I would like to find out the most COST EFFECTIVE tablets on the ONLINE
market-place that contain Beta Sitosterol, this natural medicine is
for the reduction of the male prostate amongst other things - to
establish the 'cost effectiveness' the Beta Sitosterol content of EACH
tab in mg's and the number of tabs per container are the main
criteria...tablets should contain a minimum of 300mg of BS and there
should be a minimum of 60 per container...they must be purchaseable
On-Line and be shippable to Australia via post or courier - they are
legal here in Ozz for personal consumption, but Australian Customs
will only allow a 3 month supply to be imported at any one time/per
individual, which at 1 or 2 tabs per day means a max of 3 containers,
assuming 60 tabs per container...here are a few links and several
examples of the sort of product I am looking for: 
http://www.drlam.com/opinion/beta_sitosterol.cfm  -this is just info
on the product...http://www.herbalglobal.com/cart/product.asp?p=8994&name=beta_sitosterol
 -with this particular tab the BS content is 120mg which is too LOW
and considering price/shipping/customs etc not cost effective
http://www.pro state-miracle.com/compare-prostate-formulas.html  -this
product has the correct amount of BS BUT seems to be too
expensive...many thanx and best of luck...LB
 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clarification of Question by dizzyblond-ga on 25 Jun 2004 23:35 PDT 
To further assist: the target cost per bottle for the Beta Sitosterol
tabs (60 to a bottle) is as close to or less than $10...also what
price would researchers consider reasonable to answer this question?
and what further information would a researcher require to answer this
question?

---

Request for Question Clarification by crabcakes-ga on 14 Jul 2004 21:41 PDT

Hi dizzyblond,

 Thank you for your question! I have been searching for some time, and
have been unable to meet your exact criteria.

 Let me describe what I found, and see if it would be acceptable to
you. This is the cheapest I found, regardless of shipping and volume
restrictions.

  300mg Beta Sitosterol, 180 capsules per bottle, if three bottles are
purchased at the same time, the cost is just under $35 USD (44.74 AUD)
per bottle.

  If ONE capsule is taken per day, then ONE bottle would last roughly
three months. This comes to roughly 14.90 AUD per month, not including
shipping.

  The company DOES ship to Australia  -- Shipping for 3 bottles seems
to be $14 per their statement of "Air First Class Mail to Australia
and Japan and Asia is priced at $10.00 for the first item plus $2.00
per additional item)"

OK, here is the minor catch:
The tablets DO contain 300mg Beta Sitosterol, as well as other
ingredients for male health, such as phytosterols, isoflavones, zinc
citrate, selenium, stigmasterol, brassicasterol, and campesterol.

This is the cheapest Beta Sitosterol Iw as able to find. If you think
this product will meet your needs, please let me know via the Answer
Clarification process, and I will post ordering information.

Also, when you say Customs in Autralia only allows a 3 month supply,
do they specify the dosage? What is "personal consumption" based on --
Number of tablets per day, or the strength of each tablet?


Thank you for requesting my services, and I hope the information I
have found will be useful to you!

Regards,
crabcakes

---

Clarification of Question by dizzyblond-ga on 17 Jul 2004 03:01 PDT

Hi Crabcakes, and thanx for your answer...'closer to the golden
dawn...'!!...OK what I imagined I would receive was a selection of
perhaps 3 sources of supply that fitted very closely, or as close as
possible, to the parameters supplied, although I do realise that I did
not ask the question in precisely that way (apologies, my
error)...next point; can you check your math please, one of us is not
quite able to multiply and divide correctly as I reach a different
result to you on the - "roughly 14.90 AUD per month" - bit...Ozzie
customs are not known for their helpful attitude, preferring to take
the stance that when it gets here "...we will then decide what
criteria to apply" which may, and seemingly does, differ almost each
and every time!!...again many thanx for your marvelous efforts, I look
forward to your response and send you blissings from the land down
under...Dizzy

Hi again dizzyblond,

I have located three web sites with the lowest online prices that I
was able to find.(I did find a few sites with lower prices, but these
sites did not ship to Australia) These sites ship internationally as
well. I have also included two other sites, for your comparison only.
Math never was my forte :-)  and the monthly cost I posted in my
clarification was indeed a bit off, but only intended as an example.
I'm afraid a target cost of less than $10 per bottle may be elusive,
unless one were to buy in bulk, or found a sale in a bricks and mortar
pharmacy.

I have included a chart below, comparing the costs of each site.
(Formatting may come out a bit off, and I'm afraid I have no control
over that issue!)


