Fake Kirkland Signature Minoxidil?

[leoshueh]

I recently noticed a customer feedback to an Amazon seller complaining its selling of fake Kirkland Signature Minoxidil. Details of the feedback are shown in the following pictures






On the official site of Costco, the picture of Kirkland Signature Minoxidil is shown as follows



Notice that the one marked "FAKE" in the second picture the brand name "Kirkland Signature" is surrounded by a white column, while the picture on the official site does not have such white column. My question is whether the one with white column is fake or not. Or it's simply an updated version of label for Kirkland Signature Minoxidil and it is not yet widely known to the consumers?

[mrclean]

Did you notify Kirkland?

[funkville]

i got some kirkland minoxidil from ebay and i have the exact same bottle as the fake one. i was thinking the same thing

[mrclean]

I use the Equate brand from walmart..very good quality and cheap.

[leoshueh]

Did you notify Kirkland?

Not yet.

[funkville]

i bought some more kirkland minoxidil from a seller with high transactions and feedback on ebay. it arrived and was the same labelling as the bottle titled fake. I dont know any sellers based in the uk which has the original labelling. what made me question weather they have changed the labelling is they pictures on the auction was the original labelling.

[JakeG]

Hey everyone,

The Tl;dr is that the labelling has changed and so it is not fake Kirkland Minoxidil.

The longer story:

I saw this thread and decided to contact Costco to confirm whether or not the Minoxidil pictured was legitimate as I was considering purchasing it when I came across this thread. First I contacted their customer support but after querying it they said that I would need to contact the manufacturer Perrigo to ask them about the packaging and whether a change had occurred. I sent Perrigo the picture of the packaging but they said they would require the lot number found on the bottle to know for sure if it was legitimate and if the packaging had changed. At that point I decided to bite the bullet and purchased some Minoxidil from Minoxidil Direct online, waited for the package to arrive and then sent the lot number to the customer service team.

They very quickly confirmed that it was legitimate, that Costco needs to change the packaging shown on their website and provided a copy of the new package design in an image that must have been taken from their mock ups that matches the bottle labelled "Fake ?" and the label on the bottles that I have.

It's always better to be careful and to warn others if there could be a risk but I thought it was important to inform people that in this case there is nothing to worry about.

[leoshueh]

Hey everyone,

The Tl;dr is that the labelling has changed and so it is not fake Kirkland Minoxidil.

The longer story:

I saw this thread and decided to contact Costco to confirm whether or not the Minoxidil pictured was legitimate as I was considering purchasing it when I came across this thread. First I contacted their customer support but after querying it they said that I would need to contact the manufacturer Perrigo to ask them about the packaging and whether a change had occurred. I sent Perrigo the picture of the packaging but they said they would require the lot number found on the bottle to know for sure if it was legitimate and if the packaging had changed. At that point I decided to bite the bullet and purchased some Minoxidil from Minoxidil Direct online, waited for the package to arrive and then sent the lot number to the customer service team.

They very quickly confirmed that it was legitimate, that Costco needs to change the packaging shown on their website and provided a copy of the new package design in an image that must have been taken from their mock ups that matches the bottle labelled "Fake ?" and the label on the bottles that I have.

It's always better to be careful and to warn others if there could be a risk but I thought it was important to inform people that in this case there is nothing to worry about.

Thank you for your clarification.

[sifu]

this is scary. I've been using the cheapest kirkland brand stuff on ebay for years. Minoxidil is cheap as dirt? So don't know of any real reason why somebody would hassle with selling knockoffs. Does anyone know if this is a known issue I need to look into more closely? Any proven examples or rip off minoxidil?

[Ptre2407]

I recently noticed a customer feedback to an Amazon seller complaining its selling of fake Kirkland Signature Minoxidil. Details of the feedback are shown in the following pictures






On the official site of Costco, the picture of Kirkland Signature Minoxidil is shown as follows



Notice that the one marked "FAKE" in the second picture the brand name "Kirkland Signature" is surrounded by a white column, while the picture on the official site does not have such white column. My question is whether the one with white column is fake or not. Or it's simply an updated version of label for Kirkland Signature Minoxidil and it is not yet widely known to the consumers?

