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Herbs can be expensive, there's no way to argue around that. When the costs are higher you always want to be sure you're getting precisely what you pay for. You might find a listing online that purports to be the herb you want, but without verification and without any testing to prove that it is really that herb. Anyone can sell their wares online in a variety of ways--how can you be sure what herb they say they have is really truly what you need? For us here at 1st Chinese Herbs, it's really important to us that we bring in herbs that are of a verifiable quality. That's why we only work with trusted suppliers who can provide us with a Certificate of Analysis on their herbs (**See below for an example of a Certificate of Analysis). This way we know that they've done testing on their herbs and genuinely care about the quality of the herbs they grow. Our suppliers do in-house and 3rd party testing to insure that their herbs are free of impurities. Some of our suppliers even offer USDA Certified Organic options on their herbs so we bring in many of those to give our customers the most choices possible when shopping for herbs.

While we would love to bring in more herbs, especially as things are out of stock or out of season, we are especially careful of what we bring in so that way no one receives a product of lesser or questionable quality. This assurance of quality is really important to us. While you may find cheaper offerings of any herb online, they do not come with that same quality assurance that we take the time to check for. By only purchasing herbs from trusted suppliers, we can assure the herbs we bring in will be precisely what they say they are on the bag. Herbs are sourced from their indigenous regions, ensuring geo-authenticity and quality. This dedication to correctness in raw material selection helps ensure efficacy, which in turn and more importantly, safety, as substituted herbs may cause harmful side effects. Once received, the herbs are inspected to ensure correct species identification, proper maturity, and quality. We would not risk bringing in an unverified herb both to honor our commitment to quality and to ensure our customers receive the real, natural herbs they are looking for.

As you can see in the picture above, each of these herbs are very different, even if they share a name or type of herb. These are two different kinds of Echinacea with different benefits. There is a large difference between an Herb and a Root when you are looking for natural remedies, and this effects cost. Herb is a part of the plant, but the root requires pulling up the whole plant, meaning it is dead from that point so it comes at a higher cost than the herb might. This is very true for Echinacea of both kinds pictured here. You will also notice these herbs are actually USDA Certified Organic. This also comes at a higher cost as there is more testing and more labor involved with producing organic herbs. There are good things to keep in mind as you are shopping around and trying to figure out what herb is right for you. If you'd like to see more about the Parts of Plants, click the link to see. For information on the Root in particular you can click here for Root Anatomy.

Some retailers attempt to cut costs by shipping in less secure packaging, but we do not cut around that corner. Herbs of all sorts don't travel well when all they have for protection is a paper bag. All of our herbs come in properly sealed bags and are shipped with extra padding and packing to make sure you receive those herbs in the way they leave our warehouse. We take lots of care in every package that departs our warehouse so our customers never need to stress about the safety and integrity of their herbs.

We also try to offer our customers a variety of way to use herbs. Every person has a preference and we try to meet this by offering both cut and powdered forms of our herbs. If you see an herb only in cut or powder, you can always ask us if we have it in the other! We're available for any of your questions pertaining to quality, brands, and more via our chat feature from 8am-2pm PST. You can always fill out our contact form to reach us by email if you have questions outside of that time and we will get back to you ASAP in the morning when we are back in the office, just be aware we are out of the office on Saturdays and Sundays.

**Here is an example of a Certificate of Analysis. It's only an example and if you request one on an herb, even the very same one, it may be somewhat different.