With the growing prices and increasing labor costs, all labs need to use methods to save a huge part of money from supplies and reagents. But at the same time, they need to keep the quality of work the same or higher.

Running a laboratory is expensive, but a significant portion of that cost is controllable. With some disciplined habits around purchasing, equipment care, and day-to-day operations, labs of any size can cut overhead without compromising the quality of their work. Here are the most practical strategies to start with.

Buy in bulk instead of in parts: Buying most used and common reagents and consumables in bulk saved almost 50% money. Instead of buying a 500 g or 1000 g bottle, look for a lot of 10 kg or 50 kg. This will save money two ways—first, the price for each gram will be less, and shipping costs will be saved. Example: Sodium chloride, a very common salt in all labs, costs $58 if you buy 500g, but if you order 50kg, it will cost you $800 only (Sigma-Aldrich). which means you saved $5000.

Use alternate vendors instead of big brands: With growing internet and online marketing, now it is very simple and easy to look for the same product or consumable from different vendors, compare the prices, and buy from the vendor offering a lower price for the same quality and purity. Example: Buying agarose powder for routine genotyping work will cost you around $1500 from a big supplier like Sigma. But the same quality agarose will cost you almost half from other vendors. (The average price from other vendors is $700-$800).

Similarly, if you buy 25-PCR plates from VWR or Sigma, it will cost you around $170. But other vendors sell the same quality plates for $40-$80. Even some vendors sell 100 PCR plates for $150, which further saves a lot of money both in cost and shipping.