How to spot a bad seller

On 16 September 2025 the FDA issued more than 55 warning letters to online sellers of compounded GLP-1 medications in a single action. Not every cheap seller is dangerous — but some genuinely are, and the differences are visible before you hand over a card.

None of the programmes we review failed the basic checks below. We are setting them out because most people shopping for a GLP-1 will encounter sellers we do not cover, often through an advert rather than a search.

The nine warning signs

1. No prescription required. This is the clearest signal of all. These are prescription medications everywhere in the United States. A seller that skips that step is not operating legally.
2. Sold as a "research chemical" or labelled "not for human consumption". A common workaround for selling peptides without a prescription. The label is the seller telling you what they are.
3. A price far below everybody else. The cheapest legitimate programmes we track land near $99 to $125 a month. Something at $30 is not a better deal; it is a different supply chain.
4. No named clinician anywhere on the site. Legitimate programmes name their medical director or clinical network. Look for a name and, ideally, an NPI number you can look up.
5. No way to reach anyone after you have paid. Check for a support route *before* ordering, not after a dose goes wrong at 11pm.
6. The pharmacy is never mentioned. Most programmes do not name it, which is not disqualifying — but a seller that will not answer the question when asked directly is a different matter.
7. Payment only by bank transfer, crypto or gift card. Legitimate healthcare businesses take ordinary card payments with the consumer protections that carry.
8. Claims the product is FDA-approved when it is compounded. Compounded preparations are not FDA-approved. A seller that blurs this is either confused or lying, and neither is reassuring.
9. Dose instructions in units with no concentration stated. Without mg/mL you cannot know what you are injecting. This is how genuine overdoses happen.

How to check a pharmacy yourself

1. Ask the provider, in writing, which pharmacy fills the prescription and whether it is a 503A pharmacy or a registered 503B outsourcing facility.
2. Look the pharmacy up with the state board of pharmacy in the state it operates from. Licences are public records.
3. Check the NABP list of accredited and not-recommended sites before ordering from a seller you do not recognise.
4. Ask for a certificate of analysis. Very few providers offer one unprompted — in our roster only Trimi and PlexusDx publish pharmacy details openly.

Who publishes their pharmacy

We record pharmacy disclosure as a scored criterion rather than a footnote — see how we rate. The regulatory background is in is compounded GLP-1 still legal.