You’ve likely watched your fellow kratom enthusiasts name-drop Sage Wisdom Kratom online. If you live in Southern California, you’ve probably met people who have picked up kratom from this backpack vendor.
Although it was once popular, the brand has had its ups and downs. There is certainly a better time to give this one the benefit of the doubt. See what we mean in today’s comprehensive vendor review.
Sage Wisdom Botanicals, AKA Sage Wisdom Kratom, was a Santa Barbara herbalist known for its pure ethnobotanicals. Salvia’s Divinorum cuttings and kava were among its most coveted products, but its kratom powder was another significant draw.
This herb shop opened its doors in 1989, making it the oldest kratom vendor in the United States. For many years, Sage Wisdom Botanicals maintained a brick-and-mortar store on Calvary Road. Then the internet came along and changed everything, for good or ill.
If you visit the brand’s online store today, you’ll see nothing has changed since its humble beginnings. This vendor’s e-commerce platform looks like it was designed when Erowid was in its infancy… because it was. Owner Daniel Siebert never bothered to give the site a modern overhaul.
Siebert conducted online business via a P.O. Box, treating its internet operations like an old-school mail-order service. Patrons could send cash, check or money orders, and await order fulfillment for as long as it took for Siebert to get around to it.
Other payment options were eventually accepted, including ApplePay, Dwolla, Google Wallet, PayPal, PopMoney, Square, Venmo, and Zelle. This seller did not offer a money-back guarantee nor provide third-party lab results. USPS (United States Post Office) was the only available carrier.
Sage Wisdom Kratom stocked a wide range of prized herbs, beans, spices, and oils at the height of its powers. They included Cacao Beans, Ceremonial Copal Resin, Dream Explorer’s Herb, Kava, Red Poppy Flower Petals, Sacred Blue Egyptian Lotus, Salvia Divinorum Seeds, Salvia Divinorum Plants, and White Sage (Salvia apiana).
Unsurprisingly, kratom was among its most popular offerings. Sage Wisdom carried Wild Kratom, freshly harvested kratom. This Indo Kratom was available as a coarse grind or fine powder. An “Instant” Water-Soluble Kratom Extract was also offered. Additionally, live kratom plants were stocked.
This is another area where the world moved on and left this vendor behind. While industry heavyweights were reducing their prices to satisfy the financially devastated, Siebert and company were charging $40 for an ounce of kratom powder.
For comparison, Mitragaia charges five dollars for an ounce (approx. 28 grams), while Amazing Botanicals charges $5.99 for 30 grams. Others charge around $10 per ounce, with the incentive to order bulk kratom to save money on each ounce.
Sage Wisdom charges $70 for two ounces (55 grams), which is more than what most online vendors charge for a ½ kilo (500 grams). It also charged $125 for four ounces, which is what one would typically pay for a kratom kilo (1,000 grams) in pre-pandemic America.
This vendor wanted a whopping $225 for eight ounces or $400 for 16 ounces. These prices are obscene by any metric. Many e-commerce sites offer kilo bundles (2-5 kilos) for under $400.00. For example, Oasis Kratom offers a five-kilo bundle for just $275.00.
Over the years, this brand received hundreds of likes and followers on social media. However, there needs to be more consumer reviews on verifiable platforms. Google reviews are nonexistent, and the search engine lists the company permanently closed.
The Daniel Siebert Sage Wisdom story is a missed opportunity and old-school stubbornness. If Siebert had spent more time engaging with customers on social, he might have weathered the economic downturn. Moreover, Siebert could have done his best to lower prices and respond to emails.
As it stands, public comments about this brand revolve around what was wrong with it. One reviewer said, “I placed my online order for tincture in mid-December, got the automated confirmation, and sent them a check for the order. The check was never cashed, and I never got any response to my email inquiries about the order.”
Eight months later, this user received a message from USPS Click-n-Ship, informing them that an order was on its way from Sage Wisdom. “A few days later, I had my tincture. The check has still not been cashed. The tincture is remarkable, much better than quidding (I’ve never smoked and don’t intend to). I will write a thank you to Sage Wisdom and encourage them to cash my check. Well worth the money.”
Other users were not so lucky; the vast majority of reviewers who placed an order in 2022 have yet to receive an acknowledgment of their order. Their payments were never processed, and their packages were never sent. We now believe this kratom vendor may be permanently closed.
MIT45 is the polar opposite of Sage Wisdom Kratom in every way. About the only thing they share is a mutual passion for exotic herbs. MIT45 Kratom has been around for more than a decade. This Utah-based supplier has set a new standard for raw kratom leaf and rich kratom extracts.
As of this writing, users are going bananas for its trailblazing MIT GO Black Extra Strength Kratom Gel. This one-of-a-kind extract contains a diverse blend of sweet and spicy kratom potentiators, including cinnamon and black pepper. A squeezable two-serving pouch sells for only $11.95.
Colorado’s #1 kratom supplier is also its premier source for GMP-certified kratom powder. Unlike the subject of this review, New Dawn offers a plethora of disparate kratom strains, including Green Horn, Red Dragon, White Maeng Da, and Yellow Vietnam.
New Dawn Kratom offers free shipping on orders of $39.99 or more. More importantly, kratom kilos are always on sale, with a standard key selling for just $79.99. You can score a two-way split for $80 or go wild with a four-way kilo for $85.00.
In summary, Sage Wisdom may or may not be taking orders now. But if you value affordability, purity, and transparency, we urge you to shop around.
