First-Time CBD Buyer? The Ultimate CBD Buying Guide
If you’re reading this, it seems that you’re ready to take the first step and enter the world of CBD products. Being a first-time CBD buyer can be challenging due to the overwhelming number of products and companies on the market. Even experienced buyers sometimes struggle to separate shady products from those that offer quality and value to consumers.
That’s why it’s so important to educate yourself before buying CBD products. Anything you are putting into your body should be completely safe, produce the desired effects, and offer you value for your money.
While we offer all the above at SUPA Naturals, we’ve put together the ultimate CBD buying guide for first-time buyers, outlining the most critical factors and issues you should consider. Hopefully, this guide will help answer some of the questions you may have, such as “What CBD products should I buy?” or “How do I choose a CBD product?”
It is a collection of the most important facts about CBD products, plus advice to steer you in the right direction when shopping for CBD products.
Understanding the Difference Between Marijuana and Hemp
Marijuana and hemp both belong to the same plant family and share many of its properties. Unfortunately, the legality of both plants significantly differs. In the U.S., marijuana is still a controlled substance on the federal level, and its legality depends on many factors, including state legislative and legal requirements.
As a result, on a federal level, only CBD products derived from industrial hemp are 100% legal and compliant with all the necessary regulations. The main issue is the THC content of marijuana and CBD plants. THC is a psychoactive ingredient that makes marijuana a controlled substance. All industrial hemp grown in the U.S. must have THC concentrations lower than 0.3%, and the same applies to CBD products derived from it.
Only CBD that comes from hemp rather than a marijuana plant is 100% legal and compliant with regulations.
Emphasis on Quality CBD Products
The quality of the CBD products you buy should be your number one priority when making a purchase. To achieve the desired effects, you want to make sure you are consuming products that only have the best ingredients and use the best plants and manufacturing processes.
This may seem like a no-brainer, but it’s important to mention. Don’t fall for the false promises and marketing materials of other CBD product manufacturers. If you look closely, they all make similar claims about their products, but prices tend to fluctuate wildly. They also vary in the way they present facts and supporting documents to prove the legitimacy of their products.
Look for scientific lab certificates like ours that justify any claims and ingredients. Your health is the most important investment you can make, so why should you compromise when it comes to choosing what to consume?
Words like organic, natural, or non-GMO are good indicators of the quality and care put into a product.
Domestic-Grown vs. International
The United States Department of Agriculture has very strict laws and regulations when it comes to growing hemp compared to many other countries. This ensures that the hemp produced on U.S. soil tends to be of a higher quality and completely legal and compliant with federal regulations.
Given this, it is important to seek out CBD products derived from US-grown hemp. That doesn’t mean that there are no international CBD products that are of high quality, but you should still exercise caution. It is impossible to know and understand all the regulations governing CBD products in other countries, and you are taking a bigger risk when purchasing products derived from international hemp.
The Price Dilemma
Generally, a product that carries a premium price usually offers premium benefits and quality. While this might hold true when it comes to general consumer products, the situation in the CBD market is quite different, and many people looking to buy CBD wonder why CBD costs so much.
Yes, premium CBD products that offer the highest quality and benefits command a premium price. It makes sense that a company that invests a lot in the production process, quality hemp growing, extraction, and refining will need to charge more than a mediocre one. For example, while our prices aren’t at the top of the market, they aren’t at the bottom either.
Problems only arise when mediocre or even bad manufacturers try to trick consumers by putting a premium price on their products, which are underwhelming or downright scams. That’s why you should be especially careful when considering where to buy CBD.
Where to Buy CBD Products
You have several options as far as where to buy CBD products, such as dispensaries, retail stores that specialize in health products, and online retailers like us.
Dispensaries can be a good option if you need to buy CBD immediately and don’t want to wait for a product to be shipped to you. However, some of the products sold at dispensaries don’t come from reputable manufacturers that have the data that justifies their claims. Dispensaries often carry homemade and DIY CBD products that they market, which come with added risks.
Retail stores are a step in the right direction since they tend to carry products that come from legitimate companies, but they also cut corners in some cases and tend to take products that don’t have all the necessary documentation.
Online retailers come in two types: manufacturers that sell their products directly through their online store, or retailers that aggregate products from a variety of manufacturers and offer special discounts and deals for purchasing the products through them.
Buying a CBD product directly from the manufacturer is the safest option you can choose, so long as you look out for lab reports and ensure they use responsible manufacturing techniques. At SUPA Naturals, for example, we use supercritical carbon dioxide extraction to ensure a pure, safe product.
Types of CBD Products
Before you can choose where to buy CBD, you need to decide on what type of CBD product suits your needs. The most common and popular product on the market is CBD oil.
CBD oil is an extract from a hemp plant infused with a carrier oil. This preserves the CBD for long-term use and makes it easier to distribute, sell, and consume. CBD oil is by far our most popular product.
