Supplier checklist
Score any supplier the way we do
The 16 checks behind every Vialwise score, with the same weights, as a worksheet for any supplier’s website. Answer each one as you look and the total updates out of 100.
- 16 checks in 4 groups
- Where to look for each one
- Nothing leaves your browser
The checklist
Lab testing
0 / 40
01 · 12 pts
Certificates of analysis published on the site
A certificate of analysis is the document that records what a batch was tested for and what the lab found.
How to check this
Check the main menu and footer for a page called Lab results, COAs or Test results, then open a few product pages. Count it only if you can open the report itself, not a line saying products are tested.
Partly: Reports are offered on request or supplied with orders, or results are quoted on the site without the report itself.
02 · 12 pts
COAs checkable at the testing lab (verify link or key)
A report you can open on the lab’s own website is much harder to alter than a PDF or a screenshot.
How to check this
Open the first six reports on the COA page and, for each, look for a verify link on the lab’s own domain, a task number printed together with its unique key, or a lab QR code or verification code. Follow it to the lab’s site and check the task number, compound and date match the copy you were shown.
Yes: Of the sampled reports we opened, plus any sampled report that is a page on the lab’s own site, at least half carry a lab-side check: a verify link on the lab’s own domain, a task number printed together with its unique key, or a lab QR code or verification code.
Partly: At least one of them carries a lab-side check, but fewer than half do.
How to check a report03 · 12 pts
Reports name this supplier
A report that names the supplier, as the client or in the manufacturer, sample or vial-label details, shows whose sample was tested. With the client covered or showing another name, and no supplier name in the manufacturer, sample or vial-label details, the report alone doesn’t tie the result to this shop.
How to check this
Open the first six reports on the COA page and read the Client field, then the manufacturer and sample lines and any pictured vial label. Count a report when the client field names the supplier under one of its known names, or the manufacturer field, the sample name or the label on the pictured vial does. A covered, cropped or unreadable client, or a name the supplier doesn’t use, fails the report only when the manufacturer field, sample name and vial label don’t name the supplier either.
Yes: At least half of the sampled reports we opened name this supplier, as the client or in the manufacturer, sample or vial-label details, and none of them is published under another listed supplier’s name.
Partly: At least one of them names this supplier but fewer than half do, and none is published under another listed supplier’s name.
How we read the reports04 · 4 pts
Share of the products you can order today that have a public report
A report for the product you want tells you more than a long list of reports for other things, so this asks what share of what you can actually order has one.
How to check this
Go through the shop’s catalogue, every page of it. Count each compound or blend once, however many sizes it comes in, and leave out water, syringes, swabs, merchandise, cosmetics and bundles of things already listed. Of those, count the ones you can add to the cart today (sold out or “notify me” in every size doesn’t count), then the ones with a report you can open on the site without an account, listed against that product. Divide the second count by the first and pick the band the share falls in.
Yes: At least 75% of the products you can order today on the site have a public report.
Partly: At least 25% of them do, but under 75%. From 50% up earns more of the points than 25% to under 50%.
How we count coverage
Business identity
0 / 25
05 · 8 pts
ABN displayed on the website
An ABN lets you look the business up on the Australian Business Register, for free.
How to check this
Check the footer first, then the Contact, About and Terms pages, for an 11-digit number labelled ABN.
Partly: The ABN appears only in page code or structured data, is incomplete, or only an ACN is shown.
Checking a supplier’s ABN06 · 5 pts
ABN active on the Australian Business Register
The register shows whether the ABN is current, and which entity it belongs to.
How to check this
Search the number at ABN Lookup. “Active” with a start date is a yes. “Cancelled”, no match, or no ABN on the site to search is a no. Check the entity name matches the business you are buying from.
ABN Lookup at abr.business.gov.au07 · 4 pts
Legal entity named
The legal entity is who you are actually buying from, and it can differ from the shop’s name.
How to check this
Look for a company name ending in Pty Ltd, or a named sole trader, in the footer, the Terms or at checkout.
Partly: An entity appears only at checkout, in payment instructions or in page code.
