Price fixing - cost of supplements - are we being done?

[Sussexbythesea]

When I go and visit my sister in America I can buy Cortaflex Powder for about $25 for 3 - 4 months supply (£50 here). You can buy gastric ulcer medication and supplements such as SUCCEED over the counter at most feedstores.

So why oh why do we have to pay so much - OK there is probably an import cost and tax but surely not that much - does anyone know? And why do we have to go through vets for supplements. Is there a case for price-fixing - is this against the law?

Would be interested to know...

 

[Rudey]

slightly off subject but.... I buy 1kg garlic granules from the local chinese supermarket for £1.99, in feed shops and tack shops, you pay between £4 and £8 for the same weight of exactly the same stuff!!!

I also buy 20 litres of oil from them for £14.99. When I worked it out, I was saving over £9.54 then if I had bought the same amount in 3 litre bottles from ASDA (worked out litre cost, times by 20)!! Shocking how much you can save

, and where you can save it xx

 

[vallin]

Yes you are generally being done, but Surrey Equestrian quite often have some of them cheaper, like cortaflex and stuff, cheapest place I've found anyway!

 

[orsceno1]

If you look on ebay and search internationally for Corta-flx you will find some cheap stuff which you can ship in from the states - even with the postage it works out loads cheaper

In answer to your question - horse supplements in the UK are expensive for a number of reasons - tax is one but they add on huge margins to cover the marketing costs of selling small volumes of product into a relatively small market. You can often get basic products much cheaper if you dont buy the brand but look closely at the active ingredients - expensive doesnt always mean its the best!

 

[Sussexbythesea]

Thanks for the info - I spend so much on supplements I thought I could support the market on my own!