I guess Shkreli was good for something after all.
[0]https://martinshkreli.substack.com/p/mark-cubans-pharmacy-no...
But his first example, for example, is that they claim a 90% discount but are actually 60% of the goodRx price.
The goodRx site is weird - it looks like a coupon site, where you go to other pharmacies and give them a coupon. I know this is exactly how goodRx works, but it doesn't exactly inspire confidence when you're buying something as serious as prescriptions. The Cost Plus Drugs site is extremely spartan, but it doesn't give off the same weird vibes as goodRx - there are less steps involved. You just order from Cost Plus Drugs and it shows up in the mail, no in-between third party involved.
Pharma charges goodRx less because it's market segmentation - they're assuming many goodRx users would otherwise just suffer without and thus generate no profit.
Some people speculate goodRx subsidizes prices by selling data. I don't find their analysis convincing as they don't explain how goodRx has data meaningfully more valuable than the data pharma already buys from other sources like pharmacies.