RogueRose
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Registered: 16-6-2014
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Feasibilty of using or selling large quantites of specific chemicals/compounds
I've been searching lots of auction sites over the last year and have come across some amazing deals where various chemicals/compounds/elements have
sold for penny/ies on the dollar. I missed bidding on a 14,000lb lot of 98%+ ACS grade KMnO4 that sold for $100! The biggest issue with this would
have been the transport as I beleive this would have been a hazmat issue but at that price (and the relatively short distance of 350 miles) it could
have made a very nice return to pay for some good equipment and chems (among other things).
Another auction was a battery & capacitor manufacturer that was selling bulk graphene and sub micron carbon (Activated I believe, whatever is used
in the company). The price was about $1 per $1000 retail value (price the drums sold for from manufacturer) of the product when it sold but at 2ton
to 4ton, it was a lot to manage with questionable uses and resale value.
Currently I was looking at some CuSO4 and we all know that this might be one of the most useful copper salts as well as sulfates that there is and has
many uses in chemistry and household/farm/pond/etc so this seems like it may be versatile enough to be able to find buyers for medium sized quantities
(from 10-100lbs). Unfortunately it is no where near the deal of the two above it is still much lower than the price for the scrap value of the copper
alone (if a replacement reaction were done).
I've looked at a number of sellers on Ebay for different compounds, especially when I was looking at the KMnO4 and found a large number of sellers for
prices ranging from $10-20/lb for ACS grade and pricing of $5/oz or $7-8 for 2-4oz and about $40-50 for 5 lbs and price only dropped at 50lbs to
about $7/lb ($350/50lbs).
CuSO4 pentahydrate usually sells for roughly the same price (as KMnO4) when dealing with quantites of less than 2 lbs, maybe 20-30% less depending
upon seller. The thing is when you go to 25 or 50 lbs that is where the price really drops, as compared to PotPerMag, with pricing of $110-150 for
50lbs. This is what I find odd as I often find similarly priced items that are similar in the low end but at bulk, they are quite different. How do
you think this is explained, is it because people are willing to pay $10-20 for 1-2lbs of something, as this is an acceptable price range for "what it
does", basically a set price point for a standard "consumer" entry level amount.
The only place that I can think of to try to sell something like this would be ebay and maybe craigslist. I recenly saw someone selling things like
mercury, CuSO4 &nitric acid on Craigslist and it was gone a day or so after posting, and he was asking about 20% more than online pricing at
"thesciencecompany", which was the brand he had. He also sold a bunch of other chemicals which I didn't think would be catch people's eye on
craigslist when it can be bought at local stores.
The fact that he was selling CuSO4 on craigslist for a little more than what it sold for at the hardware store, lead me to question if people just
don't know it is available as "root killer" or "stump remover" or whatever. Just because it isn't sold at hardware stores as "Copper Sulfate" (only
in ingredients which people may not even know to look) people may not know it is available and thus are willing to buy at higher prices from an online
posting like I mentioned. Basically paying for their ignorance. Does this make sense? I guess it is much like not knowing drain cleaner is H2SO4 or
NaOH, and selling it as the proper name instead of "drain cleaner".
Maybe I'll try making some posts and seeing if there is any response for higher than retail pricing, with label or packaging removed of retail item.
Has anyone tried this or think it may have any validity? I know there are lots of local soap makers and the price for lye online is about $7-8 some
places per lb + shipping. Locally it can be had, @ hardware store as drain cleaner, for $3.50/lb for high quality (maybe not food grade, IDK.)
Any suggestions on places where things like this could be marketed would be appreciated or any suggestions related to the topic.
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DavidJR
National Hazard
Posts: 908
Registered: 1-1-2018
Location: Scotland
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I resell a handful of chemicals on eBay, my best-selling (though best selling is not necessarily most profitable overall) products have unsurprisingly
been relatively cheap commodity inorganics. Basically I look for stuff where there isn't anyone selling it on eBay either at all, or at a reasonable
price compared to wholesale cost. Personally, I wouldn't bother with copper sulphate because there's lots of reasonably priced sellers on eBay UK.
Dry chemicals are easier/cheaper to ship than liquids. I use those reclosable foil/plastic bags ('doypacks') as they are cheap and readily available
in many sizes. Get a very cheap impulse heat sealer off eBay from China and you're set.
Bottles are a bit more expensive, but the biggest driver for the decision to use the bags was postage - much cheaper to send most orders as a royal
mail large letter, max thickness 25mm.
Obviously you will need to look at rules/regulations where you are regarding packaging, labelling, shipping etc.
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RogueRose
International Hazard
Posts: 1590
Registered: 16-6-2014
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Quote: Originally posted by DavidJR  | I resell a handful of chemicals on eBay, my best-selling (though best selling is not necessarily most profitable overall) products have unsurprisingly
been relatively cheap commodity inorganics. Basically I look for stuff where there isn't anyone selling it on eBay either at all, or at a reasonable
price compared to wholesale cost. Personally, I wouldn't bother with copper sulphate because there's lots of reasonably priced sellers on eBay UK.
Dry chemicals are easier/cheaper to ship than liquids. I use those reclosable foil/plastic bags ('doypacks') as they are cheap and readily available
in many sizes. Get a very cheap impulse heat sealer off eBay from China and you're set.
Bottles are a bit more expensive, but the biggest driver for the decision to use the bags was postage - much cheaper to send most orders as a royal
mail large letter, max thickness 25mm.
Obviously you will need to look at rules/regulations where you are regarding packaging, labelling, shipping etc. |
I agree with the bags and was thinking of using vacuum seal bags. For those that don't know, plastic chip bags (mylar lined) are great for resealing
things and all that is needed is an iron or vacuum sealer. I save my mylar food bags sometimes (wash them out) and seal things that I need to keep O2
away from.
I'm trying to figure out the best way to handle shipping H2O2 as I have a good source of it for VERY good prices (min of 15 gal though). The thing is
that it is Hazmat and requires a shipping course to package and ship (though it isn't required when giving package to handler/UPS guy..). IDK how
these companies online are selling their 35% w/o Hazmat as it is supposed to (I think anything above 18% is Hazmat). I figured that HDPE bottle would
be adequate and then put that in a plastic bag with slight vacuum pulled to remove bulk air. That should contain any leakage if the bottle or cap
were to rupture.
I'm still wondering if people are ignorant to what the chemicals are in various products at the store. Like if someone wanted to buy KNO3. Would they
know what product to buy that has this (in "pure" form)? I think most do not and that is why it can be sold on craigslist for more than the same
amount in the retail package, because they don't know it's available. Just a thought, I'm sure some know, but I didn't use to.
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DavidJR
National Hazard
Posts: 908
Registered: 1-1-2018
Location: Scotland
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Mood: Tired
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I have one of these £14 sealers and it works very well.
I bought it to seal the tops of PET/Aluminium/LLDPE grip-seal pouches for dry chemicals, but it's also useful for other things. You can buy rolls of
"lay-flat tubing" which is basically just a long plastic tube, and make bags out of it any length you need. Makes cheap postal packaging.
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