Reminder on good etiquette: It is appropriate to read the article to make sure that your comments "at" me relate to what I wrote, and not what you imagined might be written other than what you would have written. If you're uncertain, think, "I should quote a part of the article that I'm responding to in order to be certain that I understand the difference between the article and my biases filling in blanks."
Important observations:
* I made no argument for or against vitamins/supplements in general in this article (though readers of RTE can find many dozens of articles where some of that is covered).
* I made no argument regarding the quality of TWC's vitamins/supplements.
Anyone confused by this may want to read the article carefully a second (or first) time.
Is it true that the Wellness Company was debanked a few months back? Also, they are employing Doctors that have possibly lost livlihoods for being Covid Canceled? If true, one could somewhat justify high cost of products due to the lawfare milieu one would expect this company to be navigating. Dont know if that is the case, or why it wouldnt be.
It’s always been a odd market. So many supplement products evolved out of MLM models. Proprietary blends, unknown production quality and unreliable regulatory rules give everyone the opportunity to say “my product is superior” and charge disconnected from reality prices.
How does real innovation breakthrough? Do I spend my scarce resources on Health Insurance, Life Insurance, Retirement/Investments, Food, Housing, or Education? I think RTE has provided some of the best education on getting to the truth but the fight against the "tyranny of experts" and the pedagogical establishment has many layers. Truth, Beauty, and Goodness are the constants to finding TRUE LOVE. Mathew, thank you for always asking great questions!!
I 100% agree. But alas, in light of capitalism, if people will pay it, is it charging too much?
Essentially, an item is worth to me as much as I will, or can, pay. Sucks, but is true. So, hey people.... Let's all stop paying for it all! Perhaps they'll lower the prices then.
Also, to the question of is it malice or stupidity, we turn to HANLON’S RAZOR: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
That said, I do believe malice and evil in this world are now so prevalent that perhaps the razor should be reversed.
Sourced meat from local farmers- raw milk and dairy products- goat when possible- eat your spinach/kale/chard/bok choi, etc.- exercise every day outside- drink lots of non-flouridated water- eat legumes and beans/beets/sweet potatoes (sp?)- get proper sleep- avoid doctors at all costs except for emergencies such as broken bones- avoid processed everything etc.
Try the above and you'll likely find you will rarely get sick and won't need much else to maintain health.
Full admission: I'm not a doctor nor do I play one on TV.
To see the best research on the immune system's need for 50 ng/mL (125 nmol/L) 25-hydroxyvitamin D: https://vitamindstopscovid.info/00-evi/ . Without proper vitamin D3 supplementation, most people have half or less of this. Those with dark or black skin living far from the equator often have 10 ng/mL or less.
See https://vitamindstopscovid.info/00-evi/#00-how-much for New Jersey based Professor of Medicine Sunil Wimalawansa's vitamin D3 supplemental intake quantity recommendations to attain at least 50 ng/mL 25-hydroxyvitamin D without the need for blood tests or medical supervision. These are ratios of body weight, with higher ratios for those suffering from obesity.
For 70 kg (154 lb) body weight, 0.125 milligram (5000 IU) a day is sufficient, though it takes two months or so to raise the 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels over 50 ng/mL from typical starting levels such as 20 ng/mL.
This is a gram every 22 years - and the ex-factory cost of pharma grade vitamin D3 is about USD$2.50 a gram. It needs to be made into once a week or once every 10 days capsules.
Having owned a retail business for 15yrs your question of how much a $3.50 item should retail for depends on a multitude of factors. If overhead is reasonable and product turnover is brisk a two to three time markup is reasonable.
However, when marketing comes into play and brand building is successful the sky is the limit. Rolex watches are the highest margin consumer product on the market because Rolex’s obsession with building a brand has paid off.
On a more grass rootsy level the markup on eyeglass frames can be 25-50-100 times their cost. There are levels to everything.
A bottle of vitamin C that retails for $9.99 is probably manufactured in the same facility that slaps on different labels indicating well known brands retailing the same thing for $19.99.
