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Vitacost Reviews | Everything You Need To Know
Vitacost attempts to be your go-to solution for, paraphrasing its motto, “your journey to a healthier life.” It’s a popular online merchant for people looking for healthy products ranging from health foods, vitamins, supplements to bath & beauty products and even healthy alternatives for your home and your pets. It carries over 45,000 different items from over 2,500 leading brands.
As well as its large product selection, Vitacost positions itself as offering customers with up to 50% savings when compared to retail.
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Innerbody Research recently celebrated its 20-year anniversary online. Over the past two decades, we have helped tens of millions of readers make more informed decisions involving staying healthy and living healthier lifestyles.
We extensively test, experience and order from each product or service we review. Our review of Vitacost is no different. We try our best to give you, our readers, an unbiased exploration of at-home health products and services, free of marketing jargon or gimmicks. We evaluate based on our adherence to quality, the latest medical evidence and health standards, and a simple question: would we buy the product or service ourselves if it weren’t part of our job, and would we recommend it to family and friends?
Additionally this review of Vitacost, like all health-related content on this website, was thoroughly vetted by one or more members of our Medical Review Board for accuracy.
What products does Vitacost offer?
Its large product selection covers virtually all the needs of an individual looking for healthy choices in everyday products such as:
- Vitamins and supplements – probably all the products you may ever need, ranging from daily multivitamins to antioxidants, probiotics, and minerals. Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and organic alternatives are available and popular brands like Doctor’s Best, Solgar, and American Health Ester-C;
- Food & beverages – vegan, Kosher, vegetarian, raw, organic or gluten-free or simply healthy, delicious foods and drinks from top brands;
- Beauty & personal care – a big selection of quality products accompanied by everyday savings and extra discounts;
- Sports & fitness – products to boost your workout and reach your fitness goals;
- Herbs & Botanicals – wide selection at good prices.
Quick reorder and automatic delivery options are available to help you make sure you never run out of your favorite product and saving you from over-ordering.
See all Vitacost products
Vitacost brand vs name brands
One of the benefits of shopping with Vitacost is its own brand, the Vitacost brand, launched back in 1999 with a goal of providing high-quality health and wellness essentials at low prices.
The line of products included in the Vitacost brand portfolio covers vitamins and supplements, beauty, diet, foods and whole foods, herbs, home, pet health, babies and kids essentials. Products are also available as gluten-free, egg-free, low carb, vegan, vegetarian, organic and more.
The quality of the Vitacost branded items is on par with top brands in the respective fields while the pricing is excellent. Vitacost’s line of vitamins and supplements has been commended by ConsumerLab and named the #1 Online Supplement Merchant in multiple years.
Vitacost customer service and returns
In terms of customer service, browsing through the opinions of its customers shows Vitacost is generally on top of its game. Instant Online Service is a feature that should be able to help you find answers to common questions, issue a refund or replacement request, or track your order. In case you still need further assistance, email, online chat, and a telephone number are available, with trained professionals ready and willing to help you out.
Its returns and replacement policy is straightforward and the process for issuing a request is easy to access and go through via its Customer Service Section. Vitacost does not charge any restocking fees and returning an unopened product is free for US customers.
Shipping and delivery
Vitacost’s shipping is usually fast. Typically, orders placed before 1 p.m. have same-day shipping available, while orders placed after that time will ship the next business day.
On the other hand, some reviewers have reported extended delays on some products. This appears to come down to the different shopping companies that Vitacost uses in different regions across the country, some of which leave much to be desired. Thankfully, these problems appear to be sporadic and infrequent.
Shipping times are calculated during checkout, so you are always in the know about when your order will arrive.
For all orders above $49 (or $25 for orders of Vitacost branded products) shipping is free.
In order to track your order you do not need to visit the shipping company’s website, but instead, you can do it directly from Vitacost’s own website, identifying order either by order number or email address.
Some people have had issues with receiving damaged products through Vitacost, resulting from relatively poor packaging. Though Vitacost has a flexible return policy, it can be annoying to have to go through the hassle of returning a product because of poor packaging.
Useful resources and reward program
Articles, guides, recipes are all available on the website too under the moniker Vitavibes. Topics range from nutrition to beauty, from wellness to supplements, from recipes to fitness. Whether you’re looking for ways to get your kids to eat healthier, to winter-proof your skin or for a spicy Sriracha-Aioli Guacamole recipe to serve your friends, you’ll probably find it on Vitavibes. Furthermore, video tutorials are available for when you want to understand a certain beauty technique better, for example.
Vitacost app
The site is mobile-friendly but for a truly great shopping experience, we recommend giving its mobile app a try, which is available both on Apple’s App Store as well as on Google’s Play Store so that both iOS and Android users are well-covered.
App users benefit, aside from the easy navigation, intuitive interface, and MyList saved items, from promotions that are exclusive to the app. Also, Promo Pocket fans using the app get discounts that are app-exclusive and cannot be found in the desktop version of the store. The app is free to download and use.