Ordering chemicals as a graduate student?

It really depends on how smooth of a talker you are, and what access you have to facilities. I would imagine that when dealing with a university, they would likely want to use a business account, or at least create one. They might even ask for federal tax id number, which you won't have, unless you just make it up, but it can be looked up with the IRS to see business information.

An accounts payable address? The business address for your business account.

Quote: Originally posted by JJay

An accounts payable address is where they send the bill and/or receipt. Most businesses will let you set up a cash account, which will let you do away with any nonsense surrounding your university's tax ID. There are lots of ways of explaining why you want a cash account; something along the lines of, "I don't have time to do all that paperwork right now," or "University policy won't let us establish a credit account for this project," that is both honest and doesn't go into too much detail is fine. I would think that as a chemistry grad student, you should be able to buy just about whatever you want from chemical suppliers. If you call up TCI and simply explain what you are trying to do, they will help you. [Edited on 19-1-2016 by JJay]

An experiment in social engineering at its finest. Don't know how much has changed in the last few years, but when I was in college I was successful in ordering from several mid-level companies - IE, not quite Spectrum or AE, but the ones that wouldn't ship to residential addresses - Simply by using my dorm and university email accounts. The logic was simple - All of the legitimate academic research was done through the major channels, and my method would stick out like a sore thumb to them - However, to a less-mainstream company, the "credentials" were almost always legitimate enough. Nobody is going to know that x department at y university orders with z account from xy research group at xyz location - however, just having set of numbers between x,y,and z is usually enough for them to say screw it, we're happy to take your money.

Your email accounts are worth their weight in gold as well. If you know how to leverage it, that @xxx.edu can get you loads of free parts samples and a leg-up in negotiating accounts and priveleges from innumerable sources. The same goes for non-university accounts - I created an email account over a decade ago that implies in its name that I am head of a chemistry department for a school district - As stupidly simple as it sounds, when I am asked to spell it out over the phone, and have to say ". . . as in Chemistry Department," the vast majority of people consider it legitimate. Need a school? Well, ship to XYZ "care of". . . Need a company? Same idea. Is it residential? Well, yes, technically, you've never heard of a business that exists residentially? And you know, we teachers spend a lot of money out of pocket, so ground shipment to my residence won't interfere with my classroom budget . . .

. . .Get creative and make sure whatever you decide to call yourself is tenable in the future. My business and job only exist in my head, but when you go back years later and reestablish ties, or just need the level-headedness to negotiate your way through something you shouldn't be able to do, it's all above board and they are the ones inconveniencing you. And again, if you are on campus, just try ordering straight to your dorm - odds are it'll work with few or no questions asked.