Caveat emptor!

Shortly after I sent out a large number of purchase orders for a substantial amount of money, an article by S.T. Carmichael appears in Trends in Neuroscience about setting up new labs -- and how badly trained most new faculty members are at it.

My immediate thought was, "Where were you when I needed you?" There was a fair amount of good information in there, however. One thing I found most useful was the tip that lots of basic things can be purchased second-hand. I went to several of the recommended web-pages looking for a pH meter; something Carmichael suggests should never be bought new. To my surprise, such a basic piece of kit seemed awfully hard to find.

I ferreting around several used equipment web pages and found some. One websites didn't have prices listed, which irked me. Most were in the $300-400 range. Even then, at least one was missing a crucial part (the electrode, the bit that goes into the liquid you're measuring).

I went back to some of the catalogues strewn about my office and found a new pH meter, with electrode, for between $300-400.

Maybe I didn't get the absolute best bargain out there, but it just goes to show that "Buyer beware" is good advice in any field.

Of course, it helps that there's always some other consumer out there who helps to put these little issues into perspective.

Additional: I should add that the prices for pH meters go considerably higher than the one I happened to get. Lest anyone think I was accusing the equipment resellers of bad faith.