Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Chemical supplier that ships overseas

PyroPlatinum - 17-1-2019 at 14:29

Hi! Anyone know of any sellers that ship chemicals to other countries? And anyone here buys chemicals from outside like ebay? What should be my concerns?

[Edited on 17-1-2019 by PyroPlatinum]

CobaltChloride - 17-1-2019 at 14:42

The attitude post offices have towards chemicals ordered from other countries varies widely by nation. Many here (including me) have successfully ordered chemicals from onyxmet in Poland, eBay sellers in China and Limac in Latvia for example.

Your biggest concern should be to avoid ordering anything that could be considered illegal in your country. Even if your package only contains completely legal chemicals, the border officials might still consider it suspicious so I can't guarantee everything will go well.

morganbw - 17-1-2019 at 15:01

One item to be concerned with is that on occasion the received chemical is not what was ordered, just something that looks similar.
Do some sort of simple test, if possible, when you receive your chemicals for confirmation.
There are some good suppliers but I was scorched one time and I do worry that it will happen again.

PyroPlatinum - 17-1-2019 at 19:36

Quote: Originally posted by CobaltChloride  
The attitude post offices have towards chemicals ordered from other countries varies widely by nation. Many here (including me) have successfully ordered chemicals from onyxmet in Poland, eBay sellers in China and Limac in Latvia for example.

Your biggest concern should be to avoid ordering anything that could be considered illegal in your country. Even if your package only contains completely legal chemicals, the border officials might still consider it suspicious so I can't guarantee everything will go well.


I wonder if i would get arrested for just importing some chemicals that are not illegal here but can't find anywhere to sell, like chlorates and perchlorates. I mean, just in small quantities for some experimenting and pyrotechnic devices.
But unfortunately, some bad and dumb people do stupid things with chemicals, and as consequence, we, the people who want to use useful chemicals with good faith and responsibility for science or a bit of entertainment can't put the hands on!
Anyways. Gonna do more search on that so i don't get in trouble. But I'm still a little afraid.

PyroPlatinum - 17-1-2019 at 20:16

Quote: Originally posted by morganbw  
One item to be concerned with is that on occasion the received chemical is not what was ordered, just something that looks similar.
Do some sort of simple test, if possible, when you receive your chemicals for confirmation.
There are some good suppliers but I was scorched one time and I do worry that it will happen again.

Yes! It's really important to do a test first after it arrives to be sure you have bought something real and accurate to what the were claiming it to be.

Herr Haber - 18-1-2019 at 04:35

@Pyro: The chemical may be legal where you are but it may not be legal to ship !

Other than that, many (most?) sellers will sell internationally. Not so many will do it by the book.

zed - 22-1-2019 at 18:51

PP, I appreciate the common desire for anonymity. And, the bristling at an authority figure (our registration form) inquiring as to your country of origin.... Good Stuff.

However, if you won't tell folks where you are, no-one can possibly answer your legality questions.

Me? I'm in the USA.

A foreign supplier's willingness to ship me reagents, is a non-issue.

Importing a listed reagent, without a permit, is a serious crime. Importing ANY reagent, might attract unwanted attention.

I would rather purchase locally. Most chemicals can be acquired either by diligent search, or careful synthesis.

Glassware, on the other-hand...... Hard to beat China!

[Edited on 23-1-2019 by zed]

[Edited on 23-1-2019 by zed]

Abromination - 22-1-2019 at 18:54

Welcome to my world! If it can't be on a plane, I can't buy it!

PyroPlatinum - 22-1-2019 at 20:55

Quote: Originally posted by zed  
PP, I appreciate the common desire for anonymity. And, the bristling at an authority figure (our registration form) inquiring as to your country of origin.... Good Stuff.

However, if you won't tell folks where you are, no-one can possibly answer your legality questions.

Me? I'm in the USA.

A foreign supplier's willingness to ship me reagents, is a non-issue.

Importing a listed reagent, without a permit, is a serious crime. Importing ANY reagent, might attract unwanted attention.

I would rather purchase locally. Most chemicals can be acquired either by diligent search, or careful synthesis.

Glassware, on the other-hand...... Hard to beat China!

[Edited on 23-1-2019 by zed]

[Edited on 23-1-2019 by zed]


Brazil.
There are some chemicals that i can find here pretty easily, but there are others that it's almost like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Ammonium nitrate is one. But funny thing that Nitric acid you can indeed find.
Anyway. It's a shame that i can't buy some things from the internet since it would be like 3 times cheaper than buying it here....

PyroPlatinum - 22-1-2019 at 21:06

Quote: Originally posted by Herr Haber  
@Pyro: The chemical may be legal where you are but it may not be legal to ship !

Other than that, many (most?) sellers will sell internationally. Not so many will do it by the book.


That don't make much sense. If it is legal within the country why would not be able to arrive from outside? It's kinda weird.

woelen - 23-1-2019 at 02:59

Shipping certain chemicals may be hazardous. E.g. where I live, I can buy 37% HCl without issue, but it cannot be shipped by ordinary mail, due to its corrosive nature. So, I have to pick up the stuff at the seller's location.

Internationally, things may even be more strict. Many chemicals may not be shipped by airplane, others only may be shipped with special permissions, or when packaged in a special way (expensive!). This severely limits what you can buy overseas, even if the chemical itself is not forbidden.

Herr Haber - 23-1-2019 at 04:29

Let me give you an example:

Gallium is legal everywhere as far as I know.

Try to ask an air freight company if they'd like to transport gallium.
In an aluminium plane :cool:

Or more gruesome:
It's legal to shit in a box.
It's not legal to send that same box (and content) by mail.

(sorry for that last one)

DavidJR - 23-1-2019 at 04:49

Quote: Originally posted by Herr Haber  

Or more gruesome:
It's legal to shit in a box.
It's not legal to send that same box (and content) by mail.

(sorry for that last one)


Huh, I guess I'll have no choice but to let down my customers then...

zed - 23-1-2019 at 15:56

Ammonium Nitrate is available for agriculture. Lotsa places on the planet; sales are now monitored closely.

In years past, you could buy it by the ton; no questions asked.

An explosive. Cheap as dirt, and very popular in the construction of IEDs.

If you want to buy it outright, in Brazil, it may require a permit. Small amounts can be made, in the lab, at home.

No longer widely available in the USA, despite the fact that average Americans very seldom murder vast hordes of their fellow Americans, via massive bombs. In fact, Americans seem to be reluctant to murder each other en mass, via any means whatsoever.





wg48 - 24-1-2019 at 03:47

Quote: Originally posted by zed  
Ammonium Nitrate is available for agriculture. Lotsa places on the planet; sales are now monitored closely.

In years past, you could buy it by the ton; no questions asked.

An explosive. Cheap as dirt, and very popular in the construction of IEDs.

If you want to buy it outright, in Brazil, it may require a permit. Small amounts can be made, in the lab, at home.

No longer widely available in the USA, despite the fact that average Americans very seldom murder vast hordes of their fellow Americans, via massive bombs. In fact, Americans seem to be reluctant to murder each other en mass, via any means whatsoever.


If the last sentence was a joke its probably best to add LOL at the end else people will think your mad LOL.

XeonTheMGPony - 24-1-2019 at 04:36

Quote: Originally posted by wg48  


If the last sentence was a joke its probably best to add LOL at the end else people will think your mad LOL.


Statistics wasn't your strong suite was it?

This is part of the large problem we see now days, people unable to see actual trends vs amplified anomalies.