When searching for online kratom products, most potential customers begin to seek out information about the different kratom vendors on the web. The more they search, the more inquisitive they become about those businesses. This leads them to consider a few questions before choosing to make a purchase or not. And as a conscious consumer, it’s a natural thought process we all have gone through.
Some of those inquiries include:
- Which kratom vendor has the best kratom products on the market?
- Which kratom vendor gives the best customer service experience to consumers?
- Which kratom vendor can be trusted with credit card or bank account information through the internet?
Figuring out which kratom product is the best is akin to determining which kratom vendor provides the best shopping experience for a customer. Those answers are subjective to each person who uses kratom. So claiming we have the answers to those questions would be disingenuous. Instead, we’ll focus on the third question.
That question is the most imperative when judging which company will profit from your purchase. After all, you won’t give up your hard-earned cash to a kratom vendor unless you feel safe and secure when doing business with the brand.
But what specific information should you look for when deciding whether or not a kratom e-commerce website is trustworthy? We’ll go over a few signs you should look for right now.
What to Look for When Buying Kratom?
A kratom vendor’s e-commerce website is something you need to take into consideration before making a purchase. When you enter a kratom vendor’s site, ask yourself a few questions.
- Does the site’s design look pleasant?
- Do the web pages and menu offer you easy navigation to find what you’re looking for?
- Does the company offer warranties?
- Is the business’s shopping cart difficult to use?
Answering no to any of these questions should raise a red flag. A kratom vendor’s website is its portal to potential customers. Look at it this way: you’d be wary of purchasing anything from a store that was rundown. The same should be said of an online marketplace. The user experience on a website usually corresponds to the types of products or services you’ll receive.
Also, take the time to check out the company’s contact information. Check the hours of operation and ask any questions you might have. As long as the business is open, this gives you ample time to judge the customer service experience through your interaction. If the person on the other end is being short with responses or takes forever to contact you back, then this could be a telltale sign the business doesn’t have a sound structure in place. And you should probably look elsewhere. You want to purchase from a business that’s fully operational and not somebody’s side hustle.
But you should determine if the company has quality standards in place, too. And I’ll tell you how to find out.
Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) for Kratom Vendors
Good manufacturing practices are guidelines set in place by regulatory commissions to make sure companies have particular processes in place that all the businesses must follow. Normally, for food products or dietary supplements, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would oversee the practice. But in the US, the kratom sector is not regulated by the FDA.
That creates a problem for the customers searching for a kratom product that they know is safe to use. And it leaves consumers in doubt about which kratom vendors have quality standards set up. It’s easy for a company to tout they abide by strict stipulations, but without an agency making sure each kratom business adheres to them, then the claim on the website is worthless.
Seriously, we’re talking about a product you ingest, so you want to be positive about the safety framework for the kratom vendor you’re purchasing from. But don’t fret just yet. Just because the FDA doesn’t regulate the kratom businesses you deal with, it doesn’t mean there is no oversight available for customers that purchase kratom. The American Kratom Association (AKA) offers recourse for consumers seeking that information. For those of you who don’t know what the AKA does, it’s a consumer-based non-profit organization that advocates for kratom legalization in the US. But on top of that, the advocacy group also manages a program that adjudicates which kratom vendors have manufacturing measures in place to safeguard your kratom products.
AKA GMP Qualified Vendors
The American Kratom Association (AKA) has a list on its website of every kratom vendor that participates in the GMP Standards Program. That web page allows you to view which kratom businesses have implemented manufacturing and processing protocols to prevent product contamination in each production facility. Those vendors also perform the duty of producing the necessary lab analysis for the raw materials to prove no pollutants or pathogens are present.
On top of those kratom companies that have completed the program’s requirements, you can also see the companies that have registered for AKA’s GMP program but are still pending approval: a kratom vendor has 90 days after enrollment until its third-party audit needs to be finalized and sent in to be verified.
So the American Kratom Association’s website gives you access to the kratom businesses that have put the necessary precautions in place to make sure you have the best available product. If you’ve never checked out their site before to see the list of vendors who participate in the GMP program, I would advise you to do so when you finish this article. It gives you the insight you’re looking for.
Now, if a kratom company is not listed on the AKA’s site, it doesn’t automatically mean there are no safety procedures in place. In that scenario, you could request the information directly from the company. But in those cases, you’ll have to take additional steps. With the AKA’s list, it puts the information directly at your fingertips.
Determine What Each Kratom Vendor Offers
There are several kratom vendors on the web that offer a variety of kratom products. Whenever shopping around for kratom, you’ll find businesses offering crushed whole leaf, powdered products, capsules, pressed tablets, and kratom extracts. And you’ll find various price models associated with each kratom vendor, too.
But some of the price differentiation is warranted. Keep in mind, some of the safety factors and lab tests provided by GMP-compliant kratom vendors will result in additional expenses incurred for those businesses. And as a result, the increased cost of business is added to the price of the product. In that situation, the age-old adage still rings true today: you get what you pay for.
And you’ll find several varieties of kratom on the market as well. Some companies have specific brand names associated with the products those businesses offer. But for the most part, you’ll find kratom products listed on the internet as the colored vein of the leaf when it was picked from the tree: red, white, or green. Geographical locations also play a part in the varieties, as well as the fermentation or drying processes.
Several Kratom Varieties to Choose From
These varieties have different alkaloid compositions, so each one will have unique chemical properties that provide a range of therapeutic effects. While there is a consensus on which varieties furnish a purported outcome for the user, the results could potentially differ in your case. Everyone’s body and mind are not alike. So, depending on your biological structure and brain chemistry, a kratom variety might have contrasting therapeutic benefits for you.
But that’s the beauty of kratom. With so many vendors and varieties on the market, you have a smorgasbord of options available to you. And trying each product is half the fun. In time, you’ll figure out which varieties work the best for you. But you’ll also enjoy partaking in some of the others. So take the opportunity to try as many kratom varieties as you can.
Although, before you purchase a kratom product from a vendor, make sure you heed our advice in this article and make sure you’re dealing with a reputable company.
Then whenever you’ve found a variety of kratom that you like, let us know in the comments below. If you already have a preferred variety, then make yourself a cup of kratom tea and tell us about it. Kratom Geek would enjoy hearing about which kratom varieties are your favorites.
