What is iHerb?
IHerb is a global online retailer, founded in 1996 by Ray Faraee in California, United States. They supply a variety of nutritional and wellness products, including skin care products, probiotics and grocery produce.
IHerb ships more than 30,000 products to over 180 countries, meaning that you can get health and wellness products almost anywhere!
The company’s shared values are focused on the customer, empowering their people, being entrepreneurial & pivoting quickly, embracing diversity & inclusion and striving for simplicity. These values demonstrate a positive culture, and a positive company.
iHerb’s mission is to offer their customers the best selection of available natural products, at the best possible value possible, whilst delivering the most convenient experience and their purpose is to enhance their customer’s health, happiness and wellbeing. Their mission and purpose demonstrates that health and wellbeing is part of the company’s ethos, and it is engrained in the business.
IHerb boasts an inventory turnover rate that averages 8.1 times a year, which means that the products they supply are as fresh as possible. Plus, you can see the expiration or best-before dates on the majority of their products, so you have the experience of shopping in a traditional store, with the convenience of using an online retailer.
Is iHerb legitimate and safe?
IHerb is certainly a legitimate and safe business. It has been operating for over 25 years, and all products are stored and shipped by them, meaning there are no 3rd party sellers.
iHerb only allows reviews from authentic customers, which means you have genuine, honest feedback about real people’s experiences – both good and bad.
Furthermore, they have never sold or leased customer information to any third-party companies and, since August 2018, they have been fully compliant with the European Union’s General Data Protection (GDPR) privacy laws and are one of only a few American companies to do so.
Product Variety and Quality
As previously mentioned, iHerb has a frequent inventory turnover rate, so their products are fresh and of good quality. The ability to see the expiration dates and best-before dates means you are able to pick products of the quality and freshness that you would like.
Moreover, iHerb has implemented an iTested programme, to ensure that you can trust and have confidence in iHerb brands.
You can look at the products on the website and see if it has an iTested logo. If it does, then it means that an independent 3rd party laboratory has evaluated the product using scientific methods, that will provide you with unbiased information. This testing occurs every six months.
When a product has been iTested, it will come with a verified report that details all the tests that took place, as well as their results. In short, the logo shows that there has been third party testing, that the product is of a high quality, and that that it is an authentic product.
There is a wide range of products available on iHerb’s website including categories such as: supplements, grocery, bath & personal care, pets, sports nutrition, beauty, baby & kids and home. The retailer also has ‘specialty stores’ which stock items that are paleo, kosher, vegetarian and non-GMO, to name a few.
With over 30,000 products, there is no denying the product variety on iHerb. They stock almost everything you can think of that is related to health and well-being, including food, accessories and some homeward, so you will most likely find what you are looking for on there.
In addition to stocking their own brand, iHerb also supply other well-known well-being brands such as Now Foods, Nature’s Plus and ChildLife. Unfortunately, not all the products are available in all regions, so while there is a huge variety on the website, you may not have access to all the products.
Best Things to Buy on iHerb
Hair Products
IHerb stocks a huge variety of hair products, from shampoo and conditioners to oils and masks. One of their most popular products, with over 4 stars and over 13,000 reviews is Hobe Labs Hair Follicle Stimulator with Jojoba and Vitamin B-5.
This Energizer Stimulator is designed to help you gain thicker, fuller, healthier hair and there has been research that jojoba can promote hair growth when it is used to control sebum flow. Many of the reviews of this product claim that they have had increased hair growth since using the product.
Supplements
Although you can purchase many different supplements on iHerb, including vitamins specifically for men, women, children and older people, the most popular vitamin available on the site is old California Gold Nutrition’s Omega-3 Premium Fish Oil Softgels.
Omega-3 has a huge amount of scientifically based benefits such as the ability to fight anxiety and depression, improved eye health, reduced heart disease risk factors and decreased age-related mental decline, including a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Omega-3 is definitely worth taking, and these Fish Oil Softgels will give you an easy way to up your intake.
Sports Nutrition
Another area of iHerb with a wide variety of options, sports nutrition includes products such as vitamins, whey protein and sports accessories.
One of the top-rated sports nutrition products, with over 16,500 reviews, is the Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey in the Double Rich Chocolate flavor. This whey contains 24 grams of protein per serving, which helps build and maintain muscles, as well as supporting endurance and recovery.
The Optimum Nutrition Whey is gluten free, contains no artificial growth hormones and is tested to ensure it contains no banned substances.
The iHerb blender bottle is another great product that works hand in hand with the chocolate whey. All you do is add the ingredients that you would like to have into the bottle and let the patented BlenderBall move through them as you shake it all up. It’s easy!
How to Order From iHerb
Ordering from iHerb is simple. First, select the products that you would like to order and click ‘add to cart’, then once you have selected all the products that you would like, you simply go to your cart, which is denoted by a little chart-shaped icon.
Once there, you will need to either log on, or create an account – you can also log on through Facebook or Google. Then you input your shipping address, and your shipping method, which will cost different amount and be from different providers depending on when you’re getting your products shipped to.
Finally, you select your payment method. You can add your credit/debit card information, pay with Apple Pay or pay with PayPal. Ordering from iHerb is definitely a simple process, and it is very clear, every step of the way.
Shipping methods vary depending on where you live, and iHerb ships to over 150 countries. However, some items may not be able to be shipped to your area, due to brand restrictions.
How do returns work?
You can return unopened packages that you have had for less than 60 days. To return your order, you simply log into your account and go to your order history by clicking on ‘orders’.
You then click the order that you would like to return and click ‘refunds/returns’. There will then be prompts for you to follow and once you have completed them, you just click ‘submit’.
After you have finished this process, you will receive a return label email, then you follow the instructions in the email and your return process will be completed.
Your refund will be processed once it has been confirmed that your return is on its way back to iHerb.
Tips for Shopping on iHerb
- Use the ‘sort by’ button to organize the products that you can see
- You can narrow down the products that you are seeing by selecting certain categories on the side bar, for example you can choose a price range, brands or ratings.
- Brands of the Week have 15% savings on them, so look at those first!
- Shop on the specials section or look for the red clearance banner to save even more money.
- If you share iHerb’s website, you get your own personalized coupon. If someone uses your coupon, you will also receive 5% off, next time you shop.
- New customers get 5% off their first order.
- You can receive a loyalty reward of 5% off your total order each time you make a new order within 90 days.
- IHerb will give you 5% off your order if you leave an honest review of a product you have bought.
iHerb Frequently Asked Questions
IHerb has an information page that is available to answer your questions. There are frequently asked questions there that have already been answered, or you can ask your own questions.
To ask your own question you go to a product’s page and click on the ‘questions symbol, which is next to the review scores.
Then you click the ‘ask a question’ button, choose a topic from the drop-down list and type in a brief question. After that, you click the ‘submit’ button. Other customers can then answer your question, and you will receive an email notification when this happens.