There are multiple ways to find out the credibility of an online pharmacy. First, let us see why this issue is becoming so important and there are thousands of people looking to get the answer to this question.
The need of moving to the online pharma market has been unavoidable recently. Until a few years back it was just a luxury, but lately, it has become more of a necessity. The major reason is the pandemic and the lockdown it imposed. Even if the medical shops were open during the lockdown, people were sceptical about stepping out due to the fear of catching the virus. That led to an increase in the usage of online pharmacies. As per Economic Times, the online pharma industry grew 3 times last year. This means more people turning their heads towards this mode of getting their meds than the usual medical shops down the street.
The trend is clearly here to say but turns out not all online medicine shops are legitimate. The point of attraction for these sites is the price they offer which is usually discounted. There is no doubt about the fact that the prices of medicines are soaring too high. Thus it is very likely for a shopper to move towards sites that offer discounts prices. In such a quest they may find themselves landed on a shady site. In case the origins of the pharma companies cannot be found, it won’t be possible for the government to monitor their sales, especially if such a site is operating from a different country, suggests Consumer Reports. The ingredients of many medicines cannot be validated.
Thus it is advised to completely avoid foreign sites. Also, a user can use online coupons to get discounts on the medicines they need while still buying from the reputed pharma brands in the country. Shoppers could get discounts on PharmaEasy, NetMeds and more such brands which are better known for the service. The best way to get the deals is to visit a coupon site like GrabOn, which lists down the discounts applied in all these pharma companies and many other websites in one place. The coupons are easy to use and being a trusted site, you can also rest assured about the legitimacy of the coupons. The coupons are very frequently updated for about the 2000 bands present on the portal and you would always find a deal or two that would apply to your situation.
Here are a few things you can do in order to stay away from malicious pharma sites
- Make sure they require a prescription
When you are looking for sites that require no prescription, you could find yourself many shade companies. As medicines have side effects, you must make sure that the site requires a real prescription in order to sell medicines to you. For ailments for which you don’t have a prescription, you could get one by simply visiting a walk-in clinic. Getting medicines purchased with prescriptions could be a simple tick in making sure the pharmacy is safe to buy from.
- Read reviews
Sometimes, websites have prices that are too good to be true. In cases where too cheap to be true prices exist, you need to go ahead and check the reviews. People who were looking to save some money just like you might have written about their experience in the past. Good and legal websites should have loads of positive reviews on them, or even if the prices are not as less as 90% off, you would find yourself a good product.
- Do they have a consultant you can talk to?
Don’t hesitate in reaching out to a nutritionist, doctor, or expert in time for any questions you have about the medicines that you want to buy. And in such a case, a specialist from the same site you are ordering the medicines from could help. Some pharma apps will arrange a callback from a pharmacist or an expert every time you submit the prescription.
- Ensure they have a local warehouse or walk-in pharmacies
Sites like Apollo have many walk-in pharmacy stores. It is a big name too. Thus you must ensure that the site you want to purchase medicines from either has a local pharmacy shops chain or at least warehouses. Pharmacy companies will be upfront about the physical stores and their location. Bigger businesses may also have more than one distributor. Sites that are open about where they get the medicines from can be considered reliable. You can consider such a site to be safe and go ahead with it if it also satisfies the other points mentioned above.
- Check for Cash On Delivery
It would be wise to opt for a pharmacy that offers you cash on delivery services. Even if you wouldn’t use it, it is good to know that they trust you with the payment and not the other way around.
Stay away from these sites
Sites that do not have a clear website, a well-known brand name and cash on delivery option (all three of the above) cannot be trusted. If a site sends half the items, does not send anything at all, or takes forever to ship, it is not the site you should be buying from. If you encounter such a review on the site you are, better to save your time and money and look for another site that seems more trustworthy.
Fishy sites may publicise their refund policies more than other services. Although this may make you feel that your money will be back if the order is not successfully completed, the time taken for the refund requests and the refund itself may be longer than you would imagine. You should stay away from such a site.
About the Author
Aamer Hussain is a content writer and creator. With over 4 years of experience in the internet industry, he specialises in areas of eCommerce, online business and consumer habits.
