FAQ

A peptide is a short chain of amino acids, the same building blocks that make up proteins, just fewer of them. The convention is loose, but peptide generally means somewhere between two and fifty amino acids. String more together and you are talking about a protein.

Because the category is defined by size rather than function, the word covers an enormous range of very different molecules. That is why a blanket statement like “peptides work” is close to meaningless. The useful question is always which sequence, at what dose, studied in whom.

It depends entirely on the specific compound. Peptides do not share a single legal status. Some are registered medicines available only on prescription, some are food derived supplements, and others are supplied strictly for laboratory research and are not approved for human use at all.

Every listing on this site states its regulatory classification and its intended use. Please read that section before ordering, because it is the most important information on the page.

A supplement is a food product. In South Africa it falls under complementary medicines regulation, which sets requirements for labelling, permitted claims and manufacturing standards.

A research compound is not a food and not a medicine. It has not been assessed for human safety by any regulator, and it is supplied for laboratory research only. Some peptides are supplements, some are medicines, and some are research compounds. The word alone tells you nothing about which.

No. We are a supplier, not a clinic, and we do not give medical advice. Nothing on this site is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

For guidance on what is appropriate for you, speak to a qualified healthcare professional who knows your medical history and any medication you are taking.

Three questions resolve most of it. Was it studied in humans, or only in cell culture or animals? At what dose, and by what route of administration? And compared to what, meaning was there a control group?

A great deal of peptide content online describes preclinical findings as though they were clinical ones. Where the evidence for something is early or mechanistic, we say so rather than dressing it up.

It means the compound has not been assessed by any regulator for human safety or efficacy, and that it is supplied for laboratory research. It is not a medicine, not a supplement, and not approved for human consumption.

We label listings that way because it is the accurate description, not because it is a formality. Where a listing says research use only, that is the whole of what we are able to tell you about its intended use.

A pen is a delivery format rather than a different kind of compound. It is a pre-filled device that sets the dose mechanically instead of requiring it to be measured out.

Whether the contents of any given pen are a supplement, a medicine or a research compound is stated on that pen’s own listing, exactly as it is for everything else.

SAHPRA, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority, regulates medicines and related substances under the Medicines and Related Substances Act 101 of 1965. That Act is also where the schedules come from, the system that determines whether something may be sold openly, requires a pharmacist, or requires a prescription.

Health supplements and complementary medicines fall under the same Act in their own category, with their own rules on labelling and on which claims may be made.

No, and on a site like this one they never are. Nothing here is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Where we describe evidence, we try to say plainly how strong it is and who it was gathered in. A finding in cell culture is not a finding in people, and we do not write about it as though it were.

Ultimately yours. We state the classification of everything we list, and we decline to supply the categories described above.

What you may lawfully possess or use can still depend on your own circumstances. If you are unsure, speak to a pharmacist or a qualified healthcare professional before you order.

An intermediary service. We source and supply to customers in South Africa, priced in Rand. We are not a manufacturer, not a pharmacy and not a clinic.

That distinction decides what we can and cannot help with. We can tell you what a product is, what its regulatory status is and how to store it. We cannot tell you whether you should take it.

Four steps, with no surprises in any of them. You check out with a physical street address. You receive an email straight away carrying our banking details and your payment reference. You pay by EFT using the order number alone as the reference. We ship within 48 hours of the payment reflecting, tracked, in plain unbranded packaging.

Email orders@lekkerpeptides.co.za with your order number. If it is a damage or condition problem, send photographs before the item is used.

We will come back to you and put it right.

By EFT, directly into our bank account. We do not take card payments, so no card details are ever entered on this site.

When you place your order you will immediately receive an email confirmation containing our banking details and your payment reference. Simply make the transfer from your banking app or internet banking.

Use your order number and nothing else. Do not add your name, or the word “peptides”, or anything other than the number itself to the reference field.

Your order number appears on your order confirmation email and on the confirmation page, and it looks like 1234. Using only the order number is what lets us match your payment to your order quickly.

Yes. Proof of payment can be emailed to orders@lekkerpeptides.co.za.

It is not required, because we reconcile payments against the order number, but it does help us match a payment sooner if anything is unclear.

Two days. Orders that remain unpaid after two days are automatically cancelled and the stock is released for other customers.

If you need a little longer, email us before the two days are up and we will hold the order for you.

Not at present. EFT is currently the only payment method we accept. It keeps our costs down, which keeps our prices down, and it means no card data is ever handled by this site.

From time to time. If you have a valid code, enter it in the discount code field on the cart or checkout page and the total will update before you place the order.

No, you can check out as a guest. Creating an account simply lets you track your orders and check out faster next time.

Delivery is a flat R150 per order, anywhere in South Africa. There are no surprise charges at checkout. Whatever the size of your order, the delivery cost is the same.

Orders are shipped within 48 hours of your payment reflecting, and should arrive the next day once dispatched.

A tracking number is emailed to you as soon as your parcel is collected by the courier.

No. Delivery is door to door, so we need a physical street address. Our courier cannot deliver to a post box, a PostNet suite or a locker.

Please make sure you enter a physical address when you check out.

Yes. There is an order notes field at checkout. Use it for anything the driver needs to know, such as a complex name, a gate code, or a preferred delivery window.

It is your responsibility to make sure the details on your order are correct before you place it. Please check the street address, suburb, postal code and mobile number carefully at checkout.

If you spot a mistake, email us immediately with your order number. If the parcel has not yet been collected we can usually correct it.

To all nine South African provinces. We do not ship internationally, and orders can only be placed from within South Africa.

Yes. Every order is dispatched in plain, unbranded outer packaging. There is nothing on the outside of the parcel indicating what is inside or who sent it.

Storage requirements are stated on each individual product listing. Some items are stable at room temperature, and others require refrigeration and should go into the fridge as soon as the parcel arrives.

Always follow the storage line on the listing rather than assuming, because two items in the same order can have completely different requirements.

Three things, in roughly this order of importance.

Heat is the big one. Sustained warmth accelerates degradation, and a South African car boot at midday will comfortably exceed anything a listing describes as acceptable. Light matters too, which is why items are supplied in boxes and why some listings say to protect from light. Moisture is the third: freeze dried powders pull water out of the air, so keep the vial sealed until it is used.

In the body of the fridge, not the door. The door is the warmest part and its temperature swings every time the fridge is opened.

Keep the item in its original box, because the box is the light protection.

A domestic fridge holds temperature reasonably well through a two to four hour outage, provided the door stays shut. During an outage, do not open the fridge unnecessarily.

A fuller fridge holds its temperature better than an empty one, because the contents act as thermal mass. Bottles of water fill the gap cheaply.

No. Freeze and thaw cycles can damage some preparations. Follow the storage line on the listing exactly rather than assuming colder is safer.