How We Rank Sources
Every rating on Steroid Radar follows the same transparent formula. No paid placements, no hidden negatives removed on request. Here is exactly how we compute each score.
The Formula
A source's overall rating is a weighted combination of two inputs from each user review:
- Star ratings (70% weight) — the average of four sub-scores (Quality, Service, Delivery, Pricing), each on a 1–5 scale.
- Recommendation (30% weight) — whether the reviewer would recommend this source. Yes counts as 5/5, no as 0/5.
We then apply a Bayesian prior of 3.5/5 weighted at 15 virtual reviews. This prevents a single 5-star review from propelling a new shop above established ones with dozens of consistent reviews. As more real reviews accumulate, the prior’s influence fades.
Which Reviews Count
Not every review goes into the score. We apply two filters:
- Freshness window. Only reviews from the last 6 months contribute to the star/recommend average. A source that was great three years ago but has gone dark should not coast on old praise.
- Brigade filter. If a review has 10+ community votes and more than 80% of them are downvotes, it is excluded from the calculation. This blunts coordinated attacks and obvious fakes without silently deleting them.
Hidden reviews (removed by moderators for spam, doxxing, or off-topic content) are also excluded, but the total review count shown on each page reflects every visible review, not just the ones the formula uses.
Sub-Scores
Every review breaks down into four independent 1–5 sub-scores:
- Quality — accuracy of dosing, product purity, labeling.
- Service — responsiveness, problem resolution, communication.
- Delivery — speed, packaging, successful arrival.
- Pricing — value relative to what comparable sources charge.
These are shown as averages on each source page so you can see, for example, that a shop has strong Quality but weak Delivery — information a single overall number cannot convey.
When Ratings Update
A source's rating recalculates the moment any of these events occur: a new review is submitted, a review is edited, a review is voted up or down, or a moderator approves, hides, or un-hides a review. On top of that, every source is re-scored in a nightly job at 03:00 UTC to catch age-outs from the 6-month window.
Editorial Independence
Source owners cannot pay to raise their rating, lower a competitor's rating, or have negative reviews removed. Verified owners can respond to reviews publicly, but cannot delete them. Moderators remove reviews only for policy violations — never for a bad rating on its own.
Rank numbers (#1, #2, #3…) on the catalog are derived strictly from the overall rating above — no manual reordering, no featured slots.
Questions or Corrections
If something about a source's profile looks wrong — out-of-date info, misplaced manufacturer, incorrect region — open a review or get in touch. Everything is versioned, and corrections propagate into the next nightly recalc.