FAQ: How to Interpret a Vendor's PVS Score and Pillar Breakdown
A plain-English guide to reading the five score pillars, understanding score tiers, and knowing when a score should raise a red flag.
Dr. Sarah Kim
Head of Lab Verification
The Five Pillars at a Glance
Every vendor's PVS score is the weighted average of five independent sub-scores:
- •COA Verification (30%) — quality and authenticity of lab certificates
- •Purity Testing (25%) — confirmed purity levels versus industry standards
- •Reddit Sentiment (20%) — NLP-processed community opinions, shill-filtered
- •Vendor Transparency (15%) — responsiveness, documentation completeness
- •Order Experience (10%) — verified buyer reviews on shipping and service
What Score Should I Look For?
90–100 · Grade A+/A
Top-tier vendor. Consistent COA documentation, high confirmed purity, strong community reputation, transparent practices. Safe choice for most research.
80–89 · Grade A-/B+
Solid vendor with minor gaps. Might be missing a pillar or two — check which ones. Often a newer vendor building their documentation history.
70–79 · Grade B/B-
Acceptable but investigate further. Look at which pillar is dragging the score. A low COA score here is a significant concern.
60–69 · Grade C+/C
Meaningful concerns. We'd recommend checking the community sentiment and COA sections carefully before ordering.
Below 60 · Grade C- or lower
Major red flags in at least one pillar. Not recommended without independent due diligence.
Common Misreadings
"High purity but low COA score — should I trust the purity number?"
No. Purity is only as trustworthy as the documentation supporting it. A low COA score means the documentation itself is questionable. A vendor can claim any purity percentage — the COA pillar tells you whether we could verify it.
"Great community sentiment but low transparency — what does that mean?"
It usually means the vendor is popular but hard to reach or has incomplete information published. Worth a direct communication test before ordering.
"The score changed overnight. Is something wrong?"
Not necessarily. Daily score updates incorporate new Reddit mentions, newly submitted COAs, and fresh review data. A 1-2 point swing is normal. A sudden drop of 5+ points suggests a new negative signal — click through to the vendor's activity feed to see what changed.
Red Flags Worth Knowing
- •Any single pillar below 50 is a significant concern, regardless of total PVS
- •A COA sub-score below 60 means we could not verify the quality documentation
- •A sentiment score that swings wildly week-to-week may indicate review manipulation
- •Vendors marked "Pending" have no verified data — the score shown is preliminary only