Peptide buyer FAQ

In the US, most peptides sold online are unapproved compounds offered strictly "for laboratory research use — not for human consumption." Selling them for research is generally lawful; selling or marketing them for human use is not, and rules differ by country and change often (several peptides are also on the WADA prohibited list for athletes). Nothing here is legal advice — check the current rules where you live.

A Certificate of Analysis is a lab report stating what is actually in a vial: identity (the right molecule), purity (how much of it), and often contaminants. Because research peptides skip pharmaceutical quality control, the COA is the only evidence that the white powder you receive is what the label claims. Independent testing has repeatedly caught underdosed and even zero-peptide vials from bad vendors.

Three checks: (1) the batch/lot number on the COA must match the lot on your vial — a COA without a lot match proves nothing about your vial; (2) the testing lab should be a named third party you can look up, not the vendor itself; (3) the method should be stated — HPLC for purity plus mass spectrometry for identity is the standard pair. If any of the three is missing, treat the product as untested.

A marketing COA is a single old report reused across every batch — it shows the vendor can make the compound, not that your batch was made correctly. A per-batch COA is issued for each production lot. Per-batch is the standard our rankings reward.

The classics: they move you to WhatsApp or Telegram to complete the sale; they accept only crypto, gift cards, or wire; prices far below every established vendor; no COAs or refusal to show a batch-specific one; a "customs release fee" or any surprise fee after payment (a fee ladder — no legitimate vendor does this); and a site only weeks old with stock photos. Any one of these is reason to walk away.

Card networks give you chargeback rights; crypto, Zelle, and wires are irreversible. Many legitimate research-chemical vendors do accept crypto because card processors restrict the category — but an established vendor offers it as one option among several. Crypto-only plus any other red flag is how most scam losses happen. When possible, pay by card.

It is the legal basis on which these compounds are sold: they are unapproved substances supplied for laboratory research, without pharmaceutical-grade manufacturing, sterility assurance, or dosing guidance. The label is not a wink — it reflects a real difference in quality control and legal status versus prescription drugs.

Some outbound links are affiliate links and may earn us a commission at no cost to you. Third-party commissions never change a supplier's score or tier, which come from COA transparency, independent testing, community reputation, and operational history. Separately, Serum Research is an affiliated company — wherever it appears it carries an "Affiliated" label linking to the full disclosure on our About page.

Each supplier gets a 0–10 score and a tier weighed across per-batch COA transparency, third-party lab verification, community reputation across forums and review platforms, and operational transparency (policies, sourcing, track record). The methodology page explains the tiers; Critical Alert flags vendors with scam reports or no verifiable testing.

A few compounds (like semaglutide or tesamorelin in their approved drug forms) are prescription medicines. Most research peptides have no approved human form and therefore no prescription route at all — they exist only as research chemicals. Our research reference lists the status compound by compound.

Lyophilized (freeze-dried) peptide is stable at room temperature for the days a shipment takes — cold-pack shipping is mostly unnecessary for powder. On arrival, store sealed vials cold, dark and dry (refrigerated, or frozen for long-term). Once reconstituted with bacteriostatic water, keep it refrigerated at 2–8 °C, don't shake it, and avoid freeze–thaw cycles. Compound-specific guidance from a label or vendor overrides these generalities.

Act fast: contact your bank or card issuer immediately to dispute the charge, stop responding to the "vendor" (especially to any release-fee demands), keep all screenshots and payment records, report it to the FTC and IC3, and file a report with us so we can flag the vendor and warn others. The first hours matter most for recovery.