Rs. 3.99 or Rs. 13.20 a Tablet — 21 HealthKart Picks

Nine hundred and ninety-nine rupees for three sixty-capsule bottles — a hundred and eighty capsules, or Rs. 5.55 each — at a 79% badge, the deepest of the 195 discounted vitamin products we read. Note how the stated MRP was arrived at: Rs. 4,797 is exactly three times the Rs. 1,599 on the single bottle, so the reference price scales perfectly with pack size while the selling price does not. That is the whole trick of a multipack. There is a bigger problem with this listing, though, and it runs through the chapter: nowhere does it say how many milligrams of glutathione a capsule contains, which makes a per-capsule price impossible to compare against anything.

• Price: Rs. 999 (MRP Rs. 4,797)
• Key specification: 180 capsules, dose not stated
• Discount: 79% off, which is Rs. 3,798
• Role: Deepest badge on the page
• Buying logic: a per-capsule price is useless without a dose
• Rating: 4.8 from 92 HealthKart ratings

Seven hundred and eighty-nine rupees for two bottles is Rs. 6.58 per capsule, against Rs. 5.55 for the three-pack and Rs. 9.15 for a single bottle. Same product, same shelf, same 4.8 rating pooled across all three listings, and a 65% spread in what a capsule costs depending on which box you click. The badges — 79%, 75% and 66% — happen to rank the three correctly, which is more luck than design, because they are computed off MRPs that were themselves multiplied by the pack size.

• Price: Rs. 789 (MRP Rs. 3,198)
• Key specification: 120 capsules, dose not stated
• Discount: 75% off, which is Rs. 2,409
• Role: The middle of the same ladder
• Buying logic: the MRP scales with the pack; the price does not
• Rating: 4.8 from 92 HealthKart ratings

Five hundred and forty-nine rupees for sixty capsules is Rs. 9.15 each. Against the three-pack's Rs. 5.55, you are paying 65% more per capsule for the privilege of committing to less, and the listing carrying the smallest badge of the three is the one that costs you most. This is the single most useful habit on a supplement shelf: find the unit count, divide, and then look at the badge only to check it has not misled you — which here, on this ladder, it very nearly does.

• Price: Rs. 549 (MRP Rs. 1,599)
• Key specification: 60 capsules, dose not stated
• Discount: 66% off, which is Rs. 1,050
• Role: The expensive way to buy it
• Buying logic: divide first; read the badge afterwards
• Rating: 4.8 from 92 HealthKart ratings

Fourteen hundred and ninety-nine rupees for sixty 500 mg capsules — Rs. 24.98 each — at a 38% badge, half the depth of the Simply Herbal listings above. And this is where the comparison finally becomes possible, because the milligrams are stated. Rs. 24.98 for 500 mg against Rs. 5.55 for an unstated quantity is not a price comparison at all; it is a comparison between a specification and a blank. The badge cannot tell you that. Only reading the two titles side by side can.

• Price: Rs. 1,499 (MRP Rs. 2,399)
• Key specification: 60 capsules at 500 mg
• Discount: 38% off, which is Rs. 900
• Role: The first stated dose
• Buying logic: a stated dose is what makes a price comparable
• Rating: 4.8 from 30 HealthKart ratings

Twenty-five hundred and fifty rupees for sixty 500 mg capsules is Rs. 42.50 each — the same stated dose as the GNC above, the same 38% badge, and 70% more money. Two American brands, one specification, and a badge that is identical on both while the prices are nowhere near each other. If you needed a single illustration of why a percentage cannot rank two products, this pairing is it. Rated 5.0, from thirty-two people.

• Price: Rs. 2,550 (MRP Rs. 4,099)
• Key specification: 60 capsules at 500 mg
• Discount: 38% off, which is Rs. 1,549
• Role: Dearest per capsule here
• Buying logic: identical badge, 70% more per capsule
• Rating: 5.0 from 32 HealthKart ratings

Three hundred and fifty-nine rupees for ninety tablets at a stated 10,000 micrograms is Rs. 3.99 per tablet — the lowest unit price anywhere in these picks, and this time with the dose printed, so it means something. The caution is on the other side of the listing: its displayed rating is 5.0 from a single rating. One person. We have printed that count beside the score rather than hiding it, because a five-star average from one voter is not a recommendation, and this is exactly the shelf where those turn up most.

