Are the vitamins counterfeit?

Odd, last year i bought over arond 60 separate cartons in my suitcase... got checked by security and nothing more said. No taxes nothing

I shipped nasal spray, Ibuprophen and some tobacco last month and this month.  The tobacco in both shipments I can't buy here.  Last time they grilled me and my freight forwarder had to send customs my last airline ticket showing arrival, copy of m passport and  entry stamp.  They asked for prescriptions but I don't have any for the OTC stuff.  Got that shipment released to my freight forwarder after a day or two.

This week I finally got the second shipment out of customs.  They wanted everything above and then said I couldn't use the same ticket again.  I explained that I hadn't left because of COVID.  They also said I needed an import license for the tobacco and prescription for the meds.  Since these were simple OTC meds there is no prescription.

After a week hounding my freight forwarder I got an email that I had to go down to customs and see if I could work it out.  Met with the customs agent and gave her my passport with 500,000 in it.  She actually didn't take the money and made me write a letter stating all of the information on the package, what was in it, value, etc and sign that it was for personal use and not for resale.  She also said the limit on tobacco was 250g when the website says 500g without duty.  She said she would approve it but to not do it again.

They also knew I brought in basically the same shipment the previous month.  I only sent it again now even though I didn't need everything because I had a shipment already coming from my company back home so I don't incurr any shipping costs and I'm going to be here probably until end of year before I go home again.  I probaly won't bother with it and just get by on what I can find here.  Too much hassle to go to customs.

Thanks for the replies. Jlgarbutt, it's totally different bringing stuff in with you in your luggage when you arrive, and having stuff shipped from a company abroad. Totally different policies.

Stein, I'm sure you can get nasal spray and ibuprofen here at most pharmacies, no need to bring them in from the states.

Back to vitamins, I could see how they might want to fake famous brands like One-A-Day or Centrum, but Kirkland is not really a famous brand, so that might argue in its favor that it's real.

One more point, the websites in VN that sell Kirkland and other supplements say that they guarantee they are authentic and will refund you 300% of the price if they are fake. Like you could prove they are fake. That just makes me more suspicious.

Some of the offers, I think on Shopee and Lazada, have pictures of the Import Certificates. But those would be easy to fake, too.

Depends on the carrier you use, i have advised others on bringing in medication with no issues. Rather than use postal services i eould get whoever is going to send them to you to take them to TNT or DHL. Make sure they produce an itemsied list and values

Make sure they also marm the carton with you name and address.... contact nunber. The more infk the better.

Proof of sale ie sales receipt would be beneficial

The reason for the low cost could be the same reason as to why do medicine costs less in Asian countries than they do in the US? Some could be counterfeit but it could be that it doesn't cost that much to produce and the manufacturers don't pass along the research/advertising costs to Asian countries but pass it along to the US consumers.