild Oats, or even from a drug store, unless you enjoy paying a lot more for essentially the same product.
Wow, what a lot of great ideas! Puritan’s Pride looks like the best bet to check out right now. I knew there HAD to be a cheaper way, but Wild Oats is, well, right there, and I have been fresh out of ideas about where else to find some of these things. Also, we now have the added panache of Nicole Kidman having been seen several times at this one. 
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Moved to IMHO for supplemntal opinions.
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You weren’t asking for advice on this, but I’d say you probably don’t need and are not benefiting from so many supplements, as you describe. And if you are taking herbal remedies, beyond just vitamins, I’d be concerned about contraindications and drug interactions. I mean, if they ARE effective at anything, then they can possibly interact and also cause side effects. I know that certain “natural” supplements can reduce the effectiveness of the antiretroviral drugs our patients are on, so we recommend that they avoid certain ones, like St. John’s Wort. Because they are often not thoroughly tested in populations, there is often little information on potential liver and kidney problems, etc.
Try the web, e.g. nutritiongeeks.com
DoctorsTrust catalog. Best prices.