You can buy almost anything on Amazon these days, so you can probably buy your CBD oil from there too, right? After the passing of the 2014 Farm Bill, CBD extracted from hemp plants became legal at the federal level. If it’s legal now, and producers are allowed to sell it, you’d think you could probably purchase it from Amazon. You will certainly get a ton of results if you type “CBD oil” into the Amazon search field, but buying it is not that simple.
Amazon Policies
CBD is a restricted product according to Amazon’s drugs & drug paraphernalia policy. According to Amazon’s terms, sellers are not allowed to sell CBD oils or any other CBD products within their marketplace.
Excerpt from Amazon’s policies:
Help > Program Policies > Restricted products > Drugs & drug paraphernalia
Drug listings must comply with Amazon policies:
Listings for products containing cannabidiol (CBD) are prohibited, including but not limited to:
- Full spectrum hemp oil
- Rich hemp oil
- Products that have been identified as containing CBD by LegitScript
CBD Search on Amazon
If you search for CBD oil on Amazon, you will get thousands of results. Nearly all of them look the same as what you’d see when shopping for CBD from any other online cannabis or hemp product retailer. If you can’t sell CBD on Amazon, why do so many CBD products appear in the search results? Look a little closer at the products and you’ll see that none of them actually specify their products contain CBD. They will be listed as hemp oil, hemp extract, hemp blend, or some other similar name that informs you the product is made from hemp but not that it contains CBD.
Can You Actually Buy CBD Oil on Amazon?
It is possible that you can buy CBD oils on Amazon, but it’s very tricky and often incredibly confusing. Due to Amazon’s terms prohibiting the sale of this substance, sellers have to get sneaky about how they’re selling and it makes it incredibly difficult for the average customer to be sure they’re buying exactly what they’re looking for.
What’s the Difference Between CBD Oil and Hemp Oil?
If you even attempt to look for CBD oil on Amazon you really need to understand the difference between CBD oil and hemp oil. The terms sounds very similar but they can mean very different things. Hemp extract CBD oil is made from the flowers, leaves, and sometimes the stalks of hemp plants, which contain the cannabinoid CBD. Hemp oil, on the other hand, typically refers to hemp seed oil which is extracted from hemp seeds using a cold press process. Hemp seed oil is still very good for you and it’s loaded with healthy fats but it doesn’t contain any CBD.
Hemp Oil and Hemp Extract on Amazon
When shopping for CBD products from an online cannabis marketplace or a CBD producer, the product names and descriptions are usually very clear. They will state how much CBD is in a product, they will specify if it is derived from hemp, and they will indicate if the product contains any THC and if so, how much. If you attempt to shop for CBD oils on Amazon, the sellers cannot be specific about this important information because they aren’t supposed to be selling CBD on there in the first place. They cannot describe their products accurately without the risk of being reported. In many cases, “hemp extract” may refer to a genuine CBD product, but it could also refer to hemp seed oil that is being marketed to look like CBD oil.
Clues a Product Might be CBD Oil
There are a few terms and clues that you can look for if you’re willing to take the chance on buying a hemp product on Amazon. The first one is that it may be called hemp extract instead of hemp oil. However, this is no guarantee, because the oil made from hemp seeds is still technically a hemp extract product but it doesn’t contain any CBD whatsoever.
A few keywords that are typically used for CBD oils also include “whole plant extract”, “entourage effect”, “full spectrum”, and “terpenes”. A seller might even say that their product has third party lab reports, and this is typically used for CBD oils rather than hemp seed oils.
CBD oils should have the mg of CBD listed and on Amazon, they may just list mg and not specify mg of what. This could be a clue that it’s referring to the mg of CBD in the bottle, but it could also just be some misleading advertising that actually refers to the mg of oil in the bottle rather than actual CBD.
If a product states it was made with a CO2 extraction process it’s quite possible it is a CBD oil. Hemp seed oil is produced through a cold press process, which is very different from the CO2 extraction used to remove CBD from the plant material.
Clues a Product is Probably Hemp Seed Oil
A product that said it was cold pressed or refers to being made from hemp “seeds” rather than any other plant material is almost definitely a hemp seed oil and will not contain CBD. If no amount of mgs is listed then it also probably does not contain CBD. A dead giveaway that a product is hemp seed oil is it if comes in a large bottle that some type of cooking oil might come in. CBD always comes in small tincture bottles, usually glass, almost always with a little dropper included in the cap.
Should You Buy CBD From Amazon?
Can you buy CBD on Amazon? Possibly, because some sellers may have their products listed in a sneaky enough way to fly under the radar. Should you buy CBD on Amazon? Probably not, unless you know for sure the product contains CBD and you trust the seller. Because CBD production is not regulated, it’s easy enough for CBD producers to sell something other than what they’re advertising, and that applies to any marketplace. On Amazon, they can’t even openly describe their product, making it even more difficult to know what you’re buying.
If You Choose to Buy CBD on Amazon
Unfortunately, not all CBD producers ship to the states that have stricter cannabis laws and not all areas have access to cannabis dispensaries. If you’re trying to purchase CBD online and can’t find a producer to ship to you, Amazon may be one of your only options. There are a few ways you can increase your chances of buying a legitimate, quality product.
Reading the questions and reviews from other Amazon customers can sometimes be helpful. You can usually find quite a bit of discussion on what the product contains and whether or not a customer found it effective. This info isn’t always reliable but you may find a few more clues in these sections.
You can also reach out to the seller and ask specifically if their product contains CBD . They may not want to reply on Amazon directly but a lot of sellers also have a company website you can visit. They may have more info listed on their website or you may be able to communicate via their direct email. Don’t be afraid to ask for third party lab reports. The best CBD producers should have nothing to hide and should have no problem showing you exactly what’s in their product.
Best Place to Buy
The best way to buy CBD is always going to be directly from a producer who is legally allowed to sell their products, can advertise transparently, and can provide third party lab reports. Those who are selling on Amazon are violating Amazon policies. There may even be some sellers who are trying to sell hemp seed oil under the implication that it’s actually hemp extract CBD oil. Not everyone can buy their CBD products directly from the producer though, so if you attempt to shop on Amazon for CBD oil, put in some serious research, scrutinize everything you read, use your best judgement, and hope you get a product that actually contains CBD.
