How we score vendors

Every day we read the lab reports (certificates of analysis) each vendor publishes, and compute a transparency score out of 10. Where a lab allows automated lookups and we have built a check for that lab, we compare the report with the lab's own record. We do not test products ourselves and we never edit a report.

Method v0, approved on 2026-10-18.

The score

Only reports we could read and match to a peptide on our list count. A report still being processed, unreadable, not a lab report, or about a compound we cannot identify counts for nothing.

• COA coverage, 0–3. Share of the vendor’s active products (seen in the store in the last 30 days) for whose peptide the vendor publishes at least one lab report, times 3.
• Verifiability, 0–2. Average over its reports: verified ✅ = 2, check it yourself 🔑 = 1, not verifiable ⚪ = 0.
• Laboratory, 0–2. Average over its reports: accredited lab = 2, known and independent lab = 1, unidentified lab = 0.
• Results, 0–1. Share of its reports that show purity ≥ 98% and a measured amount within ±10% of the declared amount. A report missing either value does not pass. When a report does not state the declared amount, we compare with the dose on the product label.
• Freshness, 0–1. Share of its reports tested within the last 12 months. A report with no printed test date does not count as fresh.
• Reviews, 0–1. From the vendor's own Trustpilot page only (trustpilot.com/review/<its domain>), captured by hand with the page's rating, number of reviews and date; a capture that does not show the number of reviews does not count. The latest capture within the last 12 months counts if it shows at least 20 reviews; a 3★ rating gives 0 and 5★ gives 1, linearly. No qualifying capture: 0.

The total is rounded to one decimal. Scale: Avoid 0–1.9 · Weak 2–3.9 · Fair 4–5.9 · Good 6–7.9 · Excellent 8–10.

Report status

• ✅ Verified: the lab's own record, checked automatically, matches the compound and lot and contradicts nothing in the report. We show the date of the check.
• 🔑 Check it yourself: the lab offers a lookup on its site and the report shows the task number (and key) it needs; we have not confirmed it automatically.
• ⚪ Not verifiable: we could not identify the lab, the lab offers no lookup, the report lacks the task number or key the lookup needs, or the lab's record disagrees with the report (which also raises an alert).

A report published as an image with no task number counts for coverage and scores 0 for verifiability.

Laboratories

We keep a closed list of laboratories.

• Known and independent: the lab has a public website and address, and there is no evidence that it belongs to a vendor.
• Accredited: an ISO/IEC 17025 certificate number whose scope covers peptide analysis, checked on the accreditation body's website and kept on file. Without that evidence a lab does not count as accredited.

A lab name we cannot match unambiguously to a lab on our list counts as an unidentified lab.

Findings

Three things raise an alert: the same report file (same SHA-256 fingerprint) on two vendors; the same lab task number on reports with a different compound or lot; a report that does not match the lab's record.

Compound and lot must match exactly, ignoring case and spaces; purity within ±0.1 point; amount within ±1%, to allow for rounding. A field is compared only when both sides have a value we read with certainty. If in doubt, no alert.

A person reviews every alert. If the finding is confirmed, the vendor is notified and has 7 days to reply. Then the finding is published with the vendor's reply, if any, and the vendor's score is 0 while the finding stands. If we were wrong, the finding is withdrawn and listed on /corrections.

Which vendors are listed

A store is listed when at least two independent public sources name it: vendor directories, active review profiles (Trustpilot, ProductReview), press, or community forums. The two sources must be on different, unrelated websites; a directory that copies another counts once. The store's own website or social accounts, a competitor, or a partner with a discount code do not count. The store must run its own live website with a catalog; labs, forums, aggregators and marketplace-only sellers are not listed. The same rule applies in every region: US, CA, LATAM, EU, UK, AU, NZ, Asia, Middle East and Global. A store's region is the market it serves (where it is based or ships to), according to its website or the sources that list it; a store with no confirmed region appears only in the overall ranking. No one is added or removed because they pay us, ask us, or know us.

A store that blocks our crawler is not scored and does not appear in the rankings.

Changes to the method

The purity, amount and freshness thresholds belong to a numbered method version. A new version must be approved, every score is recalculated with it, and the change is listed on /corrections.

What a score is not

A score measures what a vendor's lab reports and public reviews show. It is information, not medical advice and not a recommendation to buy. It does not measure what is in your vial.