What Medication Markup Means for a Med Spa
A med spa keeps the retail margin on platform-supplied medication. What changes is that the medication cost and the platform fee can arrive as one per-order figure, which hides the margin rather than shrinking it. Ask whether they are one number or two.
What is different about platform-supplied medication?
When you buy from a compounding pharmacy directly, you know the cost of the vial and you set the retail price on top of it. When a platform supplies the medication, the medication cost and the platform cost can arrive as one per-order figure.
That makes the margin harder to see, not necessarily smaller.
Which costs sit between the patient and your margin?
- The medication itself.
- Dispensing and shipping.
- The clinical review.
- Payment processing on the transaction.
- The platform's per-order charge, where it is separate.
How should markup be calculated?
Start from what the patient pays, subtract every cost above, and treat what remains as the margin per patient per cycle. The number that matters is the margin across a year of refills rather than the margin on the first order, because the first order carries the acquisition cost.
Why does the first order look worse than it is?
Because it carries costs the later orders do not. Setup, certification and the marketing spend that produced the patient all land once. A program judged on its first order will always look unprofitable, and one judged on twelve looks different.
What should be asked before signing?
- Is the medication cost and the platform fee one figure or two?
- Does the per-order cost change with volume?
- What happens to the cost when a patient skips a month?
- Who absorbs a reship after a delivery failure?
- Does the retail price you set affect the platform charge?
Does a higher retail price cost more?
No, on a per-order model. The med spa sets the retail price and keeps the difference, so raising it raises the margin without raising the platform cost. That is the main commercial argument for a per-order model over a revenue share.
What is the honest comparison with buying direct?
Buying direct gives a lower medication cost and leaves you holding the pharmacy contracting, the dispensing, the shipping, the clinical coverage and the payment account. A platform charges for removing those obligations.
The comparison is those obligations priced in your own staff hours against the per-order difference, and most med spas find the second number is larger once the hours are counted.
What figures should be used?
Your own. Medication costs and platform fees move, so confirm current figures with the platform and your pharmacy rather than working from a page. Treat any published number as a starting point to verify, not a rate card.
Does a med spa keep the markup on platform-supplied medication?
Yes. The med spa sets the retail price and keeps the difference. Aesthera charges a flat monthly fee for the clinical, pharmacy and payment layer, so the margin does not shrink as volume grows.
Is the medication cost separate from the platform fee?
It varies. Some platforms combine both into one per-order figure, which makes the margin harder to see. Ask which model applies before signing.
Should margin be judged on the first order?
No. The first order carries setup, certification and acquisition costs. Judge the margin across a year of refills instead.
Does raising the retail price increase the platform cost?
Not on a per-order model. The med spa keeps the retail difference, which is the main argument for per-order pricing over a revenue share.
What happens to cost when a patient skips a month?
On a per-order model nothing is charged for a month with no order. Ask whether a minimum applies.
Is buying direct from a pharmacy cheaper?
The medication cost is usually lower. The comparison is whether it offsets the pharmacy contracting, dispensing, shipping, clinical coverage and payment work you then own.
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