Laboratory Equipment

What Makes Laboratory Equipment Expensive?

If you are someone who works in a laboratory setting then you undoubtedly encounter a lot of different expensive and complicated lab tools, machines, and instruments. Lab tools are various gears that can use to perform different tasks such as weighing objects, cleaning vessels, mixing and preparing solutions, and more. For any functional lab to work appropriately, these instruments require whether it is a school, medical or research lab. You might have worked with a lot of these pieces of laboratory equipment. You would have even bought them by yourself and would have wondered at some point in time why are they so expensive? What makes their price go up this high? Keep reading to know answers to these questions.

Cost Components for Lab Equipment

There is a great demand for good quality laboratory machines and equipment which is why lab wares have forced vendors to increase their budget so that they can cater to the needs of so many buyers.  However, if small items like burettes, pipettes, and test tubes are bought in large quantities, their cost can be reduced dramatically.

  • Raw Materials:

    A lot of laboratory equipment is made from glass such as beakers, bottles, and test tubes. Some of the lab machines such as Bunsen burner, microscope, and calorimeters require copper, plastic, steel, Pyrex, and more as their raw material. These raw materials are one of the reasons why these instruments and tools are so expensive.

  • Depreciation:

    Depreciation accounts for the annual devaluation of all the capital machinery and equipment used to manufacture your lab tools. After continuous use of assets over time, it results in wear and tear of these assets which is why there are additional costs for fixing and maintaining them. It all adds up to the final product that is made.

  • Utilities:

    This adds an extra cost of maintenance which results in a hike in their price.

  • Wages:

    How can we forget the wages of people who are involved in manufacturing and selling lab equipment? Wages are continuously growing in developing countries and there is a great need to market the product which eventually increases the cost for manufacturers.

  • Small Market:

    When we compare household equipment to lab equipment, they have a huge demand and volume in the market. However, lab equipment has a smaller market which is why the manufacturer has to face relatively high costs of every part of the equipment and the service as well.

  • Regulatory Requirement:

    Lab equipment needs several regulatory requirements such as certification and routine calibration. This is why the manufacturer had to add additional features in the equipment for self-diagnosis and testing.

  • Special Requirements:

    Lab equipment has a special requirement and unique applications. For instance, a blender for a household cost less than $100 whereas, on the other hand, a lab homogenizer of top quality can even cost a thousand dollars because it works for tiny volumes and keeps the grinded samples at a low temperature. All these functionalities don’t come cheap.

Conclusion

Purchasing a large and expensive piece of equipment for the first time for an analytical laboratory can be challenging as it is a daunting task. Moreover, these kinds of tools are not in large quantities. They have a limited requirement in the market which makes it expensive for manufacturers to make them. Since there is a lack of mass-market, it takes time for even machines to produce them. These are all the reasons why lab equipment always comes at a high price and it is quite justified. We hope this blog helped you understand the topic and answer all your questions.

If you are willing to buy new or used lab equipment and items or you need a particular part of a machine, then you can rely on Biotechnical Services Inc. Along with providing top-quality equipment, we also offer a variety of services from lab equipment repair and validation to calibration. Get in touch with us today!

Also, https://trendinformations.com/5-reliable-ways-to-monetize-your-blog/

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