If you’ve ever used an online pharmacy platform to get a prescription filled, you’re in good company. Millions of people do it, and trust in these platforms has been growing steadily. In fact, 62% of users of online pharmacy platforms say they trust some or all online pharmacies more now than they did in 2023.

That trust makes sense. Most well-known platforms are convenient, affordable, and legitimate. But the industry has a serious problem with bad actors, and illegitimate sites are getting harder to spot. They look like the real thing, but many require no prescription, no licensed provider, and no pharmacist review whatsoever.

A new survey of 1,024 online pharmacy users, conducted by Centiment on behalf of TelyRx, reveals widespread misconceptions about how these platforms are regulated. These critical misunderstandings, particularly regarding Food and Drug Administration approval and prescription oversight, could make it difficult for consumers to spot rogue sites and put them at serious risk of falling for a scam.

Key Takeaways

• Users of online pharmacies widely misunderstand FDA approval. Most strikingly, 59% incorrectly believe vitamins and supplements are FDA-tested or approved. This is the category respondents most often got wrong, even though supplements can legally reach the market without notifying the FDA.
• Most users (76%) assume a licensed medical professional signs off on their medical information. While this is true on legitimate platforms, thousands of rogue sites that look legitimate may have no pharmacist or provider involved at all.
• 64% of users have never doubted the safety of medications they’ve ordered online, but verification habits vary. Among the minority who have doubted their medications, price was the most commonly cited red flag — 42% grew suspicious when a deal seemed too good to be true.
• Trust in online pharmacies is growing: 62% trust these platforms more than they did in 2023 due in part to their firsthand experience (36%), a sense of increased regulation (35%), and provider recommendations (34%).

FDA Approval Is Widely Misunderstood, Including Which Products Skip It Entirely

While there is a general consensus that FDA review keeps medications safe, the survey reveals that consumers are often unclear on how that process actually applies to what they order online.

In fact, younger generations showed a complete factual reversal of how products are actually regulated, believing vitamins are more strictly vetted than vaccines:

• Millennials: 67% believe vitamins are FDA-approved, compared to just 53% for vaccines.
• Gen Z: 66% believe vitamins are FDA-approved, compared to 53% for vaccines.

Baby Boomers and Gen X respondents showed the opposite pattern, expressing greater confidence in vaccine regulation than in supplement oversight.

This is a critical misunderstanding of regulatory boundaries. The FDA regulates supplements as food p

Most Americans searching for housing in Europe start by avoiding platform fees. It feels like the smart move. Why pay to search when expat Facebook groups, local classifieds, and free listing sites are a Google search away? What that calculation consistently underestimates is the cost of the alternative. Illegal broker fees, deposits well above legal limits, and wire transfers for apartments where the keys never show up are not edge cases in the European free rental market. They are documented, recurring patterns that hit international renters, and Americans in particular, with reliable frequency.

For U.S. renters searching from thousands of miles away, that unfamiliarity is exactly what fraudsters count on.

This guide from HousingAnywhere documents what Americans actually lose searching for European housing before they arrive, and what a safer search looks like.

Free platforms, real losses

The instinct to avoid platform fees makes sense, especially for Americans accustomed to free rental search tools back home. Why pay to search when Facebook groups, local classifieds, and expat forums exist? But the free rental market across European cities operates in a way that makes that calculation more expensive than it first appears.

Fraudsters target Americans specifically because they have three qualities that make them ideal victims: urgency, distance, and unfamiliarity with how European rentals work. An American who needs housing before their start date, who cannot visit a property before committing, and who does not know what a normal German, Spanish, or Dutch lease looks like is exactly the profile a fraudulent listing is designed to reach.

The financial damage is not theoretical. Tenant organizations, universities, and housing advocates across Europe document consistent patterns of what international renters, including Americans, actually lose. Brokers charge Illegal agency fees equivalent to one month’s rent, despite being prohibited in many European markets. Administrative fees of 100 to 400 euros for paperwork that either does not exist or is legally required to be free. Deposits demanded at levels well above legal ceilings, with some landlords requesting three, four, or five months upfront, knowing that Americans have no frame of reference for what is normal. Direct transfers of 300 to 1,000 euros or more via wire transfer or foreign bank accounts for listings where the keys never arrive.

Wire transfers to private individuals in another country carry none of the dispute protections that American credit card users take for granted. Once that transfer clears, the money is gone.

