The number on the bottle tells you the least
Two bottles sit next to each other. One costs 21.99 dollars and the other costs 27.99 dollars. Almost everyone picks the cheaper one, and almost everyone is comparing a number that has nothing to do with what they are buying.
The first bottle could hold 60 gummies. The second could hold 120 capsules. Or the first could be a liquid concentrate with ninety servings while the second is a thirty day supply. Bottle price only becomes meaningful after you divide it by something.
Three numbers you need first
There are only three figures involved, and two of them are printed on the label while the third requires one division.
- Total price. The number in the cart, after any discount, including tax treatment if you are comparing across retailers.
- Servings per container. Not capsules, not gummies. The count on the front is the package size. The serving size is how many of those units you take at once, and the label states it separately.
- Ingredient amount per serving. The milligram figure for the one ingredient you are actually buying the product for.
Divide the price by the servings per container and you have cost per serving. Divide that by the milligrams per serving and you have cost per gram of the active ingredient, which is the number that actually lets you compare two different formats.
Worked examples from our own shelf
Abstract advice is easy to nod at and hard to apply. Here is the same arithmetic run on six products we sell, using list prices and the unit counts printed in the product names. One caveat before the list: these are cost per capsule or per gummy. If your label says two per serving, multiply by two.
- Aged Garlic Extract Gummies, 90 count, 26.99 dollars, about 0.30 dollars per unit
- Zinc Carnosine and Mastic Gum Capsules, 120 count, 27.99 dollars, about 0.23 dollars per unit
- Magnesium Taurate Gummies, 60 count, 25.99 dollars, about 0.43 dollars per unit
- Magnesium Bisglycinate Gummies, 60 count, 23.99 dollars, about 0.40 dollars per unit
- Grass Fed Beef Liver Gummies, 60 count, 23.99 dollars, about 0.40 dollars per unit
- DGL Gummies with Zinc Carnosine, 60 count, 21.99 dollars, about 0.37 dollars per unit
Two things fall out of that list. The capsule product is the cheapest per unit of anything here, which matches the general pattern: capsules hold dry powder with no base to carry, so you pay for material rather than for a delivery format. The gummies cluster tightly around 0.37 to 0.43 dollars, and the spread between the cheapest and most expensive gummy is under seven cents.
That last observation is the useful one. Within a single format, most of the price difference between products comes from bottle size, not from formulation.
The liquid drop trap
Liquid products break the arithmetic in a way that looks flattering on a shelf tag. A 13.99 dollar bottle of drops with a hundred servings works out to fourteen cents a serving, which beats every capsule on this page.
That comparison only holds if a serving of drops delivers the same amount of the ingredient as a serving of capsules. Frequently it does not. Liquid formats are often dosed by the drop or by a half dropper, and the per serving milligram figure can be a fraction of what a capsule carries. A formula built around small amounts of several ingredients is not the same purchase as a capsule built around a gram of one.
This is where cost per milligram of active ingredient earns its keep. Same fourteen cents, different denominators, different verdict. Our Red Yeast Rice with CoQ10 Liquid Drops are a liquid product, and the label figure is what you should divide by rather than the serving count.
Not every two pack is a deal
Multi packs are where pricing gets genuinely confusing, because the discount is real but its size varies by product. Compare the two pack against twice the single price and you get the actual saving, which is the only version of the number worth trusting.
- Magnesium Taurate, 47.99 dollars for two against 51.98 dollars for two singles, a saving of 7.7 percent
- Magnesium Bisglycinate, 39.99 against 47.98, a saving of 16.7 percent
- Grass Fed Beef Liver Gummies, 41.99 against 47.98, a saving of 12.5 percent
- TUDCA 1000 mg Gummies, 37.99 against 43.98, a saving of 13.6 percent
A seven percent saving on a product you will not finish is not a saving. A seventeen percent saving on something you take daily is worth taking. The percentage matters more than the dollar figure, because the dollar figure scales with the price and the percentage tells you how much the store actually gave up.
What we do about it
The reason we publish unit counts in product names and keep serving information on the page is that a comparison you cannot run is not a comparison. Our Magnesium Taurate Gummies and Magnesium Bisglycinate Gummies sit at different prices on purpose, and the difference tracks the form and the blend rather than the bottle.
If a product on this site ever prices itself out of a fair comparison, that is useful for us to know. The contact page reaches a person.
FAQ
Should I always buy the lowest cost per serving?
No. Cost per serving compares quantity, not quality. A cheaper product with half the dose per serving is not cheaper once you correct for the dose, which is why the cost per milligram step exists.
How do I find servings per container if the label does not say?
Look for the supplement facts panel rather than the front of the bottle. Serving size and servings per container are required there. If a listing omits both, that is a reason to buy elsewhere.
Are subscription prices worth comparing this way?
Yes, using the per delivery price rather than the first order price. Introductory discounts distort the first month and nothing after it.
Do larger bottles always have a lower unit cost?
Usually, up to a point. The discount curve flattens and then stops. Beyond about a ninety day supply you are financing someone else's inventory for no additional saving.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.