08 · 3 pts
Business address published
A published address shows where the business says it operates from.
How to check this
Check the Contact and Terms pages and the footer.
Partly: Only a suburb, city and state, or a PO box is given.
09 · 3 pts
Contact email published
Email gives you a direct way to raise an order, and a written record of the reply.
How to check this
Check the Contact page and the footer for an email address.
Partly: Only a contact form.
10 · 2 pts
Contact phone published
A second way to reach the business if email goes quiet.
How to check this
Check the Contact page, the footer and the FAQ for a phone number.
Partly: A number is reachable only through a chat widget (such as a WhatsApp button) or exists only in page code.
Australian fulfilment
0 / 20
11 · 10 pts
States it dispatches from Australia
Domestic dispatch keeps a parcel out of international customs and shortens its journey.
How to check this
Read the shipping policy and FAQ for where orders are sent from. “Ships to Australia” is not the same as “ships from Australia”.
Partly: Some products or orders dispatch from overseas, or the site contradicts itself about where orders ship from.
12 · 5 pts
Shipping policy with fees and timeframes
Fees and timeframes in writing, before you pay, are terms you can hold the business to.
How to check this
Find the Shipping page and check it states both the cost and how long dispatch and delivery take.
Partly: Only one of the two, or cost only “calculated at checkout”.
13 · 5 pts
Tracked delivery stated
A tracking number lets you follow the parcel and shows when it was actually sent.
How to check this
Look for tracked delivery, or a tracking number sent by email, in the shipping policy or FAQ.
Partly: Tracking only on some services, or as a paid extra.
Policies & labelling
0 / 15
14 · 6 pts
Refund / returns policy published
It sets out what happens if an order arrives damaged, wrong or not at all.
How to check this
Look for Refunds or Returns in the footer, and read what it covers.
Partly: Terms exist but don’t say how to claim, or the policy link leads nowhere while terms are summarised elsewhere.
15 · 4 pts
Terms and privacy policy published
Terms explain how orders are handled. A privacy policy explains what happens to your details.
How to check this
Check the footer for both Terms and a Privacy Policy.
Partly: One of the two.
16 · 5 pts
Research-use-only labelling
It states plainly what the products are sold for: laboratory research only.
How to check this
Check product pages and the Terms for a research-use-only statement.
Partly: In one of those places only.
Your total reflects only your own answers. It isn’t a Vialwise rating, and it says nothing about what is in a supplier’s vials.
Everything on Vialwise concerns research-grade material sold for laboratory and analytical use only. It is not a registered medicine, is not supplied for human or veterinary use, and nothing here is medical advice.
How the total works
The same rules for every supplier, ours included
The checklist imports the rubric that scores every supplier on Vialwise, so the weights you see here are the weights behind the rankings. Nobody types a score in by hand.
Yes, Partly or No
Yes earns an item’s full points and No earns none. Partly earns exactly half, for an item that is there but incomplete.
Report coverage is a share
“Share of the products you can order today that have a public report” scores the share of the products you can order today that have a report you can open: 75%+ earns 4, 50–74% earns 2.5, 25–49% earns 1, 0–24% earns 0.
Open several reports, not one
For “COAs checkable at the testing lab” and “Reports name this supplier”, open the first few reports on the supplier’s COA page and count how many pass. We grade both from the first six in the order the page lists them, by the rules shown under each item.
The ABN is checked at the register
An ABN is either active on the Australian Business Register or it isn’t, so that item has no partial answer.
Blank scores zero
An item you can’t answer earns nothing, exactly as an item we couldn’t verify earns nothing on our rankings.
What the total leaves out
The total shows how much a supplier lets you verify, not the quality of what is in the vial: we don’t lab-test other suppliers’ stock, so we don’t rate it. Star ratings appear on profiles but carry no points, because a buyer can’t verify them and scoring them would reward whoever collects the most.
Next step
Check your answers against ours
Every supplier profile sets out each answer we recorded, with the page it came from and the date we looked, so you can compare your total with the published one line by line. If your answer holds and ours doesn’t, send us a correction.