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Assays, kits, and reagents come in a variety of options and it’s important to consider your application and laboratory instruments when making purchasing decisions. Finding the option that exactly fits your specifications will save you money and time.
6 Questions to ask when purchasing assays, kits, and reagents
- What assays, kits, or reagents has your lab used in the past? Did they work well?
- Which assays, kits, or reagents are compatible with the instruments you are currently using?
- Does the kit or assay contain all the components you require, or will you need to purchase additional reagents?
- What quantity of supplies will you require? How often will they be used and when will they expire?
- Can the reagents in the assay or kit be purchased separately? Or will you have to purchase a new kit if you run out of a component?
- What assays, kits, or reagents have other researchers had success with?
Purchasing Tip
In the short term, purchasing larger kits may seem more economical. However, if you don’t use the supplies before they expire, it will end up costing you in the long run. At the same time, you should make sure to have enough for all your experiments and replicates as using a different lot number can affect your results. Do the calculations to figure out the exact quantities you will require for assays, kits, or reagents and order according to your immediate and short-term needs.
