Inside the Strange World of Peptide Group Buys

A multi-part series about the peptide world's unregulated gray market

If you’re reading this, then you probably already know which peptides have been approved for human use by the FDA. As is frequently the case for cutting-edge pharmaceutical compounds, peptides have entered the clinical world as treatments for serious diseases: e.g. semaglutide for diabetes management (Wegovy, Ozempic), teriparatide for osteoporosis (Forteo), enfuvirtide for HIV (Fuzeon), and so on.

And more likely than not, you also have a sense of the peptides that haven’t been approved by the FDA, but are nevertheless being buzzed about everywhere online. Maybe you’ve heard of retatrutide, the Eli Lilly-manufactured GLP-1, GIP, and glucagon triple agonist designed to assist patients with weight loss, sleep apnea, and osteoarthritis. The fact that it’s still in a number of Phase 3 scientific trials hasn’t stopped TikTok influencers from promoting it as a miracle drug under the just-barely-indemnifying codename “ratatouille.” Or maybe you’ve seen musclehead Reddit users enthusing about the deadlifting miracles made possible by the “Wolverine stack,” a combination of BPC-157 and TB-500, both experimental peptides with limited peer-reviewed data in humans.

It wouldn’t require a massive leap of deduction to conclude that the wellness influencer on TikTok and gymbro647 aren’t medical researchers who’ve acquired their peptides for the purpose of setting up a rigorous, placebo-controlled empirical study to determine a given peptide’s long-term clinical efficacy. So where are they getting their research peptides?

The answers are multifarious. Given the consent of the patient, there are situations in which licensed clinicians can legally prescribe experimental peptides as part of a given health protocol. One can always become part of a study, or seek a specific dispensation through a trusted compounding pharmacy. But of course all these things require time, oversight, and – most crucially – money.

While money doesn’t exist in limitless supply for all of us, it’s safe to say that the desires for health and longevity do. And wherever a demand arises, a supply chain is sure to form.

For gray market peptides, the strangest supply chain comes through the world of “group buys” (GBs) on messaging apps like Telegram, Discord and WhatsApp. Spearheaded by organizers with the resources to purchase peptides in large quantities from foreign vendors, GB members congregate on messaging servers in order to split the cost of the peptide kit purchase and the independent materials testing. GBs promise peptides that would have cost thousands or been otherwise impossible to find for prices as low as $200. It seems like an ideal option for the non-millionaire peptide user – but does it come with a cost?

The answer is yes, and a high one. GBs are the digital wild west of the peptide world, as full of schemes, scams, and cults of personality as they are of earnest buyers and sellers. And for anyone interested in the considerable research potential of peptides and their value to the medical and scientific communities, it’s worth taking a moment to understand the social and economic implications of GBs, and the “peptide craze” they’ve helped fuel.

Peptide Research, Done Cleanly — Peptide Partners. Independent HPLC/MS, batch COAs, and endotoxin screening to USP <85> validate identity and purity of peptides for research. Browse inventory and view certificates at Peptide Partners.

Part 1: The Supply-Side Gap

For Em¹, it started at a local med spa: a 2.5 mg shot of tirzepatide to facilitate weight loss and inflammation reduction. The weekly shot cost $150, and was compounded not by Eli Lilly but by an independent compounding pharmacy. The compounding pharmacy had added B12 to the shot to avoid legal repercussions from the pharmaceutical manufacturing heavyweight, whose sales of injectable tirzepatide under the brand names Zepbound and Mounjaro totaled over $16 billion in 2024 alone.

The protocol was immensely effective. Within a couple weeks, Em told me, they “started seeing weight loss, and no more ‘food noise’” — the colloquial term for the clinically observed phenomenon of excessive rumination about/preoccupation with food. “My skin looked better, I felt less puffy, and I felt more stable overall – like my body was functioning more smoothly instead of constantly playing catch-up.”

Em wanted to keep up the tirzepatide protocol, but without having to pay $600/month and make the trip into the office every week. They researched independent compounding pharmacies like HERS and FRIDAYS that also manufacture tirzepatide injections and sublingual tablets, but those proved out of their price range as well.

Like many who’d benefit from the anti-inflammatory and stress-reduction properties of peptides, Em works a mentally and physically demanding job in the service industry. And while they aren’t struggling financially, the high price points of peptides like tirzepatide – sold by FRIDAYS in injectable form starting at $240/month before taxes, shipping, and any other add-ons – place regular access to the compounds out of their reach, and out of the reach of countless other Americans in positions similar to theirs.

“I kept looking for a more direct route,” Em told me via email. “I knew there had to be a cheaper, better, more self-sufficient way of acquiring the tirzepatide.”

Like many an internet native with a complex research question, Em took to Reddit. There, they were linked to vendor sites like Peptide Sciences, Core Peptides, and BioLongevity Labs. The peptides these manufacturers were selling had the advantages of being synthesized in the U.S. and boasting independently verified Certificates of Analysis (COAs) with purity levels in excess of 99%. The only problem was that these manufacturers stipulated their peptides were for research and scientific use – not human use – in accordance with FDA guidance and oversight. Em wasn’t a researcher, and even if they were willing to fudge the truth and pretend to be one, the price point was still far too high.

And then it came: an invitation via a Reddit thread to join Peppys, a chat server billed as an “exclusive peptide community.” Em accepted, and found themself plunged into a vast international network of peptides being bought, sold, and traded. They were impressed by the possibilities: “It opened up a whole new world…within a group of people just like me who had started [taking peptides] within the past year, as the Eli Lilly GLP-1s started coming out.”

Em began digging around on the Peppys server, taking note of what they found. The messaging channels were numerous, and seemed to keep proliferating. Admins had compiled whole digital libraries of documents to help users stay abreast of the latest research, with categories like “Incretin Memetics,” “Bioregulators,” “Other Peptides,” “Testing and Manufacturing” and “Health and Wellness.” There were channels to vet foreign peptide vendors – the vast majority were Chinese – and countless fora to discuss changes in health and appearance over the course of individual peptide-use journeys.

Scientifically minded and genuinely eager to learn more about the chains of amino acids that had positively impacted their health and others’, Em became an active participant on Peppys. Soon enough, they started receiving invitations to join Discord servers hosted by GB organizers. The group buy was at last on the table, and the prices were right: $400 for a 10-vial kit of 30mg tirzepatide vials. (Just one year later, that price has now dropped to $100.)

So Em started digging again, searching for transparent organizers offering quality products from well-vetted vendors. But what they found was more like a group of mini-cults run by a faceless battalion of mean girl cliques and low-ranking cartel members.

In Part 2 next Friday, we’ll take a plunge down the GB rabbit hole and learn more about the growing – and potentially dangerous – unregulated gray market for peptides.

1. Pseudonym.