10 Things To Research When Buying Chemicals Online

By Author: Rachel Stuart
Total Articles: 23
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There are many things to consider when aspiring scientists or students decide to take the step up from basic chemistry packs to purchasing individually selected bespoke chemicals. I have compiled these points from first hand experience of purchasing innovative research chemicals online. I have listed 10 things to check when you purchase chemicals for your home or laboratory research. Ignore them at your peril...

1. The first thing to check is that the supplier is knowledgeable in the field. Do they know their stuff? You need to be able to contact the website for help and queries and you need to know

2. Check that they can provide a product analysis. Any self respecting chemical supplier should be able to provide a product analysis for all of their catalogue of chemicals. One of the major dangers of purchasing research chemicals online is that you obtain poor quality chemicals or even worse you get the incorrect chemical formula which could end in disaster.

3. Identify where the company is based. Many of the cheapest manufacturers are based in India and China although shipping charges are more expensive ...
... and there is often a minimum quantity which may not be suitable for your experiments.

4. Do your research. This one is applicable for any online purchase. Check if there's any negative reviews online about the company first. Make sure they are trustworthy so you don't put yourself in danger.

5. Don't be seduced by prices!!! This point is covered in a couple of the previous points but it's easy to simply opt for the most cost effective option without taking other factors into consideration. Why are they cheaper? How much is shipping? are they balancing the finances by charging a fortune for the shipping?

6. Check your countries laws on the chemicals you are purchasing. Although it may be legal in some countries you may need a chemistry license to acquire these chemicals in your country.

7. Do your research on the chemicals you are purchasing. Popular chemicals such as 5-APB, 6-APB, Methoxetamine, Etizolam, MDAI, Methiopropamine etc may not be suitable for everyone. There is no one size fits all!

8. Speak to your peers. If you are a keen chemistry scientist, chances are you are member of a forum or read a chemistry related blog. Ask people who they source their research chemicals from. Word of mouth is the best form of advertising there is.

9. Contact the website before you purchase any chemicals. This is a big one. Either send a quick email or give them a call. Make sure you're not dealing with a poorly run company. This might also suggest a company who does not regulate their chemicals tightly enough. You also want to check whether the phone number works and that if you have any problems you can get hold of somebody.

10. Last but not least - listen to Google. Google know their stuff and if one website is top of page 1 and the other is down on the 12th page there's a reason for it. Traffic plays a large part in Google's decisions when deciding where a website should be placed in the rankings so the higher up Google they are - the more popular the website is. Now that's not to say that the more popular the website the better it is but it gives you an idea of how popular they are.

Just For Research is a website dedicated to supplying innovative Research Chemicals to aspiring scientists.