Dr. Berg on YouTube has built an empire with his popular videos and supplement sales. The fear drummed up over Covid-19 is an easy driver for Drs hawking cure-alls to pickup where mRNA injections leave off.
Undoubtedly a market sprang up for alternatives to big pharma that if a doctor markets his or herself correctly can parlay into a lucrative revenue stream.
Highly marked up herbs and vitamins aren’t nearly as nefarious as the alternatives to 5G radiation and snake venom remedies.
I’ll probably get shellacked for saying it but while I do think viruses are real and that people were actually sickened by strategically placed viral chimeras, I also think there’s a fair bit of neuroticism mixed in that is ongoing due to the phantom of fictitious variants whereby every sniffle, twinge of pain and forgetfulness is latent covid rising up to claim another victim!
My feeling is if you’re wearing nicotine patches, lining your bedroom in a faraday cage, or buying tremendously overpriced supplements THREE YEARS after the plandemonium you’re playing right into the hands of oligarchs who wish to completely revamp the economic system and way we are governed.
Just give covid the middle finger and move on. Every time we worry about it it’ll never end. Reminds me of the end of the film Ferris Bueller's Day Off when he breaks the fourth wall looks at the audience and says, “You’re still here? Go home. It’s over.”
The question "What is the fair retail price for vitamins that cost $3.50?" is secondary to the question of "Do they do their own testing or have an independent lab test every batch?". That is where the costs really climb.
The vast majority of supplements are not tested to show what they contain is what is on the label. The manufacturers do their tests and that's good enough for the resellers in most cases. That leaves them open to fraud. The saying in the industry is "There's gold in them thar pills".
Decades ago one group that had some bad products with way more in the pills than was on the label did the right thing. They bought the equipment to test and verify ALL batches they receive. They put in their contract that they would test and an independent lab would also test every batch. If it wasn't the quality promised they wouldn't pay and the manufacturer could take it back at their own expense. Some of the manufacturers withdrew their bids to supply them.
The testing equipment and training costs a lot (and so do the independent labs) so most places don't do any. You can find reasonably priced supplements that are tested thoroughly but you've got to look.
As always "Food first". Get most of your nutrition from food. They are called "supplements" not "replacements" for a reason.
Everyone deserves to make (earn) a living, but When motivation seems to divert from save humanity to profit...for me it takes things down a few notches.
I am a nutritionist and I don’t support the use of MLM brands b/c typically the people who sell/push them don’t have enough knowledge/skill to determine if it’s right for you as an individual. I’m not set on any one brand-just what’s right for the client and I don’t even determine that until after a very thorough and detailed consult. Supplements are a big business, many are expensive and some are adulterated /counterfeit (often the cheaper brands or some sold on Amazon). Hence, important to have a professional to guide you. More often than not I’m taking supplements out of a new clients regimen b/c of either poor quality or they just don’t need them. The Wellness company is not selling anything new. I’ve been recommending nattokinase and lumbrokinase to specific clients for years. What they have done though is put certain nutrients into one blend. Not much different than many other products on the market.
In case it isn't obvious, most of the companies people have brand familiarity with, be it anything from vitamins to say house paint don't always - and often never - make their own product.
Marketing, brand recognition, and a team of lawyers go a long way for a company with little other overhead to set the market prices for their products; and then to convince the ignorant their product is the best.
On the flipside, there are countless production facilities with the knowhow to make the products and with no desire to do all the aggressive marketing, so the producers very much need the hucksters.
The best approach to counter the hucksters?
Don't be a sucker. Presume that the manipulation is everywhere, and if you are going to buy a product, know why and be honest with your level of satisfaction.
Not every sales pitch is a manipulation, but most are.
Thank you for writing this. It seems everyone is about making a buck and no one cares about people anymore. Just for fun, I checked out a website where they sold ivermectin, because most doctors won’t prescribe it. I was shocked at the prices.
