Hints to the busy scientist...

[ffutures]

...Don't assume that scientists are the only people who use the equipment you need. Occasionally you'll discover that there's a much bigger market out there, and one where the vendors sell at much lower prices.

For example, someone from another school was asking about the price of vacuum pumps on a technician's forum. It happened that I was looking for a supplier of vacuum pump oil that morning, so I had all the main educational catalogues open, and found something suitable at £260 from one supplier, £318 from another, for identical pumps.

So just out of curiosity I took a look on eBay, and found a supplier offering new vacuum pumps with a better specification for £167 including delivery, and one with a slightly poorer specification (but probably still good enough for education) for £109. It turns out that schools aren't the only people who use vacuum pumps; air conditioner and refrigeration installers use them too, to remove dissolved gasses from refrigerant. It's a big market, and one I'd never realised even existed.

Another time I wanted silver foil to make electrodes. It was about £25 for a fairly small bit from a laboratory supplier. We ended up buying it from a place that sold jewellery fixings - paid £8 for considerably more.

Needless to say all of this applies to anyone else who needs to go shopping for apparently specialised items - find out who else needs it, and where they buy it, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Comments

[lillian13.livejournal.com]

This is true for almost any specialization. I make jewelry, and I find a many of my flex shaft attachments in dental catalogs, for much cheaper than in the jewelry ones.

[whswhs.livejournal.com]

Years ago we followed a comic called Saucy Little Tart devoted to witty erotica. One of the issues had a back page pinup of a young woman dressed for bondage and discipline, with notes on how every single item could be bought at a hardware and feed store for far less than a sex toy shop would charge. The above-the-elbow latex gloves were particularly impressive. . . .

But this one goes to eleven!

[robertprior.livejournal.com]

This only works if your employer gives you the flexibility to do this, of course.

I've just been told I must buy DVD cases from the approved supplier because they give a 40% discount, rather than from the shop I was using. I tried explaining that the approved supplier charges $25 for 10 cases, while my shop charges $20 for 25 cases, so even with the discount the approved supplier was more expensive.

I was overruled. The purchasing department goes with the biggest discount, not the cheapest price. Sigh.

Re: But this one goes to eleven!

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

That's expensive! the supplier I usually use charges £11.75 (about $18) for a hundred. Not much use to you, I know.