Where do you buy your chemicals from?

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The discussion centers on the rising prices of chemicals and the challenges individuals face when purchasing them outside of institutional settings. Participants express frustration over significant price increases, such as from $45 to $85 for 125 grams of a chemical, feeling that they are being overcharged. There is a shared sentiment about the difficulty of sourcing chemicals as a private buyer, with many suppliers reluctant to sell due to potential liability and regulatory concerns. The conversation reflects on past experiences with chemistry sets and the changes in accessibility to chemicals over time, highlighting a nostalgia for a time when such items were more readily available. Participants also touch on the implications of government regulations and the impact of illicit uses on the market. Overall, the discussion emphasizes the complexities of pricing and availability in the current chemical supply landscape.
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what should the price of this be?
 

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Whatever people are willing to pay.

There are many suppliers, have you checked their prices?
 
well I bought it for $45 for 125grams then they raised the price to around $85 for 125grams, I feel like I'm getting ripped off. :H
 
I have had some diffculty finding places to buy chemicals as a person not affiliated with an institution. When I have found outlets that will sell chemicals, they invariably charge more. I have only bought pretty innocuous things: Zn and sodium hydroxide for making "silver/gold" pennies.

I am in the US.

Of course, it wasn't always like this. I had a pretty good chemistry set (Gilbert) when I was a boy, and you can read about Oliver Sacks buying a lump of sodium to throw into a pond when he was a boy in his memoir "Uncle Tungsten." All in all, I am probably happier that my 11 year old son cannot go and buy a lump of sodium from a store to play with.
 
Quantum Defect said:
I have had some diffculty finding places to buy chemicals as a person not affiliated with an institution. When I have found outlets that will sell chemicals, they invariably charge more. I have only bought pretty innocuous things: Zn and sodium hydroxide for making "silver/gold" pennies.

I am in the US.

Of course, it wasn't always like this. I had a pretty good chemistry set (Gilbert) when I was a boy, and you can read about Oliver Sacks buying a lump of sodium to throw into a pond when he was a boy in his memoir "Uncle Tungsten." All in all, I am probably happier that my 11 year old son cannot go and buy a lump of sodium from a store to play with.
Yeah, I still have my Gilbert chemistry set, and I think, a fair sampling of the reagents which were shipped with it. Pre-EPA, you could get away with a lot that you can't now. I think if the government could track down all these sets, everyone who had one would be sitting on a hazardous waste site at the least, if not a Superfund site.

Given the off-label uses for some of these chemicals, I can see why suppliers are not eager to sell to individuals, or charge high prices to discourage casual buyers.

The next time you have to undergo a background check to buy OTC cold remedies, thank a Meth head!
 
thankz said:
what should the price of this be?
"Should?" With or without the liability insurance for supplier, dealer, shipper, packaging, indestructible labelling? Finished product, common sodium salts? Pennies a pound for two nines. Three nines? Times ten. Uncommon anions? Times ten? Hundred bucks a pound.
 
can someone tell me where I can find an isomer of dimethyl ether cheap, I could start a chemical company and resell it for $100 a pound!
 
thankz said:
an isomer of dimethyl ether cheap,
Everclear goes for around ten bucks a pound. Not cheap, but half that is taxes.
 
I could even run my car on it :rolleyes:
 
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