Excellent Cyprus online pharmacy

[Devil]

Came across the following Cyprus online pharmacy tonight while looking to buy a difficult to find dental product. Really impressed with. Many goods are discounted; the one I wanted was normal pharmacy price less 20%. You also get a €5 discount on your first order on value over €59 and I also got free ACS delivery to either my home, or could collect from an ACS office.

If you buy the same products on a regular basis from a pharmacy you may wish to bulk buy here like I did. The website was a dream to use.

https://www.parapharmacie.com.cy/en/

Notice the name of the company with the prefix para. This is not a pharmacy by any definition, as far as I can make out. Our American friends would call this a drugstore, and they don't deal with drugs, either. A pharmacist must have 3 to 5 years University study and experience, just to know what a product is likely to do at given doses. Actually, I think it clever of them to use the prefix because it could get them out of a load of legal problems.

[Dominic]

And don't moan when your local pharmacy closes down because of online competition. You won't be able to ask anybody for advice then.

[Kili01]

Not sure about this outfit. I can usually get what I need without going on line. Shops like Ikagora, Polis Rd and the Euro Shop in Gereskipou usually have a few pharmacy items. But I wouldn't buy prescription drugs from any where but a proper pharmacy.There are so many to choose from...

Dee

[Enigma]

There aren't any prescription drugs on there that I can see. It looks like a Boots / Superdrug type online store with things like vitamins, cold/cough remedies and insect repellants etc.

[Kili01]

Which is more or less what the stores that I mentioned are selling.....

[sunspot]

HIC, we appreciate the recommendation. Thank you.

[Dominic]

And don't moan when your local pharmacy closes down because of online competition. You won't be able to ask anybody for advice then.

What a remarkably Luddite view. There are probably more pharmacies than coffee shops in Cyprus and if pharmacists' margins are sufficiently robust to cope with the overpopulation which exists in that sector, then they have nothing to fear from a small number of online retailers.

And if you take that view, then I suppose you equally disagree with any of us using Amazon, Next online, John Lewis online, online toner cartidge vendors and online clothing retailers? The high street retailers who have most come a cropper in recent years are those who are not masters of online shopping. The ones who combine both have done well. There are many small enterprises who have done remarkably well by virtue of having a strong online as well as physical presence.

Pharmacies will always exists in physical form, because they do an incredible job of giving advice when it comes to minor ailments and in dispensing drugs. But when it comes to beauty products, make-up, suncreams, dental products, baby needs, vitamin pills etc, why should any of us feel guilty about buying online? On my recent purchase I paid €54 for goods which would have cost €84 in a high street pharmacy. Had I requested, the goods would have even been delivered to my front door F.O.C. Equally we buy toner cartridges in bulk online for much less than we would pay a high street vendor; should I feel guilty about that?

I am genuinely surprised by the hostility shown by some to the recommendation I submitted because I thought it might benefit others. With a few exceptions it appears I wasted my time.

Buying from Next or Amazon is a completely different thing altogether. As you yourself acknowledge, Pharmacies do an incredible job of giving advice. They do this because the staff have to be qualified. There is no such requirement for selling you a pair of pants or a new TV. Good God, the amount of bull I've been fed over the years by people trying to flog hifis etc is unreal.

But exploring that line a bit more, let's look at camera shops. You used to get bespoke camera shops which would be staffed by people who loved cameras and knew what they were talking about. Ok, you would get the occasional teenager fresh out of school who was learning the ropes, but you would usually be able to find somebody in there who could talk knowledgably about the various bits and bobs that came with a camera.

The camera shop is pretty much extinct now, because people buy online instead. In the case of the camera shop. it is pretty easy to do your own online research. But it is still a pain if there is something wrong with the kit you buy. You cannot just return it to the shop. Especially in a small island like Cyprus, it is a monumental pain in the neck. But, that is the price society as a whole, well, the camera-buying portion of it, choose to pay.

But chemists perform a function that it is impossible to replicate online. Researching your ailments online is a rabbit hole which can take you anywhere. If we cut off their income stream, then they will not hang around just to dispense advice. They will cease to exist. They cannot increase the price of the medicine, as that is fixed by the Government. So they will have no option but to close.

[trevnhil]

I wish they would proliferate between Paphos and Polis, Maybe in Polemi or Stroumbi to serve all the inland villages

[PolemIan]

Change the title of the thread to “excellent online Cyprus retailer” and you have a completely different conversation. Probably more akin to what I suspect HIC intended, ie for non prescription products, many of which are available in ‘non pharmaceutical retail outlets’ all over the island.

Ian

[Kili01]

Trev, it's indeed surprising that no pharmacist has seen a good business opportunity. You would think that Polemi would already have one. Here in Chloraka we have no less than 4 of them!
I remember when the Pharmacy first opened in Tala, just after a doctor who had been practicing in that village moved out.. However the Pharmacist there has built up his business and now seems to be busy..
Dee

[memory man]

Here in Chloraka we have no less than 4 of them!

Dee

That got me thinking!

I can only visualise 3.

1. Next computer SOS
2. Opposite petrol station
3. Opposite corner to Aspro dentist.

Put me out of my misery pls.

Where's number 4?

[trevnhil]

Christos on the coast road and Elani on the left going into Paphos

[Kili01]

Oh, I forgot about the one of the Coral Bay Rd! Which together with the 4 in the village makes 5 pharmacies. Yet they all stay in business.

Dee

[memory man]

Is Christos the pharmacy at St George traffic lights?

Where exactly is Elani pharmacy?

[trevnhil]

I'm sorry I think it is ELANA. It on the way out of the village on the left as you travel to Paphos, almost opposite Coffee island . Sorry I can't do better than that, I believe there are a lot of shops there and it is a busy area

[jonjo]

The reason that there are so many Pharmacies (and electrical shops) is that the manufacturers provide the stock free of charge up front - low start up costs.