Is Chemist Warehouse Actually Cheaper for Medicine, or Is It Mostly Marketing?

beltdrive on 25/10/2024 - 12:33

I generally go to Chemist Warehouse for my scripts, but to be honest I've never really done a proper price comparison with other stores.

If I buy a generic Ventolin puffer, the price always seems to be in the same ballpark regardless of where I buy it from.

For things like antihistamines, Chemist Warehouse is notably worse than most other pharmacies: they only stock brand names. They might have a "Chemist Warehouse Exclusive" box of 240 Telfast or something, but it still seems to cost more than generics from other stores.

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Comments

  • cloudy on 22/07/2025 - 11:11
    -1
    Merged from Is Chemist Warehouse Cheaper for Prescription Medicines?

    I've been wondering if CW is actually cheaper for prescriptions. I think it's common knowledge they do many front of counter stuff cheaper than other chemists, but those stuff are often easy to compare prices. But for prescription medicine where I have to buy straight away it's hard to compare prices until you give the script and go to the counter to pay.

    So I'm wondering if anyone here knows, or has recurring scripts they fill and tried other pharmacies?

    • Hybroid on 22/07/2025 - 11:21

      Definitely cheaper than nearby TerryWhite. Everything's always $1-2 more expensive.

    • BigBirdy on 22/07/2025 - 12:30

      My experience in regional Qld is CW scripts are cheaper, often by quite a lot. Some other pharmacies will, with a push, price match, others won’t.

  • susannetsv on 22/07/2025 - 13:14

    https://www.scribd.com/document/552949240/Prescription-Price…

    This is a link to the chemist warehouse site for all the prescription prices if this helps

    Before I used to use a Chemist Warehouse webpage where you entered the name and it showed the price but after having a quick look I was unable to find it today, maybe somebody else has a link to this page if it still exists.

    I have found the scripts to definitely be cheaper but find the expiry dates are quite short. I suspect Chemist Warehouse gets a cheap price from the suppliers for buying and selling shorter dated stock.

  • browser on 08/08/2025 - 12:43

    Found out from the pharmacist, CW has stop selling some generics from Sandoz, since they have acquired Wagner from Vitaco.

    So, if you are on long term medication and prefer to stick to a particular brand of generics, may have to look for a different chemist.

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