If you’re anything like me and are interested in natural health and wellness you’ve probably heard of cannabidiol, or CBD. Extracted from a low THC variety of cannabis known as hemp, CBD is the non-psychoactive but very medicinally potent chemical that has everyone talking. Due to its effects on our body’s endogenous cannabinoid receptor system, it’s being used to boost wellness and help with a variety of health issues.
If you’ve been excited to try CBD oil for yourself but haven’t been able to find any, this short guide will help get you on the right track to getting your hands on some of this wonderful oil.
Where to Buy CBD Oil
Now that much of the once-prevalent misinformation about hemp is being cleared away by modern science CBD oil is becoming very mainstream and easy to find. With a little research you’ll soon be able to find the best CBD oil vendors for you.
Here are some places where you can buy CBD oil today:
- Online Stores
- Brick & Mortar Shops
- Dispensaries
1. Buy CBD Oil Online
Arguably the easiest and most convenient place to purchase CBD oil is on the internet. Not only will you be able to buy CBD oil online from the comfort of your own home, you’ll find the widest diversity of available CBD products. The best CBD oil vendors will offer a variety of products for you to choose from on their site, and online you’ll easily be able to compare prices and quality between different websites. By buying CBD online you’ll be able to quickly get an idea of all the different CBD options available on the market, decide which ones you want to try and have them delivered to your door with the click of a mouse. Since online-only shops don’t have the same operating costs that physical stores do their prices will often be lower for comparable products too.
2. Buying CBD Oil in Stores
As CBD continues to gain in popularity, more and more brick-and-mortar shops are jumping on the cannabis revolution by lining their shelves with CBD products. Some of the most common places you’ll be able to find CBD are smoke shops and health and nutrition stores. While some of the larger health chains are still hesitant to carry CBD, local health-food and supplement shops are embracing it with open arms. Since CBD isn’t a regulated product you can easily walk into any of these places and purchase CBD oil over the counter.
One of the biggest benefits of buying from a store is you’ll get your CBD oil that same day instead of having to wait for it to get shipped to you. If you have a chronic condition and have found relief with CBD oil, you may not have the luxury of waiting 3-5 business days for your CBD oil to arrive. Local CBD shops can offer you the convenience of purchasing CBD exactly when you need it. Another great advantage of shopping in-store is that if you have any questions you can ask the store’s associates and get answers right away. They’ll be more than happy to answer your questions and help guide you towards the best CBD product for your particular needs.
Due to the overhead of running a physical store and the reduced competition, CBD prices in brick-and-mortar shops do tend to be higher than online. There may also be less options available to choose from. It’s also important to watch out for shady vendors who may be trying to maximize their profits by sourcing the cheapest oils they can find. Often these products don’t contain enough CBD for any meaningful medicinal effect. As mentioned above, make sure you don’t confuse hemp oil, which can even be found in some supermarkets and pharmacy chains these days, for CBD oil. While hemp oil is great for cooking or as a massage oil, it won’t provide the health benefits of CBD.
3. Buying CBD from Dispensaries
If you’re lucky enough to live in a state where medicinal or recreational cannabis is legal, you’ll have the option to purchase top-quality CBD oils from a state-licensed dispensary. You’ll get all of the benefits of purchasing CBD from a local shop with the added advantage of knowing that the store has to operate under health and safety standards set by law. Legal dispensaries can offer an entrancing variety of CBD and even THC rich oils and products to choose from. Dispensary employees are also much better trained at helping their patients find the perfect product for their specific health needs.
You should be able to purchase hemp-based CBD oils at a dispensary even without a medical card. However if you’re interested in trying marijuana-based (greater than 0.3% THC) CBD oils, you’ll have to go through the process of getting a prescription by a doctor who’s part of the states compassionate care program and registering as a medical marijuana patient. If you live in a state where recreational marijuana is legal however, you can just walk into any recreational dispensary and purchase whichever CBD/THC product you’d like without having to jump through these hoops.
Prices at a dispensary may still be greater than online for similar CBD products, as they are still a brick-and-mortar business with more overhead expenses than an online shop. Dispensaries often have even greater costs than most stores as they have to pay a dizzying amount of licensing and regulatory fees to ensure they are fully compliant with state laws. Building a good relationship with your local dispensary can be a great asset down the line, especially if you have a chronic health condition and plan on buying CBD often. Dispensaries often provide special discounts and other promotions for repeat customers.
