Over the years I’ve noticed some “anomalies” when it comes to the price of health products. Many companies take advantage of the fact that people want to take care of their bodies and will often pay a lot of money for a “magic pill” instead of just eating healthily.
Here are a few examples of cheap and not so cheap supplements I’ve come across over the years.
Saw Palmetto and Pumpkin Seeds v Prostate Care
When flicking through a vitamin catalogue I noticed that the company was selling two products which at first glance are very different. One was a bottle of “Saw Palmetto and Pumpkin Seeds” caps whilst the other was for “Prostate Care”. It made me chuckle when I looked closer at the ingredient list and saw that they are exactly the same product. The only difference was the price. The “Prostate Care” product was much more expensive.
Tea Tree Essential Oil v Tea Tree Aromatherapy Oil
When buying some tea tree oil the other month for my sun burn I found myself rather confused. Sitting next to each other was a bottle of “Tea Tree Essential Oil” and a bottle of “Tea Tree Aromatherapy Oil”. Both of these products were by the same company, both products contained 100% Tea Tree Oil and both contained exactly the same amount of oil. Yet the aromatherapy oil was a lot more expensive.
OK, I’m not an expert on aromatherapy but I have dabbled with it over the years, for the life of me I can’t figure out why there’s a price difference. Does it cost more to print the word “Aromatherapy”?
OptiMSM v OptiMSM
MSM is a product I’ve started to take again as it’s supposed to be beneficial for your hair, skin and nails. When I bought my MSM a couple of years ago I found out that one of the major manufacturers is OptiMSM who sell their powder to other companies. These companies then package the powder into capsules, cream and mix it in with other products such as Glucosamine. When shopping around I noticed that Swanson sold this exact same MSM considerably cheaper than other brands Swanson stocked at the time.
I find it amazing that companies will charge different amounts for the same product all because they think they can get away with it. Do yourself a favor and avoid buying expensive supplements based on branding. Although there is the risk of cheap supplements being of inferior quality, buying cheap supplements should be done after you have done your reaserch.