1:
====================================
HealthCore
Three bottles of 180 capsules, at $32.40 each USD or 44.74 AUD  At one
capsule per day, one bottle would be *about* a three month supply.
44.74/180= .24 per capsule, x 30 = roughly 7.45 AUD a month.

http://healthcore21.com/scripts/prodView.asp?idCategory=&idproduct=276

?Air Post is $6.00 for the first item plus $2.00 for each additional
item per order. Air First Class Mail to Australia and Japan and Asia
is priced at $10.00 for the first item plus $2.00 per additional
item). International Express Mail shipping is charged at the actual
cost per order and includes insurance.?

http://healthcore21.com/guarantee.asp



2:
====================================

?A most important supplement you can take is beta- sitosterol. It is a
good idea to take a full 300mg of beta-sitosterol a day. Taking more
than this will not help and just costs you more. You can cut the
tablet in half and take 150mg AM and PM if you want to.?
http://www.virileplex.com/prostate_health.htm#beta

$35 USD = $48.4 AUD 60 tablets in each bottle 

Ships to Australia! ?Air First Class Mail to Australia?
http://www.youngagain.com/info.html



3:
====================================
$11.37USD  15.48 AUD for 90 tablets of 300mg each beta-sitosterol
http://www.valusport.com/beta-s.html
Valusport does ship internationally, but read carefully everything on this page:
http://www.valusport.com/international.html


4:
====================================
2000 Vitamins sells pure Beta-sitosterol, 300mg:
This site ships internationally, but will not discuss charges until you order. 
$13.95USD  19.00 AUD for 90 tablets, 300mg each 
http://www.2000vitamins.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?ID=309&action=display

5:
====================================

$29.95 USD per 60 capsules
http://www.youngagain.info/cgi-bin/product.cgi?id=1761

Live online support is available on the site
http://www.youngagain.info/cgi-bin/product.cgi?id=1761

It is not clear if this site ships to Australia
http://www.youngagain.info/cgi-bin/d.cgi?page=info

==================================================


Site	Price USD     	Price AUD	Tablets per bottle	Price per tablet
1	  $32.40	44.74	          180  	     .18 USD   .24 AUD
2	  $35.00	48.40	           60	     .58 USD   .80 AUD
3	  $11.37	15.48	           90	     .12 USD   .17 AUD
4	  $13.95	19.00	           90	     .15 USD   .21 AUD
5	  $29.95 	40.79	           60	     .49 USD   .67 AUD



You can easily see that some sites offer cheaper prices than others.
You may want to consider ordering from Site #1, even though you may
get a better price on Sites #4 & #5, as Site #1 provides 180 capsules
per bottle, and the 180 count bottle may pass through the arbitrary
customs' rules.

Here is a currency converter for your convenience:
http://xe.net/

There you go, dizzyblond. I hope you find one of these sites can
supply you with your supplements. I don't believe a cheaper price can
be found outside of a sale in a brick & mortar pharmacy or by buying
in bulk. As a health care professional, I'd like to remind you that
supplements should never replace regular medical check-ups.
Beta-sitosterol may make you feel better, and may not harm you, but it
*can* mask prostate symptoms that provide valuable clues to your
actual condition. I urge you to get regular medical checkups for good
prostate health.

If this answer is unclear in any way, before rating, please use the
Answer Clarification button. This will enable me to assist you
furhter, if possible.

Regards,
crabcakes

Great answer from 'crabcakes', thank you muchly; however from the
wholistic perspective the 'management' function leaves a little to be
desired, to wit: this whole process took in excess of 5 weeks to reach
a conclusion, this, in my humble opinion was not helped by the vague
and almost unclear instructions given by 'management' when the
question went into the clarification process, including the
instruction to point the question at a particular researcher, which I
did with excellent results...but not knowing the relevant strengths of
the individual researchers - supposedly management does? - then I feel
this is not my responsibility or even my forte...also the fee
structure is a little ambiguous, again IMHO, it is almost impossible
to figure out how much time a researcher will take to address a
particular question from a non researcher/laymans POV...but no doubt I
will return, armed with the knowledge from this first encounter to
fight another day...blissings to 'crabcakes' and all, from the land
down under...Dizzy

Hi dizzyblond,

Sometimes people seem to have a little trouble with the question
asking process.  The price of the question is up to the customer,
based on what the customer wants.  If you are unsure about how to
price your question, look over this page next time you want to ask a
question:
http://answers.google.com/answers/pricing.html

All the questions asked go into a pool of questions, that is seen by
all the researchers.  Researchers often select a question they feel
they can answer well, and with a fee that makes answering the question
worth the time involved. If the fee is considered too low for the time
needed to properly answer the question, it may go unanswered.
Sometimes a researcher may take such a question, simply because they
are interested in it. Researchers receive 75% of the fee.

You may select a researcher, exactly as you did, or leave it open for
anyone to answer. Some repeat customers may like the work a certain
researcher has done for them in the past, and they may request that
same researcher for their next question.

I hope your next Google Answers will go smoother for you!

Regards,
crabcakes

Hi Crabcakes, and thank you for your latest comment, as you will have
noted from my last comment I have absolutely no problem at all with
your part in this, in fact I am delighted with your response et
al...my main criticism is with Google or to be more precise, that part
of Google which responds to my cries for help, to wit:..."...We would
recommend that you post a clarification inquiring what price
researchers would consider reasonable and what other information they
may need to answer your question"...this I did, but alas no answer was
the loud reply!!...and 'yes' I did read everything on the site prior
to asking the question, but there was no indication, anywhere to the
best of my knowledge, that I could request a particular
researcher...and 'yes' I do understand the pricing process, well
academically that is, but practically, well that as you and I have
seen, is a very different bucket of Wombats!...once again thank you
for all your input, please do not consume any more of your valuable
research time with this Digger and his pedantic MO - BTW can you get
tabs for severe chronic pedanticism??!!! - only kidding!!...blissings
Dizzy