Vendor Trust Score
Also known as: vendor rating · vendor reliability score
DoseCraft's vendor trust score is an editorial rating of a peptide seller's documentation, testing claims, reputation and business details, not a lab result.
DoseCraft rates vendors in its Vendor Transparency Index (/tools/vendor-compare) on a 100-point rubric with four parts. COA transparency is worth 40 points: COAs viewable before purchase (15), per-batch COAs rather than one static document (10), the test method named, such as HPLC, LC-MS or sterility (10), and a most recent COA under 6 months old (5). Purity claims are worth 25: HPLC testing required (10), mass spectrometry confirmation (10), sterility or endotoxin testing (5). Reputation is worth 20, based on independent review-aggregator scores, with third-party platforms weighted above self-hosted reviews. Operational legitimacy is worth 15: a U.S.-registered entity (5), a verifiable physical address (5) and payment-method diversity (5).
The total is the sum of the four parts. Scores of 75 and above are shown as high, 50 to 74 as medium and below 50 as low; a closed vendor is shown with no score. DoseCraft's vendor directory also shows separate 0-to-5 editorial ratings for COA, purity, cold chain, customer service and longevity, and marks vendors whose assessment is not finished as 'Assessment pending' instead of showing a trust score on their directory card.
Why it matters
The score summarizes what a vendor publishes and how outside reviewers rate it, in one place, using the same rubric for every vendor. Vendors that DoseCraft earns affiliate revenue from are flagged and scored on the same rubric.
Know what it is not. The score is built from vendor-disclosed COAs, certifications, review aggregators, press releases and business records. DoseCraft states that it does not buy COAs or run lab tests for this index, and the scores are not lab test results. A high score means a vendor documents its testing well; it does not prove the vial you receive matches the paperwork. Check your own batch's COA.
How the score is calculated
- Score each sub-item in the four parts against the rubric.
- Add the parts: COA transparency (out of 40) + purity claims (out of 25) + reputation (out of 20) + operational legitimacy (out of 15).
- Read the total against the bands: 75 or more high, 50 to 74 medium, under 50 low.
Score (out of 100) = COA transparency (≤40) + purity claims (≤25) + reputation (≤20) + operational legitimacy (≤15)
A vendor scores 33 for COA transparency, 23 for purity claims, 17 for reputation and 12 for operational legitimacy. Total = 33 + 23 + 17 + 12 = 85, which is in the high band. Check: 85 - 12 - 17 = 56, and 56 - 23 = 33.
Common mistakes
- Reading a trust score as a lab test result for the product you bought.
- Assuming a high score covers every batch; the score rates documentation and reputation, not individual vials.
- Ignoring the last-verified date shown with each vendor.
- Treating a pending vendor's missing score as a bad score; it means the assessment is not finished.
- Skipping your own COA check because the vendor scores well.
Sources
- ReferenceMultifactor Quality and Safety Analysis of Semaglutide Products Sold by Online Sellers Without a Prescription: Market Surveillance, Content Analysis, and Product Purchase Evaluation Study. J Med Internet Res, 2024. PMID 39509151.
- ReviewRelated impurities in peptide medicines. J Pharm Biomed Anal, 2014. PMID 25044089.
Page updated . How we grade evidence: methodology.
Related Terms
COA (Certificate of Analysis)
A certificate of analysis (COA) is a lab report showing test results, such as purity and identity, for one specific production batch of a product.
Batch Variance
Batch variance is the difference in purity, content or impurity profile between separate production lots of the same product.
Cold Chain
Cold chain is the unbroken control of temperature for a temperature-sensitive product, from manufacture through shipping and storage to use.
Research-Use-Only (RUO)
Research Use Only (RUO) is a label saying a product is sold for laboratory research, not for diagnosing, treating or use in people.
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