Sciencemadness Discussion Board - Co-Op group chemical buys in the USA?

Co-Op group chemical buys in the USA?

imidazole - 2-5-2025 at 04:58

I've considered this idea in the past, but has anyone ever considered trying to form a coordinated group purchasing bulk glassware or chemicals from large organizations before, and having someone with the direct connection to the supplier divvy things up?

I assume that many mad scientists would benefit from such a thing, though shipping costs would definitely come into play, but If everyone wanted just a bit of something really expensive, It would probably work out well, no?

Would 5 hobbyists in a trench coat be able to masquerade as an organization?

Dr.Bob - 2-5-2025 at 07:29

I have tried to organize a few bulk glassware purchases (and a few other items), and most were tough as people say that they want stuff and then often fail to follow through. So I have often ended up with extra of whatever, and then tried to sell it over time. But the key thing is if there are things people specifically want, list them here as clearly as possible, and often someone will have some already that they can share, sell, trade or barter. But I did buy some stirbars in bulk years ago, and that was a good deal, but most of those are gone now.

The harder part is that shipping certain chemicals is not simple, easy or cheap. But I have large amounts of a few things, but it can be hard to determine how to sell if I don;t know what the shipping costs will be. For example, I have large amounts of sodium bicarb, which is easy to ship, but so cheap and readily available that it is not work it, most likely. I have small amounts of some things, but they are more valuable, but I have no idea of the shipping costs, which would be much less if I can do a bunch at once.

What things are people looking for? Glass, plastic, hardware, chemicals? I'm happy to try to help where I can.

chempyre235 - 2-5-2025 at 07:47

Maybe the solution would be to have members pay for items ahead of time, so they can't back out. Then only buy the amount needed by the members who paid.

For instance, you could buy a five-gallon container of GAA, then send a gallon to each of the other four members who had already paid for their share, instead of buying it and hoping the other members follow through with the amounts they promised to buy.

esquizete_electrolysis - 2-5-2025 at 09:48

Quote: Originally posted by chempyre235

Maybe the solution would be to have members pay for items ahead of time, so they can't back out. Then only buy the amount needed by the members who paid.

This would probably work well. I would be on board for buying solvents since those have gotten so expensive as of late. A barrel of DCM could go 55 ways for about 20$ a gallon.

Texium - 2-5-2025 at 11:14

Quote: Originally posted by esquizete_electrolysis

Quote: Originally posted by chempyre235

Maybe the solution would be to have members pay for items ahead of time, so they can't back out. Then only buy the amount needed by the members who paid.

This would probably work well. I would be on board for buying solvents since those have gotten so expensive as of late. A barrel of DCM could go 55 ways for about 20$ a gallon.

But what about repackaging and shipping all that DCM? Packaging is solvable if you work for a place that goes through a lot of 4 liter solvent bottles (I can get virtually as many empty ones as I want for free), but hazmat shipping is not cheap, and ignoring the laws is not a valid answer.

dettoo456 - 2-5-2025 at 13:19

As an example, I reached to the metal-plating business involved in this ad: (https://reno.craigslist.org/for/d/reno-unopened-55-gal-drums... . He offered $1000 for everything, which is of course a fantastic deal, even assuming that the chemicals may have degraded a bit in storage. If acquired, stuff like this could be easily sold in 1gal amounts for <$15 for anything (EtOH, IPA, H2O2, N2H4OH) and you’d still make a hefty profit to continue to liquidate chem surplus in the future, without even having to sell the less useful HCl and NaOH. I’m in no situation to actually buy anything, seeing as he is 2 states away and I don’t have the space or time to move everything, but if anyone here is willing to do it, I’d be happy to chip in for a few gallons of the N2H4OH and EtOH.

The problem comes in 1. Transporting such massive quantities of hazmat. 2. Storing them in suitably inert packaging as inventory. 3. Actually finding a market big enough to buy everything in a timely manner.

All of this work can be done if you have the time, a box truck (best not to tell U-Haul what you’re transporting), a couple lengths of tygon, a strong peristaltic pump, some empty bottles and boxes, and some excess capital. Surplus chemicals are CHEAP or often free if you can find the right source.

[Edited on 2-5-2025 by dettoo456]

esquizete_electrolysis - 2-5-2025 at 15:44

Quote: Originally posted by Texium

After looking into it, it would end to be about 70$ a gallon after hazmat fees and typical shipping fees (through USPS). Not the greatest but a bit cheaper than what I could find.

This idea would be more applicable if a couple members that are local to a region were to purchase and pick up their shares of an order.

imidazole - 3-5-2025 at 11:06

Yeah, my initial thought was something like this:
1) See what people would want, and where to get it
2) have everyone pool money to a trusted member
3) have the member purchase and distribute things/having the trusted member hold the money until someone with access to the reagents purchases and carries out the shipping

additional remarks:
I have something that looks similar to this, it works great for pumping fluids and it works at decent speed too, I've used it for multiple things, and even outside of a drum context, it also can hold enough suction to work as a decent manual vacuum pump

https://www.amazon.com/Vila-Heavy-Duty-Pumping-Variety-Autom...

I would personally love to hear more about how you can find surplus.

I know for a fact that you can cut down on the USPS cost with bulk shipping labels and other related methods of sourcing the labels in question, but this will ALWAYS be a thing to consider based on what you're shipping, if it's something readily available in your area.

This wouldn't be as fast as direct shipping but I think it would be worth the wait.

Especially with costly reagents/solvents like CS2, DMSO, and the like, I'd imagine demand and cost could be worth it.

I think if the individual members agreed to cover their (greatly undercut) shipping costs it would work out well, though.

I suppose there is a potential for profit margins, but I think there's enough of a reward in having the discounted reagents,and without additional shipping costs which would allow you to essentially let you take a larger stake in an order without shipping

[Edited on 3-5-2025 by imidazole]

Dr.Bob - 4-5-2025 at 13:23

Shipping almost any hazardous chemical via USPS is a federal crime, so stick with UPS and FedEx. I am happy to help local people, but shipping chemicals is a nightmare. I have several chemicals that I would like to sell and ship, but most are very hard to deal with.

I also have a large hand pump for 55 gal drums that needs some repair, if anyone wants to take it for free and fix it. And bung wrench to go with it. Also have 2 55 gal drums if anyone in NC wants them. All from the lab I cleaned out last year.

imidazole - 4-5-2025 at 14:46

whoops, I meant UPS. That's an annoying mistake to make.

anyways, I can definitely see a lot of headache involved with trying to coordinate something of that scale, but any of you see a free barrel of DMSO, or anything else, say something! I remember a thread where some guy would have gotten some massive quantity of sodium nitrite for free if he was the first to arrive, I would have bought a couple Kgs off of him if he got it.

chempyre235 - 5-5-2025 at 05:55

I had once seen a surplus auction lot of around (30) 55-gallon drums full of naphthalene.

(I can't think of any DIY use of naphthalene in that quantity, but I'm only saying this to say that these bulk purchase opportunities do happen occasionally.)

[Edit]: I was looking online today, and I saw about 35 gallons of propylene glycol on auction in SC. I don't need any, though.

Still looking, and I found a lot containing two pallets of graphite blocks in Seattle, WA.

[Edited on 5/5/2025 by chempyre235]