• Price: Rs. 359 (MRP Rs. 1,016)
• Key specification: 90 tablets at 10,000 mcg
• Discount: 65% off, which is Rs. 657
• Role: Cheapest tablet on the page
• Buying logic: the cheapest dose here, rated by one person
• Rating: 5.0 from 1 HealthKart ratings

Three hundred and nine rupees for sixty tablets of the identical product is Rs. 5.15 each, 29% more per tablet than the ninety-count bottle at Rs. 359. Fifty rupees more buys you thirty more tablets. The badges are 61% and 65% respectively, so on this occasion they do point the right way, but only barely and only by accident — the useful comparison is Rs. 3.99 against Rs. 5.15, and neither number appears anywhere on the site.

• Price: Rs. 309 (MRP Rs. 795)
• Key specification: 60 tablets at 10,000 mcg
• Discount: 61% off, which is Rs. 486
• Role: Same brand, worse arithmetic
• Buying logic: Rs. 50 more buys 30 more tablets
• Rating: 5.0 from 1 HealthKart ratings

Seven hundred and ninety-two rupees for sixty tablets at a stated 10,000 micrograms works out at Rs. 13.20 per tablet. The Vlado's tablets two picks up state the same 10,000 micrograms and cost Rs. 3.99 — a 3.3-fold difference for an identical printed dose, with the more expensive one carrying the smaller badge. HealthAid is a British brand with a longer history and its own manufacturing standards, which is a legitimate reason to charge more; whether it is a 3.3-times reason is a judgement only you can make, and you can only make it if somebody does the division first. Rated 3.8, from four people.

• Price: Rs. 792 (MRP Rs. 1,600)
• Key specification: 60 tablets at 10,000 mcg
• Discount: 50% off, which is Rs. 808
• Role: Same dose, 3.3 times the price
• Buying logic: same printed dose, 3.3 times the money
• Rating: 3.8 from 4 HealthKart ratings

Five hundred and forty-nine rupees for ninety capsules is Rs. 6.10 each, which sits neatly between the Rs. 3.99 and Rs. 13.20 of the two stated-dose biotins above — and means nothing at all, because this listing does not say how much biotin is in a capsule. Biotin is sold anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 micrograms, so the same Rs. 6.10 could be excellent value or double the going rate. On this shelf, an unstated dose should be read as a missing specification rather than a detail, and it is astonishingly common.

• Price: Rs. 549 (MRP Rs. 999)
• Key specification: 90 capsules, dose not stated
• Discount: 45% off, which is Rs. 450
• Role: The one you cannot compare
• Buying logic: an unstated dose is a missing specification
• Rating: 4.9 from 14 HealthKart ratings

Four hundred and twenty-four rupees for thirty triple-strength softgels — Rs. 14.13 each — at 70% off, the deepest badge on the fish oil shelf we read. Triple strength is a real distinction rather than marketing: it refers to the concentration of EPA and DHA per softgel, which is the active fraction, and a triple-strength capsule can carry two to three times the omega-3 of a standard 1,000 mg one. That makes a straight per-capsule comparison against a standard fish oil misleading in the other direction, which is worth holding on to for the next pick but one.

• Price: Rs. 424 (MRP Rs. 1,399)
• Key specification: 30 triple-strength softgels
• Discount: 70% off, which is Rs. 975
• Role: Deepest badge in the fish oil chapter
• Buying logic: triple strength is concentration, not size
• Rating: 4.5 from 64 HealthKart ratings

Eight hundred and ninety-nine rupees for sixty softgels is Rs. 14.98 each, against Rs. 14.13 in the thirty-count bottle. The bigger pack is dearer per unit — a reversal of the pattern in every other chapter here, and the reason the advice has to be 'divide' rather than 'buy the big one'. Its badge is 63% against the small bottle's 70%, so on this occasion the percentages happen to rank them correctly. On the glutathione ladder earlier they nearly did not. Neither outcome is something you can rely on.