I recently purchased this product from a well-reviewed eBay vendor and it looks like the bottle labeled fake ; they seemed factory sealed but I'm unsure of what this product should look and feel like. What I have has the consistency of rubbing alcohol, maybe very slightly more viscious, and it seems to be transparent. Is this in line with genuine Kirkland 5%?

[mcqueen99]

I am definitely sure there are fake minoxidil on ebay. I was down to my last Costco store bought bottle so I ordered a 6 pack from ebay. Upon receiving it I cracked open one and used it and immediately noticed I did not get the itch or redness that I normally experience...I had to be sure so I tried the store bought one and sure enough I felt the itch and noticed the redness on my scalp. I tried the other 5 bottles and got the result as the first. I'm sure the ebay stuff is fake. It kind of irks me because this is not the first time I've ordered from ebay, I may have been getting scammed for a couple of years already. If it wasn't for the side by side comparison I may not have noticed.

[mcqueen99]

Update:
I ordered the Member's Mark brand minoxidil (Sam's Club) from ebay, it arrived today. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but these are made in the same outfit as the Kirkland brand. So I suspect these are either totally fake or severely watered down, either way they're a waste of money. Both brand are made in Israel with identical bottle marking, label and the date and batch font is also identical. I tried the Member's Mark and it also did not induce itching and scalp redness like the original Kirkland stuff made in Canada. FYI...Israel is among the top ten countries for counterfeit drug manufacturing. Whoever said Minoxidil is not worth faking is wrong...30 bucks for 6 bottles of alcohol and perfume is a good scam. I think in the meantime the only way to be sure is to buy the foam that's made in the USA, it's more expensive but at least we can be sure it will work like the original stuff. If you have a source for a brand of generic made somewhere (that's not fake) else please let me know.

[jolanruan]

Dear all,
I have the same problem as yours and I decided to contact Perrigo.
After giving them the pictures and lot Number of my bottles, I got the answer from Senior Support Product Specialist - ESM of Perrigo:

Thank you for providing the pictures of the product. According to the lot number on the bottle this product was manufactured for Costco. Unfortunately since you did not purchase it from Costco we are not able to authenticate the product. We can only guarantee our products that are purchased directly from store in which they are manufactured for. Since this was purchased from a third party seller we do not have a way to guarantee the product. Although, I can confirm that the label does match the labeling that is on the Costco bottle. I did not notice any deviations on the bottle that you have. Should you have any additional questions feel free to contact us back.

Therefore, there are no problems with the label. That's just their new labelling.


FYI
Hope this helps.

[leoshueh]

Dear all,
I have the same problem as yours and I decided to contact Perrigo.
After giving them the pictures and lot Number of my bottles, I got the answer from Senior Support Product Specialist - ESM of Perrigo:

Therefore, there are no problems with the label. That's just their new labelling.

FYI
Hope this helps.

Can you show us a picture of your label? Tks.

[ncdm]

Doubt fake minoxidil is really frequent

I doubt fake minoxidil is frequent. I read it was cheap to manufacture. Also, maybe buying some real minoxidil for reselling is probably easier than creating fake minoxidil with a good looking outfit.

I ordered some minoxidil on ebay, and it seems to be effective (even for unwanted facial hairs). (doesn't proove anything I know)

But I also would like to be able to check if it is fake.

I know nothing about chemistry, but as kirkland signature minoxidil normally only contains alcool, propylene glycol, water and minoxidil, maybe (tell me if it is a dumb idea) one could do a half-check like this (I haven't tried):
-let a drop of minoxidil 5% liquid evaporate on a plate (the alcool, propylene glycol and water should evaporate).
-observe if some remaining crystals are forming.
-(I am unsure of this step because in the link, it seems minoxidil is in alcool only) observe if the shape of these crystals are similar to the ones pictured in the pdf (or the page itself) found on this page https://patents.google.com/patent/WO2014122436A1/en. (probably page 19, 20 and 21 for the pdf version)