Fixed typo: "First, understand that I'm not calling anyone's supplements "overpriced". "
Reminder on good etiquette: It is appropriate to read the article to make sure that your comments "at" me relate to what I wrote, and not what you imagined might be written other than what you would have written. If you're uncertain, think, "I should quote a part of the article that I'm responding to in order to be certain that I understand the difference between the article and my biases filling in blanks."
Important observations:
* I made no argument for or against vitamins/supplements in general in this article (though readers of RTE can find many dozens of articles where some of that is covered).
* I made no argument regarding the quality of TWC's vitamins/supplements.
Anyone confused by this may want to read the article carefully a second (or first) time.
Is it true that the Wellness Company was debanked a few months back? Also, they are employing Doctors that have possibly lost livlihoods for being Covid Canceled? If true, one could somewhat justify high cost of products due to the lawfare milieu one would expect this company to be navigating. Dont know if that is the case, or why it wouldnt be.
Just a “Thank you!” for all your work. Always look forward to your writing :)
It’s always been a odd market. So many supplement products evolved out of MLM models. Proprietary blends, unknown production quality and unreliable regulatory rules give everyone the opportunity to say “my product is superior” and charge disconnected from reality prices.
How does real innovation breakthrough? Do I spend my scarce resources on Health Insurance, Life Insurance, Retirement/Investments, Food, Housing, or Education? I think RTE has provided some of the best education on getting to the truth but the fight against the "tyranny of experts" and the pedagogical establishment has many layers. Truth, Beauty, and Goodness are the constants to finding TRUE LOVE. Mathew, thank you for always asking great questions!!
I 100% agree. But alas, in light of capitalism, if people will pay it, is it charging too much?
Essentially, an item is worth to me as much as I will, or can, pay. Sucks, but is true. So, hey people.... Let's all stop paying for it all! Perhaps they'll lower the prices then.
Also, to the question of is it malice or stupidity, we turn to HANLON’S RAZOR: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
That said, I do believe malice and evil in this world are now so prevalent that perhaps the razor should be reversed.
Sourced meat from local farmers- raw milk and dairy products- goat when possible- eat your spinach/kale/chard/bok choi, etc.- exercise every day outside- drink lots of non-flouridated water- eat legumes and beans/beets/sweet potatoes (sp?)- get proper sleep- avoid doctors at all costs except for emergencies such as broken bones- avoid processed everything etc.
Try the above and you'll likely find you will rarely get sick and won't need much else to maintain health.
Full admission: I'm not a doctor nor do I play one on TV.
Looking forward to watching the video. Thanks for sharing.
To see the best research on the immune system's need for 50 ng/mL (125 nmol/L) 25-hydroxyvitamin D: https://vitamindstopscovid.info/00-evi/ . Without proper vitamin D3 supplementation, most people have half or less of this. Those with dark or black skin living far from the equator often have 10 ng/mL or less.
See https://vitamindstopscovid.info/00-evi/#00-how-much for New Jersey based Professor of Medicine Sunil Wimalawansa's vitamin D3 supplemental intake quantity recommendations to attain at least 50 ng/mL 25-hydroxyvitamin D without the need for blood tests or medical supervision. These are ratios of body weight, with higher ratios for those suffering from obesity.
For 70 kg (154 lb) body weight, 0.125 milligram (5000 IU) a day is sufficient, though it takes two months or so to raise the 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels over 50 ng/mL from typical starting levels such as 20 ng/mL.
This is a gram every 22 years - and the ex-factory cost of pharma grade vitamin D3 is about USD$2.50 a gram. It needs to be made into once a week or once every 10 days capsules.
Having owned a retail business for 15yrs your question of how much a $3.50 item should retail for depends on a multitude of factors. If overhead is reasonable and product turnover is brisk a two to three time markup is reasonable.
However, when marketing comes into play and brand building is successful the sky is the limit. Rolex watches are the highest margin consumer product on the market because Rolex’s obsession with building a brand has paid off.
On a more grass rootsy level the markup on eyeglass frames can be 25-50-100 times their cost. There are levels to everything.