Still, manufacturers, including us, go out of their way to produce innovative CBD products such as CBD edibles in the form of candy and sweets, , CBD sprays, CBD creams, and lotions, and CBD tinctures. All these products use the same hemp base and share ingredients with CBD oils, but they might have some added ingredients that target different needs and conditions.
Make sure to research which CBD product is ideal for your condition and then browse CBD products that meet those criteria.
Concentration vs. Dosage
Concentration versus dosage is a common source of confusion with first-time CBD buyers. They are two separate things, and before choosing a CBD product, you should familiarize yourself with them to make an informed decision.
To better explain both terms, we will use practical examples. Let’s say you are interested in buying CBD oil, and you choose our 30 ml bottle that contains 1,000 mg of CBD.
The 1,000 mg of CBD is the total content of CBD in the oil, meaning that by consuming the whole bottle, it will deliver 1,000 mg of CBD. This is the concentration of the product. If everything else stays the same, the higher the mg content of CBD in the product, the higher the concentration of that product.
As for dosage, the same products will have dosing instructions. For example, the 30 ml CBD oil recommends that a daily intake of CBD oil should be 1 ml. That means that the bottle contains 30 daily doses, where each one delivers on average 33.33 mg of CBD (1,000 mg/30 servings).
By understanding how much CBD you are putting in your body with each dose, you can craft the adequate dosage for your daily needs.
Some general guidelines for CBD dosing are related to weight groups and desired effects:
- Up to 130 lbs – 11 mg per dose for mild effects, 12-14 mg for moderate effects, and 15-17 mg for strong effects
- 130 lbs to 230 lbs – up to 18 mg per dose for mild effects, 19-23 mg for moderate effects, and 24-27 mg for strong effects
- 230 lbs and over – up to 23 mg per dose for mild effects, 24-30 mg for moderate effects, and 31-45 mg for strong effects
Full-Spectrum vs. Broad-Spectrum vs. CBD-Isolate
Another important factor to consider when buying CBD is the type of CBD in the product you’re considering. All CBD products come in three forms: full-spectrum CBD, broad-spectrum CBD, and CBD-isolate. All these forms lie on different points of the CBD spectrum, with full-spectrum being the least refined and CBD-isolate being the most refined.
Full-Spectrum CBD
Full-spectrum CBD products are as close as you can get to the original state of the hemp plant extract. They are rich not only in CBD but all other cannabinoids as well. Additionally, ingredients like minerals, vitamins, fatty acids, terpenes, and flavonoids from the hemp plant are there as well.
Full-spectrum CBD products emphasize the importance of the “entourage effect,” where all plant ingredients work together to deliver stronger benefits than the individual ingredients separately. But beware—full-spectrum CBD products can contain trace amounts of THC that can trigger positive drug tests and cause legal issues.
Broad-Spectrum CBD
Broad-spectrum CBD products are a step between the full-spectrum and CBD-isolates. They maintain the majority of the ingredients, but the refining process removes any traces of THC. This makes them safer for consumption, especially if consumers are in a sobriety program or require regular drug testing.
CBD-Isolates
CBD-isolates are the most refined CBD products you can buy. All the other ingredients of the hemp plant have been removed, and you get pure CBD infused in a carrier oil or other delivery mechanism. They are perfect for those that have to follow strict dosage instructions and might have side effects from other hemp ingredients.
Consult a specialist and conduct further research to determine which form of CBD products best suits your needs and situation.
Red Flags and Scams
Below are some of the most common red flags we see in the CBD industry. While we hope you’ll choose SUPA Naturals, we’re committed to elevating the CBD market—and the best way to do that is to educate buyers to avoid unscrupulous sellers with CBD buying guides like this one.
If you notice any of these, be cautious about proceeding.
- CBD products sold through social media platforms exclusively. A lack of a proper website and manufacturer information is something to be wary of.
- The manufacturer doesn’t provide the lab reports and scientific proof of the ingredients and manufacturing process. No reputable manufacturer should have an issue with this.
- Free samples and offers. Some scammers go out of their way to attract customers by offering them free samples as long as they agree to pay the shipping cost or sign up for some monthly delivery service. Providing payment details to such sites will have a negative impact on your wallet and end up disappointing you.
- There is a lack of customer testimonials. This is always a cause for concern.
- The company promises a “miracle cure” or fantastic results. No reputable company will make ridiculous claims that combine reality and science fiction. Instead, look for companies that provide transparency and are constantly working on improving their products.
As always, do your homework and check the credentials of the website or company selling CBD products.
Wrapping It Up
We hope that this guide has been an informative introduction into the world of CBD and that you will be more confident when you go to buy CBD. Advancements in the CBD industry and added health benefits are changing the lives of millions of people. We’re sure that you will find a product that is right for you.
In the meantime, feel free to check out our line of CBD products. SUPA Naturals produces only the highest-quality full-spectrum CBD products, and they are all organic and non-GMO.
