iHerb Malaysia Review – My Shopping Experience in 2022

This time I will share my own shopping experience when buying vitamin and supplement products through iHerb to Malaysia in late 2021 (early 2022). I hope my shopping experience can help those of you who are still in doubt or confused about the procedure and process of buying at this online store.

Some people are hesitant to shop at iHerb, and I think it is a natural thing because the location of the store is in the USA. So there must be a sense of concern that the goods will not arrive on time because of several things, such as having to go through a process of checking the parcel at customs, where there is a possibility that the ordered products are prohibited from getting into Malaysia.

I will try to answer all of your curiosity through this article. Starting from the ordering process, payment, shipping from iHerb via air freight, customs procedures and delivery to my house using Skynet Malaysia as the last-mile delivery service.

Why choose iHerb

So there are several reasons why I buy vitamin products at iHerb which are shipped directly from the United States (USA), and why not just buy them at online stores or marketplaces in Malaysia. Here’s my reason:

1. Avoid counterfeit products
   This is the main reason for me to buy products at iHerb, the authenticity of the product. The products sold by iHerb are guaranteed because they are direct distributors of well-known brands of supplements or vitamins. iHerb is not a marketplace platform so there are no third-party sellers, unlike online marketplaces where anyone can become a seller.

   I know that some of the items sold in the local marketplace must be genuine. However, the method of verifying it is difficult before actually holding the physical product directly and checking it, which of course I have to buy first, right.

2. Much cheaper
   When I first saw the prices of vitamins and supplements in the online marketplaces, especially for products that are not widely marketed in Malaysia. For example, such as Vitamin K2 MK-7 which is a complement to Vitamin D3 which is very useful for increasing our body’s immune system amidst the current pandemic situations.

   Let’s take one product as an example, NOW Mega D3 & MK-7. In the local marketplace, this product costs RM78.90 while in iHerb you can get it for only RM64.39 which is RM14.51 cheaper for one item only. For vitamin products like this, you might need to buy more than one bottle, to maintain vitamins stock at home.

   

   In addition, iHerb also often offers attractive promos that make the product prices much cheaper. One example is the discount promo of $5 or around RM20.80 with no minimum shopping for new users, existing customers can also get a 5% discount too.

3. Free Shipping to Malaysia
   Yes, you read it right, the shipping fee for iHerb orders from the USA to Malaysia is free. To get free shipping on this platform, you just need to choose Skynet as a shipping carrier and spend a minimum of $40 or around RM170.

   

   Do you think the minimum spending is too high? I think it’s still reasonable because your order is sent from a country that is thousands of kilometres from our country. So it cannot be equated with minimal spending from our local online marketplaces.

4. Convenient Payment Methode
   Even though iHerb is an e-commerce company from another country, it turns out that the payment is still straightforward, because there are payment options via credit/debit card, Touch n Go e-wallet (MYR) and PayPal (USD). Indeed, in the application it says “credit card” but actually debit cards could also be used.

   

   If you want to transact with a debit card, you must make sure your card is activated for this. For example, you have to enrol your Maybankard Visa Debit in Maybankard Secure Online Shopping (MSOS) program first. This also applies to those of you who have a debit card from CIMB or HongLeong.

Order Processing

At this point, I will show you my experience in ordering vitamin and supplement products at iHerb, including visiting the official website of iHerb Malaysia and the registration or registration procedure.

1. Head to the iHerb website or app
   The purchase process can be done through their official website or via the Android and iOS versions of the iHerb app. However, this time I will only provide an example of a purchase using the official iHerb website which is tailored for users from Malaysia.

   

   This customization makes it easier for us to choose products because all the website settings are set to suit buyers from our country. For example, product prices have been converted in real-time to Malaysian Ringgit (RM/MYR).

2. Create an Account
   Go to the profile page by clicking the human icon at the bottom right, then click “Sign in/create account’. You can register in various ways such as mobile number, password and email address. But the quickest and easiest way is to log in using your Google or Facebook account because you don’t need to memorize the easy-to-forget passwords.

   

3. Add to cart
   After that, you can select every product you need. Select several products and add them to the cart (Add to cart). To be eligible for free shipping to Malaysia, your total order must be RM166 or more. If you get a discount, make sure the final price cannot be less than those minimum orders.
4. Shipping Information
   After choosing the desired items, then fill in the complete shipping address to avoid any difficulties within the shipping process. For the shipping method, it’s recommended to use according to your needs, this time I will use the services of Skynet because they offer Free Shipping to our country.

   Skynet is suitable if your order weight is less than 10kg and the order value is not more than RM479. If your order exceeds these conditions, you will be given the option to use DHL Express which can fulfil orders with a maximum total weight of 68kg. However, you have to pay for the shipping costs yourself.

Promo

iHerb Promo Code 2022
Use the promo code below at checkout to get 10% OFF iHerb site-wide discount. Without minimum purchase.

DDK0084

Example of how to use:


5. Payment and Placing Order
   iHerb in Malaysia also offers a widely used payment method by online merchants around the world, by using a credit card. Although there is only an option to add a credit card and Touch n Go wallet, actually a debit card can also be used to make payments on this platform.

   As we explained earlier, if you plan to use a debit card as I did, then you must first activate your card to be able to make transactions like this.

   After making sure all the information you have entered on the iHerb website are correct, then the last step is placing an order. Just tap the ‘Place order’ button and your card will be charged right away with the local currency (MYR).

iHerb Shipping Speeds

How long does it takes for iHerb to ship to Malaysia? This is the most asked question that I hear often. Since I’ve never purchased a product from iHerb which is located in the United States, honestly, at first, I was pessimistic that my order would arrive quickly. I thought it would take virtually a month like when buying goods from China.

But it didn’t take that long, my order has arrived in just 9 days at my home address in Kuchai Lama. Actually, it could be faster if there were no problems when the parcel arrived in Malaysia and was handled by Skynet, this carrier took six days to deliver my order.

Here I explain in detail the process of order delivery on iHerb:

• Order created: 17 January
• Shipment picked up: 18 January
• Shipment departed from the USA: 18 January
• Arrived in Malaysia: 19 January
• Import clearance: 20 January
• Package took over by Skynet: 20 January
• Package delivered: 26 January

So the total time from the order made at iHerb until the package I received at Kuchai Lama was 9 days. It could arrive 5 days earlier if there were no problems with Skynet at that time.

Because based on their tracking system, on January 21st (or 4 days after the iHerb order was created) Skynet’s tracking status is “Out for Delivery” which means they have attempted to deliver the parcel to my house on that day. But somehow the parcel never arrived until 5 days later.

Order Delivered

Finally, my order from iHerb arrived safely, the packaging was using thick cardboard with an iHerb logo printed on the outside of the box. On the inside, for extra protection, they insert additional paper to minimize the impact on the product during the shipping process.

This is my first online shopping experience from the USA. Beforehand, if I bought something overseas, it was only from China via AliExpress or other marketplaces. My first impression with iHerb is very positive and I will place an order again in the future when I need to restock my vitamins, supplements or other natural products.