Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Elemental Scientific, LLC

beastmaster - 7-5-2010 at 10:57

Any one else do business with Elemental Scientific, LLC. I've dealt with them a few times and haven't been disappointed. They seem very legit and are geared to the hobbyist. They offer some hard to find chems in small quantitys(4oz to 16oz for example) at fair prices.
If I seem like a commercial it only because it refreshing to be treated fairly for a change.

mnick12 - 7-5-2010 at 12:42

I have dealt with them, only once though. And they seem legit but they need to work out a few kinks. I ended up ordering around 200.00$ worth of stuff in two separate orders. I began to worry after a week when they were still "processing" my order. So I shot them a few emails, no response then I sent one kindly stating that if both my orders werent shipped by the end of the week then I would cancel them. Then watta you know they next day I get an email stating they were both shipped! Amazing what people will do for money. The next week everything arrived except 16 oz of manganese carbonate, and in the box it said they did not have it in stock and when they did they would ship it. That was late march, so I am going to send them another email to see when they are going to get it "in stock".

Now what I have said may make them seem sketchy or something like that, but I have absolutely no reason to think they did any of that stuff on purpose I think it was just inevitable human error.

So yes I would recommend them to anyone

grndpndr - 8-5-2010 at 19:17

Been in buisiness decades im sure.I ordered chemicals from them almost a decade ago with perfectly satisfactory results.That doesnt help you for recent orders/inquiries but being in buisiness that long means something positive.:)

Chainhit222 - 8-5-2010 at 20:05

How is the quality of their ground glass glassware? The prices are very appealing.:o

Bromomethane - 26-8-2010 at 17:26

This is my first post, but i want to assure everyone that Elemental Scientific is indeed a reputable company. I live in Wisconsin so I have been aware of them for quite some time. I only wish they had a retail store in Appleton as well, so i could order away on nitric acid and pick it up locally, avoiding the hazardous shipping charges. On the downside, their processing and delivery times vary widely. I received one order after a few days and one after almost a month.

zed - 26-8-2010 at 19:32

When I was working at the Uni, we had a major supplier (VWR), that cheerfully took our orders, and then delivered our merchandise...........Whenever.

Months could pass, even years, while our desperately needed, "backordered" supplies, perpetually failed to arrive.

For bigger chemical suppliers, even a college order, is small potatoes. Some of them could care less if you ever get your materials.

It may be helpful to call ahead, and make sure they actually have your stuff in stock, before you place your order.

Getting ordered, and paid for, merchandise in a timely manner, is a NEWISH concept.

The small operators on e-bay, usually ship your things in a day or two. Traditional businesses are having to adjust to this new standard.

mnick12 - 26-8-2010 at 20:17

Yes they do take their sweet time,
Since my other post I have made a few other orders, and months later they still did not have my missing chemicals(16oz of MnO2 and 16oz of phthalic anhydride). And again after alot of emails they decided I was getting anoying enough that they finally decided to reply to one. They said that the suplier they order from is on back order so they will be to until God knows when.
I am not really bothered that they are on backorder, but what does bother me is on their website they do not list the out of stock items as out of stock.

So they are good supliers but they do take their sweet time.

crazyboy - 26-8-2010 at 20:18

After my very recent experience with Elemental I would not recommend them. Here is a time line of events of my business transaction:

7/28: I place an order on the website and pay with a credit card.

7/28: I receive an automated email from Elemental saying they got my order and the status is pending.

8/4: My order status still says "pending" I send an email saying asking whats going on.

8/5: A reply from Elemental says the shopping cart system isn't orking my order is being processed.

8/10: My order still has not arrived I send them an email asking where my order is. No reply.

8/12: I call the phone number on the website, leave a number and name. No reply

8/14: I call the phone number on the website, leave a number and name. No reply

8/17: I email them again, tell them I want a re fund or my order and if they don't I will spread the word they are unreliable.

8/17: I receive an automated email telling me my order has been updated to "paid" even though I paid weeks ago.

8/19: email them again telling them they've been ignoring me for days.

8/20: I receive a reply that they shipped my order, no explanation.

8/20: I receive an automated email my order was shipped.

8/24: My order arrives. Everything seems to be in order.


What a pain in the ass! Just a word of warning.


[Edited on 27-8-2010 by crazyboy]

zed - 27-8-2010 at 00:09

I don't know where you guys are, but in the US, my priority-mail shipping via the USPS, usually arrives anywhere in the country within two to three days of my posting it.

Services like Amazon, Half.Com, and E-bay........expect their merchants to ship the order off, within three days of receiving payment.

That clearly isn't the standard most businesses abide by.

Still, thirty days of delay, as wrong as it is, isn't a bad delivery interval, when compared to the completely non-satisfactory performance of some suppliers. When I mentioned long delays by major suppliers, I meant..........Looooooonnnnnnggggg!
As much as six months to a year, with no delivery, no refund, no apology, and no assurance that the order will ever be fulfilled. But your money? If you are a small account, it was Paid in full. Good luck ever getting it back!

Best to pay by credit card. Just tell your card company the stuff never showed up, and they will cancel the payment.



[Edited on 27-8-2010 by zed]

Mr. Man - 25-11-2010 at 11:09

I'm somewhat concerned about my order from Elemental Scientific. I ordered ~$30 worth of chemicals. One of them ... duh, duh, duh ... was 4 oz. of acetic anhydride. I'm just concerned that they took so long to process my order (several weeks; and they didn't "process" it until I sent an email concerning the issue).

