Health: Popping too many vitamin pills is not only a waste of money but can be bad for your health.

Price: Paying more for a name brand won’t necessarily buy you better vitamins.

Storage: Vitamins lose their potency over time and must be stored at, or below, room temperature. If bottles are sitting on a shelf in warm room or in direct sunlight, they may degrade even before their expiration date.

Quality: 30 percent of multivitamins have a quality problem: the pills might have more or less of a stated ingredient, or they might not dissolve properly.

Reliability: Products sold by vitamin chains tend to be more reliable than drugstore brands, and Wal-Mart and Costco’s vitamin lines are usually worth considering.

Full story in The New York Times.