• Price: Rs. 899 (MRP Rs. 2,399)
• Key specification: 60 triple-strength softgels
• Discount: 63% off, which is Rs. 1,500
• Role: Where the bigger pack costs more
• Buying logic: sometimes the bigger box costs more per unit
• Rating: 4.5 from 64 HealthKart ratings

Three hundred and forty-nine rupees for sixty 1,000 mg capsules is Rs. 5.82 each — but read that against the triple-strength listings above rather than beside them. A standard 1,000 mg fish oil typically carries around 300 mg of combined EPA and DHA, where a triple-strength one carries far more, so Rs. 5.82 against Rs. 14.13 is not a like-for-like saving. The honest comparison on any fish oil is rupees per gram of EPA plus DHA, and almost no Indian listing gives you the numbers to calculate it. Rated 4.6 from fifty-one people, which is a reasonable sample for this shelf.

• Price: Rs. 349 (MRP Rs. 599)
• Key specification: 60 capsules at 1,000 mg
• Discount: 42% off, which is Rs. 250
• Role: Cheapest softgel here
• Buying logic: compare EPA plus DHA, not capsule count
• Rating: 4.6 from 51 HealthKart ratings

Seven hundred and ninety-eight rupees for a hundred softgels is Rs. 7.98 each, rated 4.6 from sixty-six people. A hundred-count bottle is roughly three months at one a day, which matters more than it sounds: supplements only do anything if taken consistently, and the failure mode for most buyers is running out and not reordering. Buying the larger bottle of something you have already decided to take is the one piece of supplement advice that survives contact with the evidence.

• Price: Rs. 798 (MRP Rs. 1,399)
• Key specification: 100 softgels
• Discount: 43% off, which is Rs. 601
• Role: Best count-to-price ratio
• Buying logic: the bottle that lasts is the one that gets finished
• Rating: 4.6 from 66 HealthKart ratings

Eighteen hundred and fifty rupees for two hundred and forty softgels at a stated 5,000 IU is Rs. 7.71 each. It carries a 34% badge, one of the smallest in these picks, and it is nonetheless the better buy in its category — which is the argument of this article compressed into a single line. Vitamin D at 5,000 IU is a high daily dose by Indian dietary-guideline standards and is normally taken on the basis of a blood test rather than a hunch, which is a conversation for a doctor and not for a listing page.

• Price: Rs. 1,850 (MRP Rs. 2,799)
• Key specification: 240 softgels at 5,000 IU
• Discount: 34% off, which is Rs. 949
• Role: Best per-unit price in its chapter
• Buying logic: a small badge on the best unit price
• Rating: 4.0 from 4 HealthKart ratings

Thirteen hundred and twenty-five rupees for a hundred and twenty softgels is Rs. 11.04 each, against Rs. 7.71 for the two-hundred-and-forty-count bottle of the identical product. Forty-three percent more per softgel — and both listings carry exactly the same 34% badge. Two products, one percentage, a 43% gap in what you actually pay per unit. There is no clearer demonstration on this page that the badge is computed from the MRP rather than from anything you should care about.

• Price: Rs. 1,325 (MRP Rs. 1,999)
• Key specification: 120 softgels at 5,000 IU
• Discount: 34% off, which is Rs. 674
• Role: Same product, 43% more per unit
• Buying logic: identical badge, 43% worse price
• Rating: 4.0 from 4 HealthKart ratings

Two hundred and eighty-five rupees for sixty tablets combining calcium with vitamins D3 and K2 — Rs. 4.75 a tablet — at a 71% badge. Rated 5.0 from forty-five people, which is a healthier sample than most of the deep-discount listings on this shelf, though a perfect five across forty-five ratings is still an unusual distribution. As with the biotin earlier, no dose appears anywhere in the listing title, and for a calcium supplement the elemental calcium content is the entire specification — 500 mg of calcium carbonate is not 500 mg of calcium.