I now see that that is probably normal. I am still feeling a bit paranoid though. Look at the power of the police state! Making me worry about 4 ounces of a list II chemical that is in the same category as acetone.

I hate this feeling.

Magic Muzzlet - 25-11-2010 at 11:32

I've had mixed experiences with this company, from orders arriving within 7 days to having to wait more than a month. It just seems they do what they feel like. If you dont mind waiting I would say they are reliable but be prepared to wait a while. I am convinced they only have certain items in stock at a time, and when someone orders something more obscure they need to order it in. Nevertheless I wouldnt use them, if they can't communicate properly and show the customer they are valuable I'll shop somewhere else. It is really annoying waiting for so long.

Magpie - 25-11-2010 at 13:12

My recent order of 4 chemicals was received in about 10 days. I consider that good as the UPS shipping time was probably 4-5 days.

I was concerned about the hazmat fees so called them up. They were cordial. All chemicals were shipped in one box and the fees and shipping costs were minimal.

Justin - 25-11-2010 at 19:19

Quote: Originally posted by crazyboy  
After my very recent experience with Elemental I would not recommend them. Here is a time line of events of my business transaction:

7/28: I place an order on the website and pay with a credit card.

7/28: I receive an automated email from Elemental saying they got my order and the status is pending.

8/4: My order status still says "pending" I send an email saying asking whats going on.

8/5: A reply from Elemental says the shopping cart system isn't orking my order is being processed.

8/10: My order still has not arrived I send them an email asking where my order is. No reply.

8/12: I call the phone number on the website, leave a number and name. No reply

8/14: I call the phone number on the website, leave a number and name. No reply

8/17: I email them again, tell them I want a re fund or my order and if they don't I will spread the word they are unreliable.

8/17: I receive an automated email telling me my order has been updated to "paid" even though I paid weeks ago.

8/19: email them again telling them they've been ignoring me for days.

8/20: I receive a reply that they shipped my order, no explanation.

8/20: I receive an automated email my order was shipped.

8/24: My order arrives. Everything seems to be in order.


What a pain in the ass! Just a word of warning.


[Edited on 27-8-2010 by crazyboy]


Ya i waited a month before my order shipped, but i didnt bother emailing them till the month ended because i heard about the slow order processing. One tip for ya, they don't charge your card till the order actually ships, even if you paid the day you ordered it! This almost sent me into the negative finacially, i had the money when i ordered but that cash wasn't available for spending when it shipped. I thought it already had been drafted out and proceeded to regard that bill as paid but boy was i wrong. And trust me they will draft that money out at the worst time! lol. Kinda sucks for those of us who are financially impaired (but isn't that all of us on here!!). Is there any cure for the bug? But i am gonna do buisness with them in the future for sure, my order arrived intact and with all the chems in good packaging and condition. But next time i might as well send a damn money order cuz i don't wanna let them take money outta my account on their time.

grndpndr - 2-12-2010 at 15:46

I would consider that a positive thing and ethical buisiness practice not charging your card until the orders actually sent.Thats how buisiness is supposed to work.Send a $ order
if you dont care if they hang on to your $ while you wait.

ldanielrosa - 11-12-2010 at 00:59

I went in prepared to wait. They send hobbyist quantities of cool stuff at fairly good prices for the size. That said my experience was not disappointing:

I sent in the check for the 'first estimate' which failed to include the hazmat fee (chromic acid). This was arguably their error, but I didn't feel like being a jerk so I asked them to substitute something else of similar value since the money was already in transit. The first package arrived in a couple of weeks, but was short three items with the explanation that they were out of stock on the rest. The hexane, KI and ammonium carbonate arrived a few weeks later without a second shipping charge.

So if you're in no hurry, don't need much, and can't get it locally they're okay.

flexandex - 18-12-2010 at 00:32

Anyone had experience with them shipping internationally?

Cavorite - 31-12-2010 at 03:35

I would also be very interested to hear of anyone who has placed an international order with this company. I am currently trying to place an order for some basic chemicals to be shipped to Australia but the online shopping cart is currently down it would seem. During account registration it allowed me to select Australia so I imagine that they will ship here - any information?


[Edited on 31-12-2010 by Cavorite]

mr.crow - 31-12-2010 at 10:18

I think we should have an Australian section for the forum

My understanding is Aus customs are evil and you shouldn't be trying to import chemicals

Cavorite - 31-12-2010 at 15:47

I just received the following response from Elemental Scientific which may be of use to those wishing to place orders from outside the US:

" The shopping cart is not configured for out of US orders. All of the
chemicals and some of the hardware items can not be shipped overseas. if
you have a specific request please enter it as an e-mail and we will be
happy to quote you shipping for the items. "

So my answer is no, I still haven't found someone able to ship hobby quantities of chemicals within or to Australia.

@ mr.crow - It certainly looks that way. After reading quite a few reports last night, it seems some states here are harder on Amateur Chemists than others however sourcing small quantities of Chemicals anywhere here is near impossible.

nitric - 13-1-2011 at 15:19

I recently ordered, and as for most people new to a source i think it would be best that on your first order don't order and list I or suspicious list II chems unless they are very common (e.g. Acetic Anhydride, Iodine/Iodides, Toulene), mineral acids should be safe. Save anything questionable for a second order.

The_Davster - 13-1-2011 at 23:17

They shipped to me in Canada about 5 years ago, but certain "hazardous materials" could not be shipped. If the extra shipping fee applies it will not go internationally, but some others will not as well.

The also shipped me a kimax beaker instead of a pyrex.

Other than that, no complaints. My experiences predate their shopping online feature.