Online stores to buy from?

Foodforthought

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  1. Vegan newbie
Where I live there is not an over abundance of vegan options so I have bought what I could but have ventured online to buy more things but I want to support reputable vegan stores. Is Vegan Essentials online store a good one to buy from? I searched in the forum for online stores for the USA but I could only find stores for the UK. I have only changed to vegan four days ago so I definitely am still transitioning to my new path so I am trying to make sure I start out correct. Thank-you.
 
First off, I wonder if you really need one that bad. As a number of us commented on in your other post, almost everything you need is probably at your local grocery store. All the big chains have at least some of the specialty stuff.

But during the pandemic most of has have started using online shopping to some degree. At the beginning of the pandemic these online options were severely impacted but to the best of my knowledge things have improved.

I don't have any first hand experience with Vegan Essentials but their shipping costs, especially the cost of perishables would keep me from using them.

I've only heard good things about Thrive Markets. I think a membership is $5 a month but then you get free shipping. They bill annually - so its 60 bucks a year - but they give you a free risk free month at the start so you can check it out without getting tied down.

In the articles at the bottom there are brief descriptions of most of the options.

If you already shelled out for Amzon Prime, they are a very good alternative. Although a lot of people are boycotting Amazon nowadays. Amazon now owns Whole Foods so you can get just about anything from Whole Foods shipped to you, too.




 
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I'd like to add May Wah (renamed Lily's pantry) and Miyokos.
Miyokos has the best vegan cheese (imo), May Wah has a wide selection of vegan meats you'll never find anywhere. I get May wah mostly for their ham, drumsticks and corn soup.
 
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First off, I wonder if you really need one that bad. As a number of us commented on in your other post, almost everything you need is probably at your local grocery store. All the big chains have at least some of the specialty stuff.

But during the pandemic most of has have started using online shopping to some degree. At the beginning of the pandemic these online options were severely impacted but to the best of my knowledge things have improved.

I don't have any first hand experience with Vegan Essentials but their shipping costs, especially the cost of perishables would keep me from using them.

I've only heard good things about Thrive Markets. I think a membership is $5 a month but then you get free shipping. They bill annually - so its 60 bucks a year - but they give you a free risk free month at the start so you can check it out without getting tied down.

In the articles at the bottom there are brief descriptions of most of the options.

If you already shelled out for Amzon Prime, they are a very good alternative. Although a lot of people are boycotting Amazon nowadays. Amazon now owns Whole Foods so you can get just about anything from Whole Foods shipped to you, too.




Thank-you for your response. I have regular stores here and they have very limited vegan items that is why I am looking online. Looking at your examples I noticed that vegan essentials was one of the original online stores for veganism. I will check out Thrive markets too.
 
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I'd like to add May Wah (renamed Lily's pantry) and Miyokos.
Miyokos has the best vegan cheese (imo), May Wah has a wide selection of vegan meats you'll never find anywhere. I get May wah mostly for their ham, drumsticks and corn soup.
Thank-you, I will check out what you recommended.
 
I love vegan essentials. I don’t use them as often as I did in the past but I’ve never had any issues ordering from them. Great customer service on the rare occasion I had to contact them. They have a wide variety of products, many that are not available to me in local stores. Price would be my only complaint.
 
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First off, I wonder if you really need one that bad. As a number of us commented on in your other post, almost everything you need is probably at your local grocery store. All the big chains have at least some of the specialty stuff.

But during the pandemic most of has have started using online shopping to some degree. At the beginning of the pandemic these online options were severely impacted but to the best of my knowledge things have improved.

I don't have any first hand experience with Vegan Essentials but their shipping costs, especially the cost of perishables would keep me from using them.

I've only heard good things about Thrive Markets. I think a membership is $5 a month but then you get free shipping. They bill annually - so its 60 bucks a year - but they give you a free risk free month at the start so you can check it out without getting tied down.

In the articles at the bottom there are brief descriptions of most of the options.

If you already shelled out for Amzon Prime, they are a very good alternative. Although a lot of people are boycotting Amazon nowadays. Amazon now owns Whole Foods so you can get just about anything from Whole Foods shipped to you, too.




I looked at thrive markets and decided I will look elsewhere since they sell meat and meat products. I will probably but from vegan essentials since they are on the links you posted and they seem like they are only vegan.
 
Never been to an all vegan grocery store myself, and I'm from Chicago, IL.
They have them in some states.
 
Dang, maybe they were testing out products and decided it wasn't selling enough. Can't say I really noticed vegan products before going vegetarian back in 2009. Sometimes you can request a store to carry some products.
 