Against those numbers, a platform fee looks different.

Why a barrier is a feature

The most common objection to verified rental platforms is that the fee is an unnecessary cost on top of an already expensive international move. What that view misses is what the fee actually does to the ecosystem on the other side.

Fraudsters operate on volume. They post free listings across as many channels as possible because the economics of the scam depend on reaching large numbers of people at no cost. A platform that requires identity verification, bank account confirmation, and listing approval befor

Traditional promotional merchandise underperforms at industry events, with attendees retaining minimal brand recall from low-cost novelties. Businesses are shifting to larger-format, high-impact branded materials to address this ROI challenge and extend engagement beyond the event, Bagmasters reports.

Engaging Attention and Influencing Memory

The argument that larger-format, creatively designed branded materials have a greater effect on attracting the attention of event attendees and improving subsequent recall of a given company is backed by research. One study in the Journal of Retailing confirms that merchandise that is unique, bespoke, sustainable, and artistic rather than just commercial, enables brands to establish an identity and build stronger relationships with target audiences.

In terms of scale, bigger branded materials also hold sway over attention and recall. A study from The Journal of Vision proved that visual salience (size, contrast, and surface area) directly dictates automated attention capture. Larger physical objects bypass conscious processing and are processed immediately by the visual cortex, forcing the brain to register the stimulus before an individual even consciously decides to look at it.

Brands are learning that tiny, disposable event novelties generate minimal brand recall, so strategies are shifting toward larger visual real estate, such as custom tote bags emblazoned with logos and slogans. When these marketing materials are disseminated at trade shows or consumer expos, other attendees pay attention to them in the same way they would a static billboard.

Implementing Ownership to Extend Engagement

The shift from inexpensive, ineffectual event marketing materials to merchandise that bolsters brand recall and offers some utility to attendees has advantages beyond the conference center. Physical items like branded shoulder bags, reused over extended periods, double susceptibility to future brand interactions compared to media-based marketing alone.

The evidence for this doubling comes from a BMJ Open paper, with the focus here being on susceptibility to alcohol use among young people with branded merchandise from alcohol brands. While the report’s aim is primarily to draw attention to the problems that alcohol brand marketing materials can cause for young adults from a drinking perspective, the findings are nevertheless relevant to demonstrating the wider impact of branded merchandise in other contexts.

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The cost of landlord insurance for a small office building in a quiet suburb could look very different from a mixed-use property downtown. There’s no single price tag for landlord insurance costs because of the numerous factors insurers use to calculate a policy premium based on your rental property’s specific age, construction, location and level of risk. The best way to know for sure exactly what you’ll pay to insure your property is to get a free landlord policy insurance quote online in about 10 minutes.

When we talk about landlord insurance, that’s not usually a single policy. Protection for landlords (often called lessors in insurance terms) and their property is often a combination of different types of coverage to cover different risks, such as liability, property damage and loss of rental income. This aspect of insurance for your rental property can make pricing look very different from one property owner to the next.

ERGO NEXT broke down what tends to affect insurance pricing, the types of coverage many landlords carry and a few practical ways you may be able to keep costs in check.

What factors affect landlord insurance costs?

Insurance companies primarily look at two things: the property itself and the amount of coverage you seek. That’s why two landlords with similar-looking buildings can end up paying very different amounts for insurance.

Sometimes the difference comes down to location, while other times it’s the tenants, the building’s age or a history of previous claims. Generally, properties that have more opportunities for damage, lawsuits or expensive repairs tend to cost more to insure.

Here’s a look at some of the biggest factors that can affect commercial landlord insurance costs:

Which types of business insurance could commercial landlords benefit from the most?

A couple types of business insurance are the best fit for many commercial landlords. These include:

Business Owner’s Policy (BOP insurance)

For many commercial property owners, a Business Owner’s Policy, also called BOP insurance, is the first policy they buy.

A BOP combines two important types of coverage into a single policy that’s often more cost-efficient than buying two separate policies.

1. General liability insurance. This coverage could help cover medical costs for non-employees injured in your property, property damage claims for damages to property that doesn’t belong to you and some legal costs. For example, if a visitor slips in your building’s parking lot or other common area, or suffers an injury and needs medical care and then files a claim, this coverage could help cover some of the associated medical costs and legal fees that might follow.
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