Where to buy Protein / Creatine

[Johnny20270]

I see a few old posts on this topic but if anybody has any update information that would be great

 

I want to source a good quality whey protein and creatine but really won't want it from taobao. 

 

Any gym guys out there know a reputable website where I can buy it. 

[gato]

The US online nutrition supplement store Vitacost can ship to China. I bought some vitamins from them recently that took only 2 weeks to ship to Shanghai.

Vitacost's price is probably as cheap as you can find anywhere. Shipping to China cost about USD 10 for the vitamins I bought.

You can also buy the same creatine online on Chinese sites like JD.com. The price will be much higher. For the same 300g of creatine (same brand), it costs USD 8.09 on Vitacost, and RMB 299 on JD.com. That's 6 times as much.

http://www.vitacost.com/optimum-nutrition-micronized-creatine-powder-unflavored-5000-mg-300-g

Optimum Nutrition Micronized Creatine Powder Unflavored -- 5000 mg - 300 g

Vitacost price: $8.09

http://item.jd.com/1321274378.html

ON/欧普特蒙 OPTIMUM 纯肌酸粉CREATINE 300克 美国原装进口健身

京 东 价：￥299.00 (降价通知)

[Johnny20270]

brilliant, thanks Gato!. Did have to pay any import duty? I never thought of using a international website 

 

I just checked ordering from USA is cheaper than our main UK ones.

 

http://www.discount-supplements.co.uk/sports-supplements-whey-protein-optimum-nutrition-gold-standard-whey-2-27kg#.VGrkqfnpLCc

(USD58 ~ GBP38)

http://www.vitacost.com/optimum-nutrition-gold-standard-100-whey-extreme-milk-chocolate-5-lbs-1

(GBP49)

 

Postage is not cheap but big sizes so to be expected!

 

Incidentally, what do you do for address. Do you give your Chinese postal address in pinyin and hanzi?

[gato]

I used pinyin for the address, using a format like the below.

http://cn.sodexo.com/cnen/about-us/sodexo-greater-china/contact-us/contact-us.asp

Address: B-8&9F, Renji Plaza, No. 101 Jingshun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing

Postal code: 100102

I didn't pay customs duties for this recent order, but in the past, I have had to pay duties on books sent from overseas. (Now I use the Kindle.)

Customs does do random inspection of such packages, so you might have a pay a 17.5% VAT if they catch you.

This 17.5% VAT applies when you buy things in local stores, too. It's just that it's not marked, so most people don't know about it. VAT is the biggest tax in China, making up nearly 50% of central government revenue.

[tysond]

I bought something from Amazon and had to pay duties.  It wasn't an expensive item (so the tax wasn't so high) but I had to go to the fedex van outside my office and pay in cash directly to the guy in the van.  From memory I think postage is also included in the dutiable price.  

 

They wanted me to use my employers import permission to get it through customs in a few days rather than a few weeks.  This is probably not a huge deal for buying stuff like protein but worth considering.  

 

And of course, be ready to do discussions in Chinese.  At times I asked them to send text messages or email rather than calling to make it easier to understand what was going on (can use dictionaries!).

[kdavid]

It seems like this question has been answered. However, I'd like to add a personal anecdote for archival purposes:

 

DO NOT PURCHASE OPTIMUM NUTRITION PROTEIN IN CHINA!

 

I purchased from several stores on Taobao during the last two years I was in China. The bags looked just like what I had found online on ON's website. They were sealed, the correct weight, etc. The product also tasted very similar to what I had used to back home. However, after having relocated to the States and purchased ON here, and seeing the difference between results in China vs. what I've experienced in the US, I'm pretty confident I had been sold an inferior blend.

 

I'd strongly recommend that any product you will be regularly putting into your body is purchased abroad; even if it costs more due to shipping. You'll have the confidence that you're getting what you're paying for.

 

Good luck!

[Johnny20270]

I'd strongly recommend that any product you will be regularly putting into your body is purchased abroad; even if it costs more due to shipping. You'll have the confidence that you're getting what you're paying for.

 

Definitely!

 

Either I buy it from US or not at all. Just a shame its so bulky, but postage not as bad as I would have thought 

[Stefen]

Saw that this thread is pretty old and thought that it needs an update as I'm a pretty heavy supplements user. Now there are a couple of different options in China where you could buy supplements and I have tried most of them. Taobao.com is a option if you want to find a cheap price and can take a risk that it might not always be legit or it can be expired products. Tmall.com, pretty pricy but in general fast deliveries a lot of different products and and the risk of getting fake products are much smaller than on Taobao. Bodybuilding.com / Amazon.com and many more companies ship to China and are often pretty cheap, the downside is that you need to pay for the delivery and might get taxed, delivery takes about 2-6 weeks. In the larger cities in China supplements stores have also opened up, like GNC  and some local Chinese versions, price can be okay, but in general quite expensive, but it's fast and convenient and you don't need to have any Chinese payment solutions. Last time i bought protein (Optimum nutrition) I did it IENstore.com an online supplement store in China, and it worked well 2-3 days delivery. 

 

So a lot of different options, it's just up to you how long you can wait and whats convenient for you. 

[ChTTay]

The brand "My protein" protein powder products come in bags not tubs. Seems like it would be a little easier for international shipping. You can buy direct from them and they ship to China. 

[Stefen]

Yeah they ship to China, I have tried them as well, they also have a Chinese website, the shipping is still pretty expensive and slow, but their protein is very cheap so the final price is still pretty okay.