Why are gnc products so expensive

Utterly unprofessional, an example of a corporate giant outsourcing help centers with minimum corporate oversight and hoping that customer complaints won't pile up in enough numbers to make a difference.

First off I had a couple items in my cart from the day before. Before continuing my order I went to confirm all our Auto Delivery dates. We ran out of thin mint lean bars 2 weeks too early so I opted to ONLY move the thin mint lean bars to this week instead of next month. Immediately once I noticed what happened I called customer service. While waiting for a representative, only mins. Got the same guy both times I called, huge language barrier caused more issues.

His only answer was to place another order and return the box when I receive it. Once they receive the returned box it takes a couple business days for refund to show on card. I made a purchase and paid for faster delivery.

Long story short the package said delivered but nowhere to be found. I rather buy where they appreciate me as a customer. So I paid a subscription to GNC and got an auto-delivery for 3 different boxes of shakes one of strawberry, cookies and cream and chocolate mocha and an energy drink. So the first box the strawberry protein was delivered to the wrong house with the right address written in the box and luckily my neighbor knows me so he came to drop it at my house.

Then the second box the cookies and cream that I received seems like they sent some leftover drinks that they had and just threw them in a box and came broken and not even complete. I call to complain and the guy of customer service promised to send me a new box that I never received. Then the third box of mocha they just delivered 4 drinks instead the box that I paid and asked. Then when I finally talk with someone else said that the guy that promised to send a new box of the cookies and cream.

Never created the order!!! I ordered 3 cases of Alani Nu energy drinks and a pack of the munchies protein bars on March 30th. After 3 days, I still hadn't received a tracking number or a status update so I reached out to their customer service department via chat. Not only was I not helped or provided an answer as to why my order was still "in progress" after 3 days, I was basically given a copy and paste answer from their website about high volume and a delay in shipping.

The chat reps over the last few days couldn't provide me any information on my order, when I would receive it, nothing. I called and spoke with a GNC rep and she could barely understand me; there was a communication barrier to say the least. I asked to cancel my order because I couldn't get any answers on it, and the phone rep stated she'd put in a cancelation order and call me back. Did I receive a call back?

Of course not. So, here we go again. I reached out to GNC via chat and the rep apologized for me only receiving part of my order and said he would work on it. He then comes back with the copy and paste response of "due to high volume, orders are being delayed Go to your local store and support them! The online ordering is a joke! When you manufacture a proprietary blend supplement it costs far less because you have skimped out on the quality ingredients that actually give the user results.

The supplement companies that have the best chance of selling products in GNC are the ones that are manufactured for the cheapest because they can have the highest markup.

One popular supplement company recently tried pushing their high quality line of bodybuilding supplements into GNC, but failed miserably because GNC lowballed them so hard on the price. This makes it really hard for the guys that actually produce legitimate and high quality products to be featured in GNC. ALL GNC cares about is their profit margin because they know the only way they can stay in business with the growing online market is to maximize the profit on each product sold.

This should be a major red flag as a consumer to stay away from GNC! You are paying 10 dollars a month to purchase low quality supplements that are marked up by well over the 20 percent discount. You are just donating dollars of profit per year to the GNC Corporation so they can continue to spend more money marketing and persuading the average consumer to buy their shitty and overpriced supplements. What can someone lbs overweight tell me about building muscle and losing weight?

Out of all the GNC stores I have ever been to, most of the employees fall into one of 2 categories. I am a fitness model and study exercise science and supplement science a great deal. Sometimes I make my own special recovery and pre workout blends and just buy the active individual ingredients by themselves. They do once in a while sell GNC Brand creatine but once again you can find it way cheaper online.

They care about your profit margin and how cheap they can acquire a new customer for. To there defense — this is obviously the goal of most businesses, but do you want to put your health and fitness in the hands of a company clearly on the decline trying to employ shady tactics to stay in business in the internet era?

Have you ever been curious why GNC employees seem to push certain supplements over others? It would take you a long time to browse all of the products across in the ten different departments that make up their sprawling marketplace. Vitamins and minerals, herbal supplements, protein shakes, beauty products, probiotics, even fitness equipment - GNC has it all.

But how do they compare to competition in pricing, quality and customer experience? We thoroughly tested GNC to find out. GNC is a trusted marketplace that makes shopping easy and offers a huge selection. They hold their products to high standards in terms of quality, exceeding what you occasionally find elsewhere.

Despite these complaints, GNC has grown for a reason: they do a good job organizing the host of products they sell, making your shopping experience frictionless. GNC has been in the business for over half a century and offers an extensive selection of its own high-quality products as well as many other brands. GNC brands are rigorously tested to achieve a high level of quality.

Its selection is vast! Innerbody recently celebrated its year anniversary. Over the past two decades, we have helped tens of millions of readers make more informed decisions about staying healthy and living healthier lifestyles. This review, like all medical-related content on Innerbody, is thoroughly vetted by one or more members of our Medical Review Board for accuracy. Additionally, we extensively analyze each medical service we review.

We evaluate the entire patient experience from signing up to receiving medicine in the mail and then offer unbiased, marketing-jargon-free analysis based on the latest scientific evidence and medical standards.

GNC began in as a small store called Lackzoom in Pittsburgh. Founder David Shakarian grew the business over the decades, eventually making it the giant that GNC is today.

GNC offers its own brands of supportive supplements and sells a multitude of other brands as well in a massive online marketplace. Customers have relied on GNC to provide top-notch supplements of the highest quality for decades. GNC employs scientists, nutritionists and quality assurance pros to test and maintain the quality of the ingredients that they source from around the world. But GNC is a massive company now, and with that kind of size can come the potential for subpar customer service.

How extensive is the website, you ask? GNC currently carries a staggering different brands. GNC has over a dozen brands of products, including:. When comparing GNC-branded products to comparable products found elsewhere, our testers notice that the GNC products are often a little pricier. But you are indeed paying a little more here.

In these cases, shopping by department would be a good way to begin. You can browse products in the following GNC departments to find what you need:. Alternately, you can shop for products based on your underlying wellness goal. The most popular goals are featured prominently - these include:.

Shopping by goal can present you with a cross-departmental of related products.