• Price: Rs. 285 (MRP Rs. 999)
• Key specification: 60 tablets, dose not stated
• Discount: 71% off, which is Rs. 714
• Role: Cheapest listing on the page
• Buying logic: elemental calcium is the number that matters
• Rating: 5.0 from 45 HealthKart ratings

Four hundred and ninety-nine rupees for a pack of two — a hundred and twenty tablets, Rs. 4.16 each, against Rs. 4.75 in the single box. So the double pack is the better arithmetic. What makes it worth printing is the MRP: both listings state Rs. 999. The single box and the double box carry an identical reference price, which produces badges of 71% and 50% respectively and ranks the worse-value option higher. If you had shopped this shelf by percentage you would have bought the wrong one, and paid 14% more per tablet for the pleasure.

• Price: Rs. 499 (MRP Rs. 999)
• Key specification: 120 tablets, dose not stated
• Discount: 50% off, which is Rs. 500
• Role: The same MRP on twice the product
• Buying logic: the badge ranks the worse buy first
• Rating: 5.0 from 45 HealthKart ratings

Six hundred and twenty-nine rupees for sixty once-daily tablets is Rs. 10.48 per day, which is the cheapest daily cost among the multivitamins in these picks. 'One daily' is a useful thing to see in a title, because plenty of multivitamins are two- or three-tablet servings and their bottle prices look better than their daily costs. Rated 4.6 from twenty-three people. Whether a healthy adult eating a varied diet needs a multivitamin at all is a separate question, and not one a discount page can answer.

• Price: Rs. 629 (MRP Rs. 1,099)
• Key specification: 60 once-daily tablets
• Discount: 43% off, which is Rs. 470
• Role: Cheapest daily multivitamin here
• Buying logic: read the serving size, not the bottle price
• Rating: 4.6 from 23 HealthKart ratings

Seven hundred and ninety-eight rupees for sixty tablets, rated 4.6 from a hundred and eleven ratings — the biggest sample in these picks, on a shelf where two listings carry a 5.0 from a single rating. That contrast is worth sitting with. Rs. 13.30 a tablet against the Rs. 10.48 of the GNC above, for a formulation aimed at people training regularly rather than at general use. The dose is higher on several vitamins, which is the reason for the price and also the reason to read the label rather than the badge.

• Price: Rs. 798 (MRP Rs. 1,499)
• Key specification: 60 tablets
• Discount: 47% off, which is Rs. 701
• Role: Best-evidenced product on the page
• Buying logic: 111 ratings against a 5.0 from one
• Rating: 4.6 from 111 HealthKart ratings

Four hundred and twenty-nine rupees for a month of multivitamin tablets and a month of fish oil softgels together works out at Rs. 7.15 a day for both — cheaper than any single-product daily cost in this chapter. HK Vitals is HealthKart's own label, so as with any house brand the reference price is set by the seller, and the badge here is a modest 36%, which is consistent with a product whose price is meant to look competitive rather than rescued. Rated 4.5 from a hundred people, the second-largest sample in these picks.

• Price: Rs. 429 (MRP Rs. 669)
• Key specification: 30 tablets plus 30 softgels
• Discount: 36% off, which is Rs. 240
• Role: The house brand's combination pack
• Buying logic: a house brand's badge is set by the seller
• Rating: 4.5 from 100 HealthKart ratings

Eighteen hundred and ninety-five rupees for a hundred tablets is Rs. 18.95 each, the highest per-unit cost of any multivitamin in these picks and nearly double the GNC. It carries a 37% badge — almost the same as the HK Vitals pack at 36% and the GNC at 43% — which is the closing demonstration that on this shelf the percentage tells you nothing about which is dearer. Rated 4.2, from five people. Imported American vitamin brands carry duty and shipping in their prices, which is a real cost and not a markup, but it is a cost you should decide to pay knowingly.

• Price: Rs. 1,895 (MRP Rs. 2,999)
• Key specification: 100 tablets
• Discount: 37% off, which is Rs. 1,104
• Role: Dearest daily cost here
• Buying logic: three near-identical badges, three very different prices
• Rating: 4.2 from 5 HealthKart ratings