Comfortable. If you don’t need medicine right away, you can order it from an online pharmacy and have it delivered.
The comparison of mail-order pharmacies reveals technical shortcomings, only an online pharmacy is good. We tell you what you need to consider and how you can save.
A comparison of eleven online pharmacies
Which mail-order pharmacy is the best? For the large comparison of online pharmacies, Stiftung Warentest examined eleven high-revenue companies – including well-known names such as Docmorris and Shop-Apotheke. We gave them seven tasks on professional quality. And rated the service, the mobile websites, the terms and conditions and how well the providers protected personal data.
Test results for 11 mail order pharmacies 04/2022
Technically satisfactory at best
Conclusion of the test: Many senders were disappointed with the technical quality. Among other things, they did not sufficiently point out interactions between ordered drugs. In addition, they questioned too little whether the desired over-the-counter medicines are actually suitable for the patients. Three senders are at least technically satisfactory and therefore most likely to be recommended – including our test winner.
Online pharmacies in comparison – that’s what our test offers
- Testergebnisse.
- In the table you will find ratings for eleven mail-order pharmacies, including Docmorris, Shop-Apotheke and Aponeo. A mail-order pharmacy in the test performed well. The rest are partly satisfactory, partly sufficient – and two are even deficient.
- Preisvergleich.
- The health experts at Stiftung Warentest say how you could save money when buying medicines. Using the example of four over-the-counter products, a table shows how large the price differences between individual providers from our pharmacy test can be.
- Magazine article as PDF.
- If you activate the topic, you will also receive the magazine article from test 4/2022.
Often cheap with over-the-counter medicines
Many choose an online pharmacy to save. Is it really worth it? We determined the prices for a collective order consisting of four over-the-counter remedies from each tested mail order company on specific dates. We also checked who offered the cheapest preparations for two desired active ingredients. Overall, the cheapest was a mail-order pharmacy, which we otherwise cannot recommend: In the advisory test, it performed poorly. By the way: On-site pharmacies can also grant a percentage on over-the-counter medicines – asking about the cheapest preparation for the desired active ingredient can be worthwhile.
Tipp: Current prices for more than 9,000 over-the-counter and prescription-only medicines can be found in our Drugs in Test database – in addition to ratings, it also shows information on the effect as well as side effects and interactions. Our medicine cabinet special gives you an overview of the remedies you should always have on hand.
Recognize reputable mail-order pharmacies
Approved mail-order pharmacies have a seal on the website: a white cross on a green background. Clicking on it takes you to an official mail order register. Other traders who sell prescription drugs over the Internet without a prescription, for example, are acting illegally and could sell counterfeit medicines.
This is how online pharmacies work
Mail-order pharmacies are growing in Germany. In the case of over-the-counter drugs, their market share is already around 20 percent, more than before the Corona period. Customers can order medicines directly from the sender’s website – requiring prescriptions to be mailed in or sent as e-prescriptions – and have the goods delivered in a small parcel. You can pay by credit card, for example, or by invoice. From a certain sum or when redeeming a prescription, the order is often free of shipping costs.
Tip: Also read about the status of the introduction of the e-prescription and how it works.