Is Vitacost a Good Place to Shop?

This post, Is Vitacost a good place to shop?, contains references to products from one or more of my advertising partners. When you click on a link to any of these products, I may be compensated. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please visit my Earnings Disclosure & Disclaimer page for more information. Thanks for your support! Please also note that any prices, offers, and terms listed are subject to change at the discretion of the companies mentioned. 

 

A few years ago I decided to give Vitacost a try, and have been a loyal customer ever since. Vitacost offers everything I seek in an online retailer. While no retailer is perfect, in general I’ve found the following at Vitacost: reasonable prices, fast & reliable shipping, efficient customer service, items that are usually in stock, a site that’s easy to navigate, and a seamless checkout. 

 

Top Reasons to Shop at Vitacost

✔ Trusted name. Vitacost has been in business since 1994.

✔ Huge inventory consisting of more than 40,000 health and wellness products.

✔ Attractive price points with frequent Vitacost promos. 

✔ Fast, reliable shipping. And it’s free with a minimum purchase of $49 or more (or $25 of Vitacost and select brands).

✔ The Vitacost generic line, which offers good value on more than 900 products.

 

About Vitacost

Vitacost is an online health and wellness retailer founded in 1994, at a time when ecommerce was still in its infancy. The supermarket giant Kroger -which also sells under names like Harris Teeter, City Market, and Dillons- purchased the company in 2014.

This online retailer carries about 40,000 health and wellness products (I recently counted more than 2,200 brands) in categories that encompass vitamins & supplements, personal care & beauty, pet care, and health foods.

They offer a gigantic selection of natural, organic, clean, and cruelty-free products from brands like Life Extension, Organic Valley, Pacifica, Cocokind, and Eden Foods. Vitacost also has a family of signature brands in categories ranging from skin care & beauty, vitamins & supplements, and food items, to pet health, home care, and baby care. And if you’re looking for more conventional brands like Softsoap, Ruffles, and Metamucil, they carry those, too.

 

 

Is Vitacost a Good Place to Shop?

The following are some of the factors I look for in an online retailer. Here’s a look at how Vitacost measures up.

 

Vitacost Prices & Savings

There’s no required membership fee to shop here, so the prices listed are essentially what you’ll pay (minus any Vitacost promos & coupons). 

Vitacost discounts some of their products more deeply than others. For example, the regular price for a 3.3 oz. tube of JR Watkins Lemon Shea Butter Hand Cream is $8.99, which is also about what I’d pay at most of the brick and mortar stores in my area. Vitacost’s regular price is $6.49. A bottle of MegaFoods Turmeric Inflammation Response (40 Gummies) is regularly priced at $15.99 at my local grocers, while I pay just $11.51 at Vitacost.

Other price points aren’t as enticing. A bottle of Hyperbiotics PRO-15 (60 servings), which is priced at $25.00 on the manufacturer’s site is $24.99 at Vitacost.

On average, I typically save between 20% to 30% on my Vitacost purchases, though savings can vary. Discounts can be even deeper when I take advantage of general Vitacost promos and  customized Promo Pocket offers (available when you register for free).

 

Vitacost Inventory & Availability

I can buy products at Vitacost that most offline stores (and some online ones) don’t carry. For example, Target was the only store in my area that carried the Hyperbiotics PRO-15 Probiotics mentioned above, but they discontinued it, and it’s not currently available through their website.

While many stores I frequent may carry my favorite brands, they don’t always stock every product within those lines. My local Whole Foods, for example, carries the Kal brand, but not specifically their Magnesium Glycinate. Fortunately, I can still buy these at Vitacost.

Listing thousands of brands is only useful if the products you want are actually available. Who wants to go through the trouble of locating an item only to learn it’s out of stock or on backorder? While I don’t have statistics on how often Vitacost is out of stock on published items, of all the times I’ve placed orders, only two or three items have been out of stock; and one of these was shipped to me when it became available.

 

Vitacost Site Navigation & Checkout Process

The Vitacost site is attractively designed, loads quickly (despite containing a lot images), and has intuitive navigation. You can shop whichever way you prefer – including by brand, product category, type of diet, health support solution, specialty (like cruelty-free or hypoallergenic) or via their search bar.

Checkout is seamless. Instead of having to navigate through multiple pages, everything -including address, order summary, price, tax, shipping cost (if any), and a place to enter any promotional codes- is on one page. After logging into my account, I just click Place My Order and am done. Easy.

 

Vitacost Customer Service

Of the few times I’ve written for information, their replies for the most part have been timely and courteous. During sales and peak seasons, wait times can be longer.

Vitacost displays its contact information on every page, so you don’t have to go digging for it. You can contact them via a toll-free number, online chat, or email. Or check out their Instant Online Service to find quick answers to common questions.

 

This post contains references to products from one or more of my advertising partners. When you click on a link to any of these products, I may be compensated. Please visit my Earnings Disclosure & Disclaimer page for more information. Thanks for your support!

 

Vitacost Shipping

Standard shipping is free for orders of $49 or more, or $25 or more of Vitacost items or select brands. Some individual items ship free, regardless of price.

A few things to keep in mind about the Vitacost free shipping offer:

• It includes standard shipping, which usually takes three days on average to ship, though wait times can be longer during sales promos and busy seasons. Expedited shipping will incur an extra fee.

• Shipping is free after any discounts, so if for example you purchase $49 worth of products and your total is $39 after you’ve entered a Vitacost promo code, you won’t meet the free shipping minimum. 

• The offer is open to APO & FPO addresses.
  
  
• It’s not available to customers in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, U.S. Territories, and Canada. They pay $9.99 for standard shipping.
  
  
• Costs vary by country for international customers.

My orders have always arrived in tact and carefully packed. A plus is that they use a minimal amount of packing materials, which cuts down on the waste. 

 

Vitacost Refund Policy

Their refund policy is pretty standard. In short, they don’t accept returns, though domestic customers can request a refund or replacement within 60 days of purchase if any item arrives damaged, is missing, incorrect, or not up to your standards.

For international orders, the window to request a refund is 90 days. Customs regulations and high shipping costs prohibits them from offering replacements.

 

Vitacost Shopping Tips

• Register for a free Vitacost account. It makes the checkout process run more efficiently. You also gain access to their Promotional Pocket with unadvertised coupons.

• If you’re a student, you can save an additional 15% off your purchase through UNiDAYS. You have to sign up for an account, but it’s free.
  
  
• Carefully check your package when it arrives. Vitacost often times include valuable coupons. I recently received one for 20% off a future order.
  
  
• Subscribe to the Vitacost newsletter to learn about new specials, offers, and products. They don’t clutter my inbox like some other stores do.

• Unless you’d like your products delivered automatically every month, be sure you keep the default Set & Save option (on the product page) set to Deliver Once.
  
  
• If you like being able to shop and receive coupons while on the go, download the Vitacost phone app, available either via Google Play or the App Store.

 

When it comes to online shopping, everyone has different experiences and expectations. For me however, Vitacost has been an excellent fit.

 

This post contains references to products from one or more of my advertising partners. When you click on a link to any of these products, I may be compensated. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Please visit my Earnings Disclosure & Disclaimer page for more information. Thanks for your support!