Beauty

[mkcw]

Here is an example: Devita Solar Protective Moisturizer SPF 30 plus -- 2.5 fl oz sells for $15.99 on Vitacost and $25.95 on the DeVita website. Is the stock older on Vitacost? Please be kind. It might be stupid of me to not know, but I am sincerely asking and NOT a stupid person. thanks :-)

[JeanLouiseFinch]

I don't think it's older stock. I would expect they'd be regulated to sell "fresh" products. I imagine it could have something to do with them having a larger audience and ability to sell more of something than the manufacturer's own website. They likely get a quantity discount from the manufacturer and pass that savings along to the consumer. I know the Mad Hippie products I buy cost less on the Vitacost website, too. MH is currently offering a 20% discount on their site, but products are still cheaper elsewhere. Go figure, huh?

[gotpaw]

You know I picked up a bottle of DeVita at Whole Foods a few years back that with their sale price was about $10-$12 cheaper than the website. I thought that was weird at the time and had completely forgot about it until I saw your post. I've bought stuff on iherb less expensive as well - I think it was Mad Hippie. I'm curious, too.

[KJPA]

I think too that the other stores buy in quantity and pass along the savings. Even if the profit is very small, if they sell a lot of them the profit may be significant.

Also, stores may use something called "loss leaders". Those are items they are willing to sell at a loss just to get you to shop with them. They hope that once you get to their site/store you will buy other items that they don't lose on. It's all marketing techniques

[baddest_dog]

I've always thought it was a marketing ploy as well. The company website inflates the price to encourage you to think you're getting a deal. I think they know more people trust and shop places like Amazon so they deal with them. It's no different than when Chaz brings WEN to QVC and the show hosts continually tell you it would cost you $xyz at Chaz' website but here it is so much cheaper. Kate Somerville just did that the other day with her TSV. They all said you would pay double the price at Kate's clinic to buy the same products.

I wonder if her customers watch QVC and think they are getting ripped off at her salon, but then again, they are probably people who do not worry about how much they pay for things and are looking for discounts.

In the end, it probably cost no more than a few pennies on the dollar to make all these products anyway.

[mkcw]

Interesting. The first time I bought from Devita's website because I had read so much about some people getting the Solar Moisturizer SPF 30 that pilled/balled up and others having no problem. I love the product, but wanted to ask you ladies because I don't have money to burn and would feel silly spending more for absolutely no reason. Thank you all so much for responding :-) I appreciate it!

[depglass]

I think Pride Queen hit the nail on the head.

[Wackers3]

Vitacost sells the majority of their products for far less than you'll find them elsewhere because they are able to buy in such huge quantities. They operate on selling mass quantities so while their profit per item might seem minimal, when they sell in such large amounts, they do quite well. Look at Sam's Club, Costco's, etc who sell many name brands for so much less than these brands sell elsewhere, including their own sales sites or stores but they too operate on mass quantity sales.

Selling mass quantities enables them to negotiate better prices with the manufacturers which they then pass on to the customers with a real reduced profit per sale. Yet multiple those sales numbers by the thousands and they secure pretty decent profits themselves. Every penny they get in discounted prices makes a big difference.

A site like Vitacost couldn't risk selling other than top quality merchandise, especially considering they are in the nutrition, supplement and vitamin business. It would shut them down very quickly if customers thought they were receiving anything other than first rate quality.

[spot555]

LOVE Vitacost, & shop with them every month. They sell in MASS quantities, so their prices can reflect that. They ship super-fast, & pack extremely well. I even order organic tortilla chips from them (Little Bear "Bearitos"), & they arrive in perfect condition.

[Wackers3]

On 4/24/2014 goldenretriever said:

LOVE Vitacost, & shop with them every month. They sell in MASS quantities, so their prices can reflect that. They ship super-fast, & pack extremely well. I even order organic tortilla chips from them (Little Bear "Bearitos"), & they arrive in perfect condition.

ITA - they really are a great company to buy from and I love the variety of what they sell. You can get vitamins, supplements, skincare, food, air filters, household cleansers and so many other various and sundry items there and the savings are really substantial. When I first switched from buying locally to buying from Vitacost, I bought the exact same items (same brands, same quantities, etc) so that I could do an honest price comparison. That first order I saved just under $50 which was about 40% less than I had been spending.
It pays off to shop around for the best prices on the products you buy repeatedly.

I try to do it with everything I buy on a regular basis. Amazon's Subscribe and Save is a great place to save on many routine items along with most drugstore skincare. It can be close to a 30%+ savings on many of the products.