Answering the narrow version, because the broad one does not have a single answer. The useful checklist is about verifiability rather than presentation. Independent test results commissioned by buyers rather than by the seller, consistency across multiple batches over time rather than one flattering report, a physical address and a company registration that resolve, batch and lot numbers on the actual labelling, and a shipping practice that matches what the material needs. Everything a good-looking website provides is cheap to fake; none of the items above are.
Six orders from the same supplier over eight months, every one independently tested, and the consistency is the part worth reporting rather than any single result.
Red flags, in rough order of how much they should worry you: no verifiable address, no batch numbers, prices far under market, vendor-commissioned tests only, pressure toward irreversible payment, and shipping with no temperature control.
So the question, as narrowly as I can put it: what a vetting checklist should actually contain, as opposed to a list of things that are easy to fake.
I would rather have one careful answer than five confident ones.
pete_manc_UK said:The useful checklist is about verifiability rather than presentation.
Right, and one flattering data point from a group buy is not consistency. Consistency means separate batches, separately commissioned, over months.
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Shop Reference Standardsamsterdam_pete said:Six orders from the same supplier over eight months, every one independently tested, and the consistency is the part worth reporting rather than any…
Same position here, arrived at the long way round. Prices dramatically below market are the strongest single signal, and the reason is arithmetic rather than suspicion. Synthesis, testing, and cold-chain shipping have floors. A price well under the floor means something was skipped, and the two things that get skipped are testing and content.
From the other side of the consultation, briefly.
Vendor reputation tracking for vendor vetting: I maintain a personal spreadsheet with every order I've placed — date, vendor, batch number, Janoshik result, personal efficacy assessment (1-5 scale), and any issues.
After 16 orders across 4 vendors: average purity 97.4%, zero sterility concerns, 2 shipping issues (all resolved). This data gives me confidence in my current source and documentation if issues arise.
I encourage everyone to track their orders systematically. Community data aggregation makes us all safer.