I have been using some of the various racetams for quite some time, mainly oxyracetam recently, (or oxiracetam;google search returns both spellings). I have been trying to achieve that "ultra clear" feeling Ive read so much about, so I started at recommended dosage and slowly increased with no obvious difference. A few days ago, something occurred to me;...one of the capsules was damaged and the contents tasted exactly like Equal or nutrasweet , two popular artificial sweeteners in the US. ...So, curious little me decides to taste a capsule from the other three bottles I have. They all taste like saccharine as well. I've noticed when I get the bottles that, though the seal is not broken, it doesn't break when I open it either and the second seal seems to be very easy to remove and sometimes comes off with the lid. This has been consistent over about ten bottles. Paranoid as it may seem, I cant help but wonder if the contents of these capsules purchased from a company called Unique Nutrition is genuine, (granted I did get them off of Ebay from two different sources "Cyberplanetsales" and "vmsales"). I would like to think I am not paying $30 for a bottle of saccharine. If there are any other inquisitive minds out there, I would greatly appreciate, (as would many other people that spend a small fortune on this stuff), if you help me solve this little mystery and possibly uncover what would be a HUGE scam.

I would never buy nutritional products from Ebay. $30 a bottle seems like a rip off anyway it's usually best to buy direct or from a well known BBB approved supplier.

Unique Nutrition is the largest and one of the oldest highest quality pharmaceutical grade nootropics producers in the US so your problem is not with them.

Definitely do not buy nutritional supplements off of Ebay.
And if you're visiting a vendor website, that then directs you to Ebay to buy the product.. also be wary.

You could be getting anything...

So what companies, in your opinion, are the best sources for this type of supplement?

I would review the supplier list.

The supplier list has many sources for nootropics. I do deep research about the companies that I buy nootropics from. Be very careful who you order from on the internet and always do background checks on the companies you intend to buy from using multiple forums. It is not uncommon to find conflicting information about each company and even the users who recommend them on different forum communities. I would never recommend buying anything for personal consumption on ebay. Good luck.

The following is a list of different racetam supplements I have tried and their taste. I would like to compare notes with fellow forum members. If you would, please list the seller as well as the label.

>Piracetam- saccharine like sweet taste with slight bitter aftertaste.
>Aniracetam- saccharine like sweet taste with slight bitter aftertaste.
>Oxiracetam- saccharine like sweet taste with slight bitter aftertaste.

>pramiracetam- Very bitter, no sweetness whatsoever,(I suggest you have something sweet to drink close by).

the first three were purchased from two companies on ebay:Cyberplanetsales and VMsales, and bear the UniqueNutrition Label. Cyberplanetsales is linked to a site called yourchancetochange dot com which seems reputable and deals in many other types of supplements.
The pramiracetam, I purchased from Relentless Improvement and it bears their label.

Also, I'm not sure how different these substances are structurally or how dramatic the difference between each is, but one thing I notice above all is that there is a very big difference in taste between the first three and pramiracetam. Also, the price of pramiracetam is outrageously higher than the other three mentioned above. Does anyone know why that is, other than the company that provides it is cornering the market due to its limited availability?

Currently no one in the US is producing Pramiracetam due to cost. (RI has recently dropped it).

My piracetam was purchased from Bulk Nutrition. While their website is not very impressive, they have been an established supplement distributor for a number of years and typically have good prices for bulk powder.

My piracetam has nothing remotely close to a sweet taste. It is a very bitter, water soluble, crystalline powder that was hard on the taste buds for the first few times but doesn't bother me much anymore with a swig of water. Many of the reviews at Bulk Nutrition state a similar description.

You may want to send that eBay stuff to a lab, there is no telling what you might be ingesting...

That being said, it's possible that other companies make a more palatable and customer-friendly version by adding a sweetener though I don't see a reason why a company would do this for an encapsulated product.

I have purchased from cyberplanetsales. They are not an autorised reseller by UniqueNutrition, but that does not mean that their product is not authentic UniqueNutrition....
I have purchased Piracetam from them. I have to admit that I do believe that their product is cognition-enhancing. This is why I continue to purchase it. Several aspects of their customer service, the packaging, their website and the product itself would lead me to strongly suspect that they are selling genuine product. I cannot prove this, it is just my opinion.

On a side note, I have a bunch of bulk nootropics, as well as idebenone and frankly put, they smell and taste like my ass... Any suggestions on how I should take these supplements to avoid the nastyness?

Encapsulate them.

I recently purchased idebenone and picamilon (Unique nutrition bottles) from cyberpanetsales off ebay. They both have nearly no taste and no smell at all. The last time I bought some picamilon was from Rizzer about two years ago and I remember that picamilon tasted foul. I'm guessing the foul tasting stuff was the real deal. I searched the internet for other peoples descriptions on the taste of Idebenone and Picamilon and it seems that %50 say theres tastes foul and %50 says theres taste like nothing at all. If anyone with some experience with these two nootropics can verify what they should taste like or how to test them to see if they are real I would be very grateful.

Real Idebenone from Unique Nutrition is bright orange, smells odd, and from my experience does not taste very good (although I take it at the same time as aniracetam, which taste terrible).