For the past few years I have been buying a variety of pharmacy products from drugstore.com in the US. Don’t worry, they’re part of Amazon, not some dodgy crowd flogging fake horse tranquillizers.
There are two reasons I’ve been doing this. The first is that I use a miracle stomach drug called Omeprazole which solved over 20 years of chronic stomach problems when I finally discovered it (and other PPIs like Nexium). Getting the branded versions via prescription here would cost an arm and a leg but it is available as a non-prescription (i.e. OTC) generic in the US.
The second is the criminal difference between the cost in Ireland of normal NSAIDs like paracetemol/ibuprofen and the cost in the US. How about 500 ibuprofen for $12.99 or 500 paracetemol (acetaminophen) for $11.99? Compared to maybe €2 for 24 generic paracetemol here? Also, it’s 500, not some idiotic packet of 12 that Micheál Martin forced on us during his reign.
Whilst the products were cheap, the shipping and customs really added up so we would buy 6-9 months worth of products at a time and made big savings. Unfortunately drugstore.com decided to stop doing direct international shipping a few months ago which had me very worried. However they did say they were happy to use a third party shipping agency in the US. They recommended one but I decided to go with US Unlocked, with whom I already had an account.
US Unlocked is a great service. I signed up with them to get an online US Credit Card to buys things like Amazon VOD TV shows etc but their core business is providing people with US shipping addresses. The idea is that you have a unique address with them in New Jersey and when you order, you provide that address to the vendor. You can order from multiple vendors and wait until everything arrives there. They notify you of each arrival. Once you are ready, you tell them what you want shipped and they quote you a price via UPS. You pay the fee (normal credit card, PayPal etc) and they ship. Simple.
I did an order recently with drugstore.com and another from Florian Tools who make a superb ratchet pruners that my mother loves. Florian used to have very cheap shipping to Ireland but when I checked recently, the shipping cost more than the product! This is a common issue in the US.
For this order, US Unlocked quoted me $67 to send a few hundred dollars worth of stuff, which I thought was very reasonable. No other fees were involved and all the US-based drugstore.com deliveries were free. It took a week to arrive due to some weird hold-up with UPS in Germany but everything arrived perfectly today.
Note that you may incur customs charges depending on the products, so factor that into your spend. I’d recommend doing a big family order twice a year and share the shipping cost across the family.
I’m really thrilled how well it worked out. Big thumbs up for both drugstore.com and US Unlocked.
February 20, 2012 at 10:38 pm
Conor, you have an amazing ability to write blog posts about things that are on my mind. Last year it was standing desks and barefoot running (the latter of which I am completely addicted to) to name but two of your posts which resonated with me.
Recently I’ve been enraged by the lack of sensibly priced ibuprofen in Ireland. For some bizarre reason it is now behind the counter, so you can’t pick it up in supermarkets. Ibuprofen is the recommended NSAID for children these days and is safer than paracetamol. Yet paracetamol is still available on the shelves. So to get our supply of ibuprofen we’ve been paying €5 for 24 tablets in the local pharmacy. Whilst I’m happy to support these small businesses and realise they perform a valuable service I’m not prepared to pay 20 times the price for a generic product. In the UK you can walk into Tesco’s and get 24 generic ibuprofen for around 20p.
This should be a national scandal and if I was more energetic / engaged I’d be looking to start a campaign!
Thanks for the info on Drugstore and US Unlocked – I may reluctantly start diverting some money out of the Irish economy, as being ripped off to this extent is just too much… I think I’d better sit down and take a few tablets to calm down
February 21, 2012 at 7:42 am
Hey Tom. Delighted you are into the barefoot running. It’s time for me to get off the treadmill and out into the local parks!
The NSAID rip-off is particularly disgusting since you have only two options when your kids’ temp goes through the roof, paracetemol or ibuprofen.
The sooner this old-boys-club is blown wide-open, the better. Find out why you can’t get meds in certain Boots in Cork and you’ll see just how broken this part of the market is.
February 21, 2012 at 12:26 pm
Buying and selling prescription medicines online is not only illegal in the Republic, it is also potentially dangerous. “Counterfeit and illegal medicines pose a serious and potentially fatal threat to public health,” says Pat O’Mahony, chief executive of the Irish Medicines Board (IMB).
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2011/1001/1224305065821.html
Not that I don’t agree the prices of some items are crazy. A friend buys nicotine patches up north and saves a fortune. I have also found shipping from china cheaper than UK!
February 21, 2012 at 12:36 pm
I’m sure Pat is right about counterfeit and illegal medicines but, last time I checked, Walgreens and RiteAid were in the business of selling legal and approved medicines. Also drugstore.com won’t ship US prescription medicines or even limited drugs like Sudafed to Ireland. Which is entirely reasonable.
Irish people who want cheap prescription medicines should do what most people do: get their friends who go on holiday to Spain to buy them, without prescription.