Dang, maybe they were testing out products and decided it wasn't selling enough.
I live in a pretty small town, around 2,000 population. I guess I will have research on getting stuff online and seeing what I can buy from the stores around here that is vegan while trying to stay away from omni or vegetarian if possible.
 
It's nice if you really can't get those items in the stores, but the prices are usually marked up and then there's shipping an handling, and some sort of ice pack. The products themselves aren't cheap to begin with, so seeing something 2x it's normal cost + shipping and handling really hurts the wallet.
 
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It's nice if you really can't get those items in the stores, but the prices are usually marked up and then there's shipping an handling, and some sort of ice pack. The products themselves aren't cheap to begin with, so seeing something 2x it's normal cost + shipping and handling really hurts the wallet.
I agree but I knew there would be sacrifices going down this path. hopefully, in the future there are more vegan stores or regular stores where vegan food is a common item then online shipping would have to go down to compete.
 
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First off I really need to commend you for your thinking this thru. When I became vegan it was not all at once and I just sort gradually and incrementally changed my buying habits. There is a lot to be said for having a plan

I've had a similar discussion with another newbie here at the Vegan Forum. And I feel bad dissuading someone from shopping at All Vegan stores. I can readily see the point - why give our cash to an entity that is making a profit on animal cruelty? However, my point is that nowadays it is all interconnected now.

Take for instance Method, which is where I buy my soap. They make a great product and check all my boxes but they got bought out by Univler. and they own subsidies that do test on animals. Or Silk. Silk only makes non dairy stuff. But they got bought out by Daone who owns a lot of dairys and makes a lot of cow's milk products. Gardein is owned by Conagra - they also own Slim Jims. Annie's was bought by General Mills,. You can't go to Burger King and get an Impossible burger because Burger King buys and sells beef. The grocer you buy your apples at also sells chickens.

It's sort of slippery slope. Its very hard to decide where to draw the line.

Speaking just for myself, but in this case I think I'm sort of mainstream, I draw the line with the product itself. If the product is vegan then I buy it. This is more powered by practicality than ethics. I justify it by remembering that even the definition of the word vegan includes the word "practical".

At the bottom I have included a link to super list of al the things a vegan may eventually need in their pantry.
The vast majority of these things can be found at the local grocery store. For the rest it might be worth driving to a big store once in a while and stocking up*. Plant milks can be purchased in cases of redipacs that can be stored in the garage or wherever. Tofu can be frozen. And a lot of the other things can live in the frig or pantry for a month or more.

So that leaves just a small number of products to order online.


* Isn't it sort of normal for small town people to make trips into the big city once in a while and hitting Costco? Just to save money. Costco has a bunch of vegan things.
 
First off I really need to commend you for your thinking this thru. When I became vegan it was not all at once and I just sort gradually and incrementally changed my buying habits. There is a lot to be said for having a plan

I've had a similar discussion with another newbie here at the Vegan Forum. And I feel bad dissuading someone from shopping at All Vegan stores. I can readily see the point - why give our cash to an entity that is making a profit on animal cruelty? However, my point is that nowadays it is all interconnected now.

Take for instance Method, which is where I buy my soap. They make a great product and check all my boxes but they got bought out by Univler. and they own subsidies that do test on animals. Or Silk. Silk only makes non dairy stuff. But they got bought out by Daone who owns a lot of dairys and makes a lot of cow's milk products. Gardein is owned by Conagra - they also own Slim Jims. Annie's was bought by General Mills,. You can't go to Burger King and get an Impossible burger because Burger King buys and sells beef. The grocer you buy your apples at also sells chickens.

It's sort of slippery slope. Its very hard to decide where to draw the line.

Speaking just for myself, but in this case I think I'm sort of mainstream, I draw the line with the product itself. If the product is vegan then I buy it. This is more powered by practicality than ethics. I justify it by remembering that even the definition of the word vegan includes the word "practical".

At the bottom I have included a link to super list of al the things a vegan may eventually need in their pantry.
The vast majority of these things can be found at the local grocery store. For the rest it might be worth driving to a big store once in a while and stocking up*. Plant milks can be purchased in cases of redipacs that can be stored in the garage or wherever. Tofu can be frozen. And a lot of the other things can live in the frig or pantry for a month or more.

So that leaves just a small number of products to order online.


* Isn't it sort of normal for small town people to make trips into the big city once in a while and hitting Costco? Just to save money. Costco has a bunch of vegan things.
Thank-you for your help. My nearest costco is almost three hours away, lol. I will take your advice on looking for items based off of vegan and try to ignore what else they sale pretty much I have to because of where I live and my options. Like I replied to another poster I knew the sacrifice (more money for products and shipping) before I headed down and accepted this path I just started on, hopefully I can suggest to stores here to stock more vegan items. Who knows there may be vegans here but not wanting to say anything.
 
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