One of the predictable consequences of the CBD gold-rush was the flood of CBD-related scams that flooded the market. These include CBD-stores built entirely to collect users’ data and credit card information, CBD oils and related products sold with no actual CBD in them, and even sellers who just hope to profit off consumer misinformation.

If you are thinking of buying CBD online and want to avoid scams similar to these, there’s plenty you can do. Here’s how you can buy CBD online safely.

1 – Avoid Resellers

One of the best ways to make sure you’re getting a legitimate CBD product is to buy straight from the manufacturer. Most CBD manufactures have online stores on their homepages, where regular consumers can buy individual bottles of CBD oil or other products. Meaning that you don’t need to order in bulk to get CBD straight from the source.

By doing this, you can help ensure that no third-party had a chance to tamper with your CBD product. It’s also easier to trust a company with a long history over an unknown reseller, as companies have a lot more to lose if they fail to deliver what they promised.

2 – Check The Manufacturer’s Reputation

These days, anyone can set up a site and claim to be a CBD manufacturer. So, it’s important to look into them to see if their claims and their reputation checks out.

The good news is that manufacturers know that they need to earn your trust, so reputable manufacturers go out of their way to make it easier for users to verify their past history. Cibdol.com, for example, prominently features their TrustPilot user reviews on their front page. Other manufacturers do the same.

3 – Look For Test Results

Another strategy commonly employed by legitimate CBD manufacturers seeking to earn your trust is product testing. These manufacturers will send each batch of their CBD out to be tested by a third-party laboratory, and then publish the test results on their own homepage. Which serves to prove that the CBD is free of contaminants and contains the concentration advertised on the bottle.

You might be thinking that faking such test results would be easy, and you’re right. This is why such test results often come with a unique code that you can check against a database on the laboratory’s website, which will confirm that the test did indeed happen.

4 – Email Their Customer Service

Big manufactures will have teams assigned to customer service, professionals who are ready to respond to inquiries from clients, potential business partners, the press, etc. Scammers, on the other hand, often operate alone or in a very small team, and don’t often bother answering customer inquiries. Or sometimes they don’t even set up email accounts at all, leaving only useless contact information on their website.

This means that sending an email to customer support can help you gain a clue as to whether that venture is legitimate or not. If you can’t find an email on their site, or you never hear back after emailing them two or three times, it’s probably best if you take your business elsewhere.