Sciencemadness Discussion Board

SM Business Opportunity

careysub - 10-9-2015 at 21:04

I just stumbled across a good opportunity for the chemically minded entrepreneur to make a little money on eBay - as a supplier of "Cheshunt Compound".

Cheshunt Compound is an inorganic fungicide that prevents "damping off", fungus growing on roots of new plantings. It consists of 15% copper sulfate and 83% ammonium carbonate and was sold by Bayer until quite recently, which discontinued it. There a fair number of gardeners who are upset at not being able to get it.

And there is someone selling (remnant?) Cheshunt Compound for $11.45 (including shipping) for 10 grams.

That's a dollar a gram for drain root killer and baker's ammonia, and these are pretty innocuous chemicals to traffic in.

The cost of making this would be essentially the cost of the ammonium carbonate, which I see for $13.50/lb, or 3 cents per gram. Offering 100 grams for $10 would be quite feasible.


You could do some gardeners a favor and make a little money

byko3y - 11-9-2015 at 03:25

It's a huge market of things that some people want to buy because they are stupid or because nobody is willing to sell the stuff. Something like succinic acid is sold for 10 cents/5 gramms, while 1 kilo of it costs 1$. 20$ for selling 1$ stuff.
For example, some time ago I was looking for vanillin, and I could not find it - it's either 2 grams or 25 kilos.

aga - 11-9-2015 at 07:54

In such circumstances people can make large sums of money.

The ones that buy the 25kg already knowing they can sell it all tend to succeed.

The Volatile Chemist - 11-9-2015 at 13:16

I always go for the 25g :)

aga - 11-9-2015 at 13:36

Do the 25kg and learn the art of Selling.

You get to keep the 25g you want.

Others get the 25g they want.

You also get a bundle of $ to spend on Chinese glass or Polish reagents !

Win, Win, Whinny, Win all the way.

Velzee - 11-9-2015 at 13:53

Quote: Originally posted by byko3y  
It's a huge market of things that some people want to buy because they are stupid or because nobody is willing to sell the stuff. Something like succinic acid is sold for 10 cents/5 gramms, while 1 kilo of it costs 1$. 20$ for selling 1$ stuff.
For example, some time ago I was looking for vanillin, and I could not find it - it's either 2 grams or 25 kilos.


On kilogram of succinic acid is around $30 on eBay... And 500 grams costs around $80 on Carolina Biological...

[Edited on 9/11/2015 by Velzee]

aga - 11-9-2015 at 14:09

There seems a bit of interest in Making Money generally at the moment.

Anyone intersted in knowing How that is done ?

Zephyr - 11-9-2015 at 15:18

Yes please aga, teach me this art!

aga - 12-9-2015 at 05:23

Here's a couple of things i've knocked up to help anyone thinking of starting a business :-

Attachment: How to Start Making Money.docx (15kB)
This file has been downloaded 451 times

Attachment: BizPlan.xlsx (20kB)
This file has been downloaded 411 times

The word document is my ramblings about how it should be done, and the excel spreadsheet is a simple cashflow calculator to tell you if the business can work or not.

Personally i sell services which have a cumulative sales element rather than Products. The spreadsheet would need adjusting for that kind of business.

The Volatile Chemist - 13-9-2015 at 14:51

Nice. I meant to say 25 kg, minor mistake.. :) One should read Excuse Me Sir, Would You Like To Buy A Kilo Of Isopropyl Bromide? by Max Gergel, before starting a business :) Aga, ever read it?