Sciencemadness Discussion Board

February Special Orders Due Sunday!

tomholm - 27-2-2015 at 13:33

Just a Reminder that Chemical Special Orders are due on Sunday.

Also, I would appreciate any feedback on the Special Order program. The number of these orders has declined in the last couple of months. Any particular reason? Everybody have the chemicals they need? Not able to offer the chemicals people need? Pricing?

Let me know if there is anything I should look into.

I should also add that we are now non-resident importers for Canada. I'm hoping that makes it much easier to ship to our Canadian friends by eliminating much of the confusion created by Customs charges.

Thx.

Tom

www.Elementalscientific.net, www.BMElabandscience.com

Etaoin Shrdlu - 27-2-2015 at 16:53

Part of my last order still hasn't come yet, is my reason.

mr.crow - 2-3-2015 at 20:07

Tom kicks ass, you will get your stuff

I have most of the hard to find things I want for now. Will eventually do another order.

careysub - 3-3-2015 at 15:13

I think it is natural that once this program opened, that there would be a flurry of orders for stuff that was otherwise practically unobtainable. Pent up demand and all that.

There are still items on the current special order list that I intend to purchase, but have had lower priority (and in some cases high costs).

blankets - 3-3-2015 at 15:43

I agree Tom does kick ass, I like the special order program lots. I just finished placing a small order a couple days ago.

As for why orders have slowed down I don't have a clue, wish that I did. I can tell you that for myself " a little goes a long way" what I mean is between work and all of the other things that life throws up for me and this being a hobby, I don't go through much reagents and what not, and of course when possible I try and recycle/recover what I can. I assume that you try and keep your special order chemical inventory low while also providing a reasonable price and variety. I'm sure that is a tricky balance too.
Anyhow appreciate your effort, and since Sunday is the deadline I will review the list again and place another order before time is up.

Loptr - 3-3-2015 at 15:58

I think it was possibly this past Sunday.

I have had a wish list for a while, but have been having to catch up after some hospital bills after the birth of my daughter. I have just about broken even, so I plan to submit an order soon, as I have been trying to duplicate a reaction from my college lab notebook and am missing a reagent or two.

@Tom, you might also want to try listing on eBay for marked up prices to account for eBays fees. It would get you more coverage.

I think you will have variable sales from month to month, which is attributed to this being a part time hobby to a lot of people. I haven't had much time as of late since it's pretty much been taking care of the kids after work, like right now as I'm watching them fight over a book. Lol.

Texium - 3-3-2015 at 16:08

I browse the special order chemicals every once in a while, and there's definitely a lot of great stuff there, but I don't have the money for them. I think the prices seem a bit steep, but I realize that it's probably impossible to get them much better since most are very nice, high-quality reagents and/or require hazardous shipping charges.

Also I'm an unemployed minor with no regular income, so I suppose they may seem more expensive to me than they do to others. But in another year or two I'll probably be interested in buying some.

Special Orders

tomholm - 6-3-2015 at 07:56

Thanks to everyone for the replies. Provides me with additional insights as to what's going on out there.

I just added one more to the website: Thioacetamide - 99+%, 25 grams. CHSO-47-25. http://www.elementalscientific.net/store/scripts/prodView.as...

Tom

gdflp - 6-3-2015 at 12:44

Tom, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to the prices of some of the chemicals you're selling? I realize that you raised the prices by 20% across the board last year, but I've noticed some have had a much more severe price increase than that. The two that I've noticed are potassium dichromate and sodium fluoride, both of which have more than doubled in price. Why such a large increase?

[Edited on 3-6-2015 by gdflp]

Chemical Pricing

tomholm - 6-3-2015 at 20:54

Quote: Originally posted by gdflp  
Tom, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to the prices of some of the chemicals you're selling? I realize that you raised the prices by 20% across the board last year, but I've noticed some have had a much more severe price increase than that. The two that I've noticed are potassium dichromate and sodium fluoride, both of which have more than doubled in price. Why such a large increase?

[Edited on 3-6-2015 by gdflp]


I guess I have a year of experience under my belt now. Hopefully, a little wiser.

I had a chance to review costs on my chemicals. Two areas stood out. For many of the small sizes, 1 oz & 4 oz sizes, the costs of product, packaging, and labor was more than the sales price. Second, the replacement cost for some of the chemicals had increased significantly since the last time they had been purchased. As a result, some prices had to be increased more than I would have liked. On the flip side, there were also a few that I was able to decrease. Prices on the larger sizes were affected to a much lesser extent.

I should also note that I have more options to control the cost of the chemicals that I keep in stock (as opposed to special order chemicals). Stock chemicals are more readily available from multiple suppliers and I am able to buy in larger quantities. I try to purchase Special Order chemicals in the size and quantity that I sell, because I do not know whether I will be able to sell any excess that I purchase and they tend to be more expensive and less accessible.

Hopefully, we can all appreciate the need for these changes. My goal continues to be to provide the best service and quality products to a diverse customer base, at a reasonable price, while staying in business! We will continue to offer sales and discounts to help hobbyists manage their chemistry budgets.

Lastly, I appreciate the questions and the opportunity to explain these changes. I believe we all share the common goal of expanding the availability of chemicals and promoting the advancement of chemistry.

Best of luck to all of us!

Tom

careysub - 6-3-2015 at 22:17

I have viewed the rising cost of chemicals at Elemental to be an inevitable result of rising costs/prices in our current environment. Unwelcome of course; I hate to see the price of something I have my eye on double over night, but we are fortunate to have a supplier willing to work with the hobby chemical community.

It is a business, but also in some substantial degree, a public service to scientifically minded citizenry who are a crucial part of modern science-based society, but have gotten steadily diminishing support over the past 40 years.

gdflp - 7-3-2015 at 06:40

Quote: Originally posted by careysub  
I have viewed the rising cost of chemicals at Elemental to be an inevitable result of rising costs/prices in our current environment. Unwelcome of course; I hate to see the price of something I have my eye on double over night, but we are fortunate to have a supplier willing to work with the hobby chemical community.


I completely agree.

And thank you Tom, I fully understand that it must be difficult trying to price everything fairly and I thank you for your continued support of our hobby.

tomholm - 9-3-2015 at 09:18

Quote: Originally posted by tomholm  
Thanks to everyone for the replies. Provides me with additional insights as to what's going on out there.

I just added one more to the website: Thioacetamide - 99+%, 25 grams. CHSO-47-25. http://www.elementalscientific.net/store/scripts/prodView.as...

Tom


I just added less expensive, lab grade versions of thioacetamide. CHSO-48-25, CHSO-48-100. You can check them out here:

http://www.elementalscientific.net/store/scripts/prodView.as...
http://www.elementalscientific.net/store/scripts/prodView.as...

Tom

Elemental March Madness Sale

tomholm - 17-3-2015 at 19:26

Elemental Scientific Sale


Hi All,

I just wanted to mention that Elemental is having a March Madness Sale - 15% off of everything until the end of the month. Code is "lucky15".

Also, Special Order Chemical orders for March cutoff date is April 4th. Please submit your orders by then.

Thx.

Tom
Elemental Scientific