Young Living know that producing the highest quality essential oils start long before the cap is put on the bottle. That's why their proprietary Seed to Seal process is the foundation of everything they do. With five careful steps, they make sure only the best products bear the Young Living mark of quality.
Here are a couple of examples on how new companies will be able to get that price per bottle down to make it cheap for you.
1. They buy plants from farmers on the cheap. You should ask the question then of "How do you get cheap plants?" Your local farmer could probably answer that one. Spray the plants with chemicals to keep bugs off and weeds out so you don't have to pay people to tend the fields. So, it stands to reason that if the farmer is tending to his plants with sustainable growing and harvesting methods that their product would be more expensive. If the company selling the oil doesn't have control of the farm growing their product, you shouldn't buy from them.
2. They purchase their distilled oils from companies that dump in chemicals during the distillation process. Distillation is the process of getting the oils out of the plant. As you know, time is money so speeding up the time it takes to get the oils out of the plants can be done by adding chemicals. The chemicals can also draw out more oil from the plant material. Companies that do this don't realize that distillation is serious science. Without the science, you actually change the way the oil works AND you can actually cause harm to the human body. Altering the chemical constituents of the oil will change the way it works for you as well. When the distillation process isn't correctly monitored or completed correctly, the oil will not work the same as properly distilled oils. If the company selling the oil doesn't distill the oil themselves, you shouldn't buy from them.
3. Adulteration is another method commonly practiced to 'stretch' the essential oil. This is where the company adds a carrier oil like grapeseed, fractionated coconut, jojoba or another oil to extend the essential oil to increase the amount of oil they have to bottle. Would you be happy to pay half the price for a Pepsi only to find out that only half of the syrup was used? Yuck! Adulterated oil will not give you the same 'action' as a pure unadulterated oil. Sometimes you'll have to use 4 - 6 drops of a cheap oil to get the same result as only one drop of a pure essential oil. Not really as cheap as you thought. If the company dilutes their oil, you shouldn't buy from them.
4. There are some companies that will tell you their oils are wonderful then say "Not for topical use". This is a RED flag that should say STOP!!! Why would you even diffuse this oil? The essential oil makes its way into your system when it is diffused. If the oil says you should not use topically, that should suggest to you that it is adulterated and probably laden with chemicals. If the company's oils say "Do Not Use Topically", you should not buy from them.