Dog Medication Prices ?
Discussion
A vet practice is a business, it has to make money or it will close.
We charge for our time, and we mark up products that we sell, the same as many a business.
Historically prescription only medicines were not available elsewhere and so we relied on these. There is a move towards charging more for our time and less mark up on meds, but people just see the increase in the charges for our time.
It is often the case that a member of the public can buy the drugs cheaper than we can. You need a different license to sell to a MOP than a vet practice and only a few companies hold the latter. We also need to have access to reliable stocks delivered next day, so we use a single supplier for all our meds.
Online pharmacies will buy larger volumes of drugs and hence get good discounts compared to vet practices, their overheads are comparatively tiny as well, meaning that they can sell at prices significantly lower than we can buy at. They are not licensed to sell to vet practices and so we can not buy from them,
Ballpark profit margin is about 10% for an established practice. So that £3k operation represents about £300 profit.
We charge for our time, and we mark up products that we sell, the same as many a business.
Historically prescription only medicines were not available elsewhere and so we relied on these. There is a move towards charging more for our time and less mark up on meds, but people just see the increase in the charges for our time.
It is often the case that a member of the public can buy the drugs cheaper than we can. You need a different license to sell to a MOP than a vet practice and only a few companies hold the latter. We also need to have access to reliable stocks delivered next day, so we use a single supplier for all our meds.
Online pharmacies will buy larger volumes of drugs and hence get good discounts compared to vet practices, their overheads are comparatively tiny as well, meaning that they can sell at prices significantly lower than we can buy at. They are not licensed to sell to vet practices and so we can not buy from them,
Ballpark profit margin is about 10% for an established practice. So that £3k operation represents about £300 profit.
super7 said:
loskie said:
Many of these same people paying £2k for crossbreeds too because they have been given a combo name
That's cheap 
Edited by Thevet on Saturday 27th March 08:39
Got the prescription and have ordered 5 months of medication for £63 delivered, so £75 with the prescription vs £250 from the vets, I explained my thoughts when I went to get the prescription and they are absolutely fine with it and understand and as one of the Vet posters said they cant buy it at those prices anyway. A saving of £175
So five months then he goes back for his next Scan.
He isn't bothered, still walks 2/3 miles a day quite happily, still very lively (occasionally) and is sat with me dozing.
So five months then he goes back for his next Scan.
He isn't bothered, still walks 2/3 miles a day quite happily, still very lively (occasionally) and is sat with me dozing.
Glad to hear you got it sorted. There are a few online pharmacies, just make sure it has the VMD logo at the bottom, any UK based one will be fine.
I had an interesting one today, one of my vets had incorrectly worked out the price to sell a 100ml bottle of Propalin to a client, and had been charging them £38.21 a bottle for the last 12 months. It costs us just under £37, so basically pointless selling it at that price. If you go to an online pharmacy you can buy the same bottle for £22.
The system is completely broken, we look like assholes with huge mark ups, but we can't possibly match the online prices as we would be selling at a loss. This problem is pretty unique to veterinary medicine for the reasons mentioned previously.
There will be a definite move towards buying meds from online pharmacies as time goes on, but as a result vets will have to charge more for their time to keep afloat.
I had an interesting one today, one of my vets had incorrectly worked out the price to sell a 100ml bottle of Propalin to a client, and had been charging them £38.21 a bottle for the last 12 months. It costs us just under £37, so basically pointless selling it at that price. If you go to an online pharmacy you can buy the same bottle for £22.
The system is completely broken, we look like assholes with huge mark ups, but we can't possibly match the online prices as we would be selling at a loss. This problem is pretty unique to veterinary medicine for the reasons mentioned previously.
There will be a definite move towards buying meds from online pharmacies as time goes on, but as a result vets will have to charge more for their time to keep afloat.
Iwantafusca said:
Don’t get a pet if you can’t afford to pay for it’s health.
Where has that come from? People are just questioning the difference in prices of prescriptions between the Vet and buying it online. We normally get medication from the vet as it tends to be a few tablets due to a cut or a stomach issue. If one of our dogs needed long term medication then I would defo buy it online for cheaper Gassing Station | All Creatures Great & Small | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff