Online Medicine Costs

Kirby, my Border Collie, is having a heckuva time this year with fleas. We tried K9 Advantix in October. It did nothing at all for him. We then tried Frontline Plus and the monthly dose wore off after two weeks. So, we went back to what we had used in years past, Advantage. It arrived, was applied and within 24-hours, Kirby was virtually flea free. Now I'm not saying anything about any of the flea treatments mentioned either pro or con. On your dog, Advantage may be worthless and Frontline may be great. For my two boys, the Advantage is, well, an advantage.

It did get me thinking though, about what online medicines cost after everything is added up. In other words, what does it cost to have this stuff delivered to your door. Well, since I use Advantage, I figured that would be the thing to test. By the way, the online coupon codes we mention are listed in our post Online Coupon/Promo Codes, so you can use them too. In all cases we selected the standard shipping option.

At 1-800-PetMeds.com

Advantage 6 pack Dog Blue Over 55 Lbs cost +$69.99
I used an online coupon code (PA35) for $5 off –$  5.00
They did charge sales tax +$  4.90
Shipping is free on orders over $35 +$  0.00
Total delivered price = $69.89

This is where I normally buy the stuff.

At PetCareRx.com

Advantage 6 pack Dog Blue Over 55 Lbs cost +$68.29
I got an automatic $5 off for clicking through from this site –$  5.00
They did NOT charge sales tax +$  0.00
Shipping is free on orders over $35 +$  0.00
Total delivered price = $63.29

I tried three times to make this purchase before their website accepted it. Granted, I'm on a dial-up connection, but this site is SLOW. I could have used an online coupon (SMART407) for $5 off $35 or more, but can't use that code with the automatic $5 off.

At EntirelyPets.com aka PetMedsStore.com

Advantage 6 pack Dog Blue Over 55 Lbs (sale price?) cost +$54.99
No coupons were available –$  0.00
They did NOT charge sales tax +$  0.00
Shipping +$  4.95
Total delivered price = $59.94

There was a coupon for EntirelyPets.com. $3 off $55 or more (MAY07OFF3), which missed the order amount by 1 cent! I could have added a $1.99 Nylabone to the order (the cheapest thing I could find), used the $3 coupon, saved another dollar, and gotten the Nylabone for free!

At DrsFosterSmith.com

Advantage 6 pack Dog Blue Over 55 Lbs cost +$53.99
I used a coupon code for 15% off any order (DODGE) –$  8.10
They did NOT charge sales tax +$  0.00
Shipping is a flat rate +$  3.99
Total delivered price = $49.88

One really nice thing about this site, they take your address and give you the total price of your order, including shipping and taxes, before asking for a credit card number. I don't know how long that 15% off coupon code will be valid, so if you want to use it do it quickly.

Different items have different prices at each store. Depending on what you buy will have an effect on shipping costs, taxes, etc. In other words, you need to check several suppliers every time you want to buy something. You have to check for available coupon codes, including codes we may not have listed on our sites. Try entering "coupon promo code" and the name of the company in a Google search and see what happens. That's how I found the DODGE code for Drs. F & S.

At the same time, if I switch to Drs. Foster and Smith from 1-800-PetMeds for Kirby's Advantage fix, I can save $20.01 on my 6-month order. I would still have saved $11.91 without the 15% off coupon and that's not bad for a little research. After all, it adds up.