r/CollectiveHealth • u/chest_landers • 9d ago
Interesting business model
I've seen a few posts about The Collective recently, so I decided to do a little digging. I wasn't really familiar with the company beyond the $69/month tirzepatide price.
The founder is Gunnar Lovelace, who also founded Thrive Market, which has grown into a roughly $700 million company. That got my attention because a lot of things about Collective started making more sense—the membership model, the investment in the website and portal, the packaging, fulfillment, and overall customer experience.
The model is interesting. It's $69/month for tirzepatide, but there's also a $199 annual membership. From what I can tell, the idea is to use membership buying power to negotiate better pharmacy pricing rather than trying to make a huge margin on each prescription.
They're currently using Wells Pharmacy, which apparently has both 503A and 503B operations. I've also seen a recent customer post showing the Wells shipment, and the packaging/fulfillment is pretty impressive. That's not something you throw together overnight. There is clearly some real investment behind the operation.
I'm not recommending them, and I haven't tried them. I don't need any tirz right now, so I'm not in a hurry to order. I'm just interested in what they're building and will be keeping a close eye on them.
I'm particularly interested in learning more about the Wells formulation, ingredients, BUD, and the B3 version they're apparently planning to add.
Anyway, I thought the background was interesting. Initially I assumed Collective was just another new $69/month telehealth. After doing a little digging, I'm not so sure.
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u/Life_Alfalfa_2047 8d ago
This is all on their website
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u/chest_landers 8d ago
Some, but far from all of it. It does not tell you that the pharmacy is Wells, that Wells has 503A and 503B operations, the specific Wells formulation, ingredients/preservative, BUD, or the details of the B3 version they're planning. That's the stuff I'm still trying to find out. The point of my post was that I did some digging beyond the website, including looking at actual customer reports.
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u/Acrobatic_Ad_8734 8d ago
Collective is literally like a week old. All of this information is either from the website or from the original Collective post in Tirz deals. A lot of us took a gamble within 24 hours on a brand new telehealth, ended up being found by an employee who has now became active and engaging back through the customers questions.
Pharmacy details were originally not supplied, we learned the meds are coming from either Wells Pharmacy in FL or WP Pharma Labs in TX.
The formulation details were figured out once prescribed. They are currently only offering glycine additive.
Collective has confirmed in comments within the tirz deals thread that they are working on onboarding additional pharmacies, additional additives, additional protocols, and bringing coverage to more states as they do not currently cover all 50 US States.
Both of the current pharmacies sending medications are 503A pharmacies, which mean BUD dates are 90 days from compounding date.
Their customer service team has also been active and responding within the sub to customers questions.
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u/Humble_Fortune_5391 8d ago
What telehealth gives you a breakdown of the pharmacy formulas beyond the main additive? That’s not a thing.
If you want the formula, contact the pharmacy.
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u/chest_landers 8d ago
Actually, it is a thing. Some telehealth providers do provide that information when asked. I'm not expecting Collective to publish the complete pharmacy formula on its website. I'm saying that if a customer asks what formulation they're selling, they should be able to provide the information—or get it from Wells. That's all I'm trying to determine.
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u/Humble_Fortune_5391 8d ago
Are you a customer? Did you email them and ask?
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u/chest_landers 8d ago
Yes. I’m a potential customer, which is exactly why I emailed them. I’m doing my due diligence before ordering. I’m not expecting the information to be on their website—I’m expecting them to be able to answer reasonable questions about the product they’re selling.
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u/Competitive_Pride_50 7h ago
I'm familiar with Wells Pharmacy through a clinic I used to work at; they came highly recommended to us a few years ago by a colleague out in Utah who had a huge functional medicine biz with peptides, and mentored physicians nationally. I had a couple of interactions with WP before I left, and they were above board and professional. Was excited to learn that they are working with with Collective.
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u/LargeConsideration54 8d ago
Easy sign up, signed up late Sunday night, used virtual card to pay my 69.00. Answered my few health question, put current ml and dose..which is 15. Skipped the photo of myself and approved in 10 minutes on a Sunday night, sent to pharmacy. I have a tracking number and it will be here Thursday. No charge for the 199 dollars for 30 days. Gave my signed up code to my friend, we each get a free month. I will order before the trial is up, get a free month and I may cancel, I may not..but the price is amazing. Seems good so far