A RESEARCH SOURCING GUIDE

Most people don't get burned by the wrong compound. They get burned by the wrong source.

Six questions that separate a serious supplier from a careless one, and how to check the answers yourself before you spend a dollar.

Six questions. Five minutes. Use it on us, use it on anyone.

By Jesse Jamnik, Co-Founder - Reinvention Compounds

Question one ↓

Here's what almost nobody tells you about this market

Most of this market starts in the same place. The raw peptide salt comes from a small handful of overseas sources, and anyone with a credit card can buy it. That part isn't a differentiator.

What happens after that is the entire ballgame.

Most vendors buy finished vials from overseas, put their own label on the box, and ship it. They never touched the manufacturing, which means they're passing you somebody else's process, somebody else's testing, and somebody else's word. That's why two vials with different logos can be completely different products, and why price tells you almost nothing.

So stop comparing labels. Start asking questions.

THE SIX QUESTIONS

01 Who actually made this?
Not who sold it. Who made it. A relabeler and a manufacturer are two different businesses, and only one of them can answer a question when something goes wrong.
✓ They can tell you where the raw material came from and where the finished product was made, and it's the same operation start to finish.
✗ Vague sourcing language, no manufacturing detail, and a support inbox that goes quiet when you ask.
02 Can I see a COA for my batch?
A lot of sites post a Certificate of Analysis. Far fewer can hand you the one matching the vial in your hand. A generic COA is marketing. A batch-specific COA is documentation.
✓ A batch number on the vial that traces to a COA for that batch, easy to find.
✗ One sample COA on the site, no batch traceability, or "we can email you one."
03 Who did the testing?
Self-reported testing is a company grading its own homework. It might be fine. You have no way to know.
✓ An independent third-party lab, named, with results you can pull up yourself.
✗ "Tested" with no lab named, or in-house testing presented as if it's independent.
04 What exactly was tested?
Almost everyone says tested. Almost nobody says what for. Purity alone is not a complete picture. Ask for the full panel — if the answer is one number, that's your answer.
✓ A defined, published protocol covering identity, purity, content, contaminants, and conformity.
✗ A single purity percentage on a graphic, and nothing behind it.
05 Why is it a powder?
Peptides are fragile. In liquid they break down, and the water they're sitting in is what degrades them. Freeze-drying into a stable powder, the technical word is lyophilizing, is how you protect the molecule. A vial that arrives pre-mixed has been degrading since the day it was filled.
✓ Lyophilized, sealed, with a clear batch and expiry.
✗ Pre-mixed liquid with no explanation of why.
06 Is there a name and a face on it?
Look at how much of this industry is anonymous. No founder, no team, no address, just a logo and a checkout button. If you're relabeling mystery vials, the last thing you want is your name attached when something turns out to be off. Anonymity isn't a branding choice here. It's a liability strategy.
✓ A real person, publicly attached, who shows up and answers questions.
✗ A logo, a stock photo, and a contact form.

Six questions. Most sources fail at two or three. If a supplier can't answer all six without getting cagey, you already have your answer, and it didn't cost you anything to find out.