Comment · Tue, November 10, 2015 · Ceretropic & Nootropics Depot
Reputable Chinese vendors/labs (on Alibaba)
Original post in this thread
PseudonymityRules · 16 points
Hi there fellow /r/Nootropics,
I have wondered for a while about how to screen vendors for legitimacy/reliability on Alibaba. The first way to do that would be to order a sample and do testing, then if results are good and repeat the testing to ensure they haven't sold you bunk in bulk. Since making arrangements for testing is rather cumbersome if ordering for personal use with a <$200 budget it would be preferable to use another method, which leads me to reputation.
Since all the US/EU vendors are likely order from Alibaba from vendors they consider somewhat reputable (and a few are even amazing enough to do their own in-house or third party testing) it would be nice to know which vendors these are.
So, if anyone has experience with ordering from a Chinese vendor/lab (via Alibaba or otherwise), please share your experience, what you ordered and from who!
PS. I'm actually a regular here but recently created this pseudonym so that I could be less careful with what I wrote and shared.
Edit: As usual /u/shrillthrill has an excellent point I want to stress: Nobody should order from vendors (if they are not prepared to do testing) without the vendor having an extensive track recor…
What they were answering
PseudonymityRules · 1 points
I understand this and therefore want to stress that I'm looking for vendors who test their own products and have not been proven wrong on their testing.
I would love to hear from /u/MisterYouAreSoDumb and others which vendors they have received substances from which subsequently shown to not be what the vendor's tests had indicated. And to get back to the original intent: To find if they have any vendors which have been fault-free in their own testing.
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · Ceretropic & Nootropics Depot
Every single one of our suppliers has sent us impure or mislabeled product. Every single one. Not a single supplier has a clean track record. I spend a lot of time yelling and arguing with them about things they mix up or rush out with solvents left in them.
I know it sounds like a nice plan, going direct to the source. However, we have spent a lot of time and effort to create processes that ensure identity and purity for everything. Every month we get impure product, or product that was accidentally shipped to us instead of someone else, and is a completely different compound than what is labeled. I've rejected 40 kilos of Tianeptine Sodium in the past 2 months. 40! This was from 4 separate suppliers. I just rejected 1kg of PRL-8-53 last week. I rejected 4kg Bromantane 2 months ago. The L-Theanine from 2 US suppliers had chlorinated solvents left in them, and they are US-based suppliers. If you are not testing, you are risking your health.
Even if one of the vendors has a supplier that has never messed up (I highly doubt it), they are not going to publicly share that information. This is a business. None of the vendors out there can continue to advance this space if they undermine their own market. If everyone just went directly to China, we would not be here today. On the same token, I work directly with all those suppliers you see on Alibaba, and give them ideas for new compounds, and help them with synthesis methods and testing. I am on Skype daily with them, giving them new research, and trying to talk them into projects. I am also constantly yelling at them with their mess-ups, or failed synths. You know how many times I have caught something impure in our testing, and the supplier says: "Well none of the other vendors we have sold to have complained?" It's crazy! Without vendors like us, Newstar, NewMind, and Powder City in the mix, this space would be an absolute mess.
So please, do not treat Alibaba as a consumer sale site. It's far from it.