A bottle of vitamin C that retails for $9.99 is probably manufactured in the same facility that slaps on different labels indicating well known brands retailing the same thing for $19.99.
Dr. Berg on YouTube has built an empire with his popular videos and supplement sales. The fear drummed up over Covid-19 is an easy driver for Drs hawking cure-alls to pickup where mRNA injections leave off.
Undoubtedly a market sprang up for alternatives to big pharma that if a doctor markets his or herself correctly can parlay into a lucrative revenue stream.
Highly marked up herbs and vitamins aren’t nearly as nefarious as the alternatives to 5G radiation and snake venom remedies.
I’ll probably get shellacked for saying it but while I do think viruses are real and that people were actually sickened by strategically placed viral chimeras, I also think there’s a fair bit of neuroticism mixed in that is ongoing due to the phantom of fictitious variants whereby every sniffle, twinge of pain and forgetfulness is latent covid rising up to claim another victim!
My feeling is if you’re wearing nicotine patches, lining your bedroom in a faraday cage, or buying tremendously overpriced supplements THREE YEARS after the plandemonium you’re playing right into the hands of oligarchs who wish to completely revamp the economic system and way we are governed.
Just give covid the middle finger and move on. Every time we worry about it it’ll never end. Reminds me of the end of the film Ferris Bueller's Day Off when he breaks the fourth wall looks at the audience and says, “You’re still here? Go home. It’s over.”
The question "What is the fair retail price for vitamins that cost $3.50?" is secondary to the question of "Do they do their own testing or have an independent lab test every batch?". That is where the costs really climb.
The vast majority of supplements are not tested to show what they contain is what is on the label. The manufacturers do their tests and that's good enough for the resellers in most cases. That leaves them open to fraud. The saying in the industry is "There's gold in them thar pills".
Decades ago one group that had some bad products with way more in the pills than was on the label did the right thing. They bought the equipment to test and verify ALL batches they receive. They put in their contract that they would test and an independent lab would also test every batch. If it wasn't the quality promised they wouldn't pay and the manufacturer could take it back at their own expense. Some of the manufacturers withdrew their bids to supply them.
The testing equipment and training costs a lot (and so do the independent labs) so most places don't do any. You can find reasonably priced supplements that are tested thoroughly but you've got to look.
As always "Food first". Get most of your nutrition from food. They are called "supplements" not "replacements" for a reason.
Everyone deserves to make (earn) a living, but When motivation seems to divert from save humanity to profit...for me it takes things down a few notches.
I am a nutritionist and I don’t support the use of MLM brands b/c typically the people who sell/push them don’t have enough knowledge/skill to determine if it’s right for you as an individual. I’m not set on any one brand-just what’s right for the client and I don’t even determine that until after a very thorough and detailed consult. Supplements are a big business, many are expensive and some are adulterated /counterfeit (often the cheaper brands or some sold on Amazon). Hence, important to have a professional to guide you. More often than not I’m taking supplements out of a new clients regimen b/c of either poor quality or they just don’t need them. The Wellness company is not selling anything new. I’ve been recommending nattokinase and lumbrokinase to specific clients for years. What they have done though is put certain nutrients into one blend. Not much different than many other products on the market.
In case it isn't obvious, most of the companies people have brand familiarity with, be it anything from vitamins to say house paint don't always - and often never - make their own product.
Marketing, brand recognition, and a team of lawyers go a long way for a company with little other overhead to set the market prices for their products; and then to convince the ignorant their product is the best.
On the flipside, there are countless production facilities with the knowhow to make the products and with no desire to do all the aggressive marketing, so the producers very much need the hucksters.
The best approach to counter the hucksters?
Don't be a sucker. Presume that the manipulation is everywhere, and if you are going to buy a product, know why and be honest with your level of satisfaction.
Not every sales pitch is a manipulation, but most are.
Thank you for writing this. It seems everyone is about making a buck and no one cares about people anymore. Just for fun, I checked out a website where they sold ivermectin, because most doctors won’t prescribe it. I was shocked at the prices.