Where to Start Your Search For CBD Oil?
If you’ve decided to opt in for the value and convenience of online CBD shopping, the next question on your mind might be where to find a reputable website where you can source some CBD. You might be tempted to search some of the larger community marketplaces, such as eBay or Amazon, for your CBD needs. While its not impossible to find good CBD on these sites, its often hard to verify quality before receiving your item. Worse, it can be even more difficult to hold a seller accountable if there is an issue once you’ve received your order.
Some of the best CBD oil you’ll find online actually comes from CBD exclusive websites. These sites focus solely on carrying premium CBD oils, extracts and related products. While you can find great CBD on websites that sell a wide range of health items, companies that only sell CBD really know what they’re doing. They live and breathe CBD, which translates into them making and selling top-quality products.
CBD only sites also are better suited at answering your questions. Whether you’re curious about which type of CBD to take or at what dosage and concentration, CBD exclusive companies will usually have experts on board that can give you a customized and detailed answer for your exact situation.
Some of these sites are even what is known as CBD outlets. These larger websites stock many different brands of CBD products and allow you to easily compare all the various types at once. You may even be able to qualify for exclusive discounts or free shipping, depending on how much you buy.
What to Look For in an Online CBD Vendor
Knowing where to look isn’t always enough. If you want to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth when it comes to CBD, there are a few things to look out for that can separate the good online shops from the bad.
1. Customer Service
The best online vendors will offer as much information as possible about their CBD oils and will be available to answer any questions their customers might have. One good way of determining the quality of an online CBD vendor is by reaching out to them with a simple question, either by phone or email. If they are happy and willing to answer that is a good sign that they stand behind their products. If you struggle to even find contact information on their site, or you reach out to them and never get a response just take your money and go elsewhere.
You shouldn’t spend your hard earned dollars on a business that doesn’t offer quality customer service. If they can’t even answer a simple question before the sale, can you imagine the quality of the support they’ll be willing to give you if there’s an issue with your order? A top-quality product comes from a top-quality vendor, and that is one who puts their customers first.
2. Customer Reviews
Most online shops will have customer reviews listed on their site or on their social media page. This allows you to read what other people have to say about their quality and customer service, giving you an idea of which products and vendors may be best suited for your needs. A good company will use reviews as a way to inspire confidence in potential shoppers. It’s often easier for us to make a purchasing decision based on another user’s experience and recommendation than it is to simply go off a list of technical features. By allowing reviews on their site, online CBD stores are literally showing off the community of happy customers they’ve brought together around their product, and that’s no small feat.
Since no one’s happy 100% of the time, a website’s product reviews also allow you to see how a company responds when there is an unhappy customer. Do they ignore the complain, or worse yet, argue with the customer? Or do they take responsibility for the negative experience and turn it into a positive encounter for the customer by making it right? All these things are important to look out for in order to find a great online CBD source.
3. Lab Tests
One of the most crucial pieces of information that you should always look for when purchasing CBD oil online is if the vendor provides independent lab results for their products. Lab results from a reputable third-party facility will probably give away more about their product than anything they can say or do. A lab test will show the actual concentration of CBD in their oil, as well as any other cannabinoid present. Before trying it yourself, this is the only way you can be sure their oil is as potent as they claim it is.
Lab results will also tell you if there are any pesticides, heavy metals or other toxic chemicals in their CBD. Hemp is a well know bio-accumulator of heavy metals and other potentially dangerous chemicals. If these substances are in present in the soil that the hemp is grown in, they will be absorbed into the plant, and later into your body. That is why it’s important that the hemp used to make your CBD be grown organically in clean soil and without pesticides or chemical fertilizers. The last thing you want to do is to damage your body by trying to heal it.
From CBD Customer to Connoisseur
Being an educated consumer can save you many headaches down the line, especially when it comes to your health. By asking the right questions when looking to buy CBD oil you’ll be doing both your body and your wallet a favor. Whether you choose to buy in store or online, its still important for you to take charge of your health and ensure you’re getting a top-quality product. With so many CBD options out there, its best to take your time and shop around before committing to any one brand or type of CBD. Now that you know where to buy CBD oil though, you can continue on your healing journey by exploring different CBD options and learning as much as you can. Everyone is different and only you can decide which
