What the score means
The score reflects how much of a supplier's identity and quality documentation we could check ourselves. Each listing is reviewed by hand against the supplier's own website, its lab reports, public company records and FDA enforcement records. The score is not a product guarantee or a regulatory approval, and it does not replace your own due diligence.
| Band | Who lands here |
|---|---|
| High (90–100) | Verified listings whose documents we have checked, and established companies with an independent public record: regulator-inspected manufacturing sites, published certifications and a long operating history. |
| Medium (70–89) | Active suppliers with research-use positioning and no red flags. Where a supplier sits in this band depends on the evidence below. |
| Low (below 70) | A specific problem we can point to: an open FDA warning letter or lawsuit, lab reports that are not genuine measurements, or a website that is offline. |
How a Medium score is built
A live supplier with clear research-use positioning starts at 70. Each of these adds 5 points:
- A named legal entity. The company behind the store (LLC, Ltd, GmbH, Pty Ltd and so on) is stated on the site or found in a company registry.
- Lab reports you can check with the lab. Certificates of analysis carry a task number, accession number, verification key or lab-hosted link that the testing laboratory itself answers.
- Reports for the supplier's own lots. The certificates name the supplier or its own lot numbers, rather than reports passed down from an upstream manufacturer.
Listings that are not Verified top out at 85. Verified listings go through a deeper review, including the business address and lab reports matched to the supplier's lots. That review, not the listing fee, is what can move a score into High. A Verified listing with weak documentation stays in Medium.
What lowers or caps a score
- An open FDA warning letter caps the score, at 60 by default, until the FDA posts a close-out letter. The listing shows a notice with a link to the letter. See how we handle FDA notices.
- An open lawsuit over selling unapproved drugs, such as a drugmaker suing a seller over copies of its product, caps the score at 60 while the case is open. The listing names the court and case number and links the public docket. A lawsuit is a set of allegations, not a ruling.
- Lab reports that are not genuine measurements, such as self-issued reports presented as independent testing, or chromatograms that are modeled rather than measured.
- Products sold in human-use formats, such as oral capsules, nasal sprays or dosing pens, or weight-loss claims. These listings stay at 70 and earn no further points.
- A website that is offline or no longer runs a store. The score drops to 10 with a dated note, and the listing is removed if the site stays down.
What does not count
- Purity claims such as "99%+" without a report behind them.
- "GMP-aligned" or "pharmaceutical grade" wording that does not name a certification.
- Lookup pages hosted by the supplier itself, and laboratories we cannot confirm exist.
- Domain age. Most research-peptide stores are only a year or two old, so age alone says little about a supplier.
- Paying for a listing. Fees buy placement and a deeper review, never points.
Re-checks and corrections
We re-check supplier websites and FDA records regularly, and a score can move in either direction. If you are a supplier and think your score is wrong, email hello@peptidesuppliers.tech with links to the evidence. The quickest way to raise a score is to publish lab reports that the lab itself can confirm, and to name the company that operates your store.