Supplements
Buy and sell supplements in Costa Rica.
Most supplements that change hands second-hand are a tub of protein in a flavour nobody in the house will drink, a bottle of vitamins left over after a routine changed, or the cans of nutrition shake an older relative no longer needs. New stock from nutrition shops sits alongside sealed products from people who bought one too many. Many of the tubs on Costa Rican shelves are imported, with an English label and the date printed month first, so read the base before you arrange to meet a seller. New or pre-owned, what you are really paying for is an unbroken seal and a long date.
Protein tubs, vitamins and the cans bought for an older relative:
supplements split by who is buying them. Gym shelves hold whey, creatine and pre-workout in big screw-top tubs. The pharmacy side runs to multivitamins, fish oil softgels and gummies for children, and a third group is the adult nutrition shake, bought by the case for a parent recovering at home. Walkers, shower chairs and other home-care equipment are under special interest, and maternity belts and breast pumps under pre- and postpartum.
Powder, capsule or gummy, and the size of the tub:
the format decides more than the front of the label. Powder is the cheapest way to buy most things; capsules and tablets keep longer; gummies and effervescent tubes are the most fragile once opened. Within protein, concentrate is the everyday tub, and isolate is more filtered and costs more. Flavour matters more than people expect: an odd one is the commonest reason a nearly full tub ends up for sale, so buy the big size only once you know you like it.
Whey tubs in colones, 2 lb against 5 lb:
a 2 lb tub of whey is around ₡25,000 to ₡30,000 new and a 5 lb tub around ₡50,000 to ₡60,000, so the big tub gives two and a half times the powder for about double the money. That gap is why sealed 5 lb tubs turn up second-hand, from someone who stocked up and then stopped training. A sealed one with most of its date left should go for something like ₡35,000 to ₡45,000. The discount pays for what the buyer cannot check, how the tub was stored and a flavour chosen by someone else, and it should grow as the date gets closer.
The foil seal, the lot stamp and an English label:
start under the lid. Powder tubs and cans have a foil seal, and vitamin bottles a seal under the cap; if it is loose, torn or glued back down, the product has been opened whatever the listing says. Then find the lot and the date on the base or the side. On a tub brought in from the United States the date is printed month first, so the first number is the month, not the day. A Spanish sticker with the importer’s details is a good sign the tub came through a shop rather than in a suitcase. Fakes copy the best-selling tubs; a label printed off-centre, a lot number that does not match the box or a price far below every shop is reason enough to walk away.
Softgels, gummies and opened powder that has turned:
some formats show their history if you look. Fish oil softgels that have spent days in a hot car stick together in a clump and smell sharp when the bottle opens. Gummies fuse into a single block. Effervescent tablets swell or crumble once damp has got into the tube. In powder, a few soft lumps break up with a spoon, but hard pieces that rattle when you shake the tub mean water got in. Ask when it was opened and where it was kept, and if the answer is vague, pass.
A tub you bought one too many of, or a routine you dropped:
sealed products are the ones that sell, so list those and give the opened tub to someone you know. Name the type, the flavour, the size in pounds, grams or tablets, and the date. Photograph the seal, the base and the back label so the buyer can read the ingredients, and say why you are selling; a flavour you could not get on with reassures more than silence. Price against the shelf, lower the closer the date. A buyer coming from Heredia or Liberia will want to turn the tub over and read the base before any money changes hands, so keep the original box or bag if you still have it.