eBeyonder, your second link doesn't seem to work for me.
It appears my luck with buying CPs is just awful. I bought the same nep as you did, eBeyonder, but mine was in much worse condition (don't remember seeing your nep on sale), and the seller refused to lower the price from $15.
My nep's pitchers are much more withered than yours, eBeyonder, so I wouldn't worry too much. I'm waiting to see if mine improves, if it doesn't then the soil may be suspect.
The nep is in some unknown substrate, with some perlite mixed in.