[cnidocyte]

My dream is to start a chemical and lab equipment supply house when I have my degrees but an even better idea would be to start a walk-in chemistry shop. I've never even heard of a shop like this and I'd love to see one opened in my area. Obviously I couldn't be selling dangerous chemicals over the counter but glassware and various bits of equipment aren't hazardous by themselves so I don't see why I couldn't sell them over the counter. I'm not aware of any laws restricting the sale of things like heating mantles, beakers and flasks etc. The place would be a haven for chemistry enthusiasts and people just interested in chemistry, I'd setup all sorts of stuff like Geissler tubes, chemiluminescent stuff under UV and weird gas discharge lamps to make the place look cool.

I could sell my own product line of different smells. For example there'd be the smell of dead bodies with putrescine and cadaverine, the smell of dead fish with triethylamine, smell of skunk with all those weird thiols, smell of rotten eggs with iron disulfide etc. I'd never run outta ideas. Why are there no shops like this? I know home chemistry is becoming demonised by the government but it hasn't been outlawed.

[Fluorine]

Reasons, I think;

1) Lack of genuine, innocent, interest in chemistry.
2) "Sets", "kits", and "starters" online.
3) Internet's capability to ship (inter)national.

I've heard of places like these before, there was one supposedly local but it closed down before I got interested in chemistry - maybe 4-6years ago? If you do open up shop somewhere in the western United States I'd definitely come by. I'd much rather go into a shop inspect the instruments check different sizes, prices, and so forth than "buy this starter set which contains some things you want but a lot you don't".

[Zerm]

The key to such a shop is location.  You need a good community for that kind of thing.  Of course, having a brick and mortar store doesn't mean you can't have a website too.  Also, you could still probably do a lot of business with local schools, universities, and other companies.  Setup a local meet and swap for equipment and repackage bulk chemicals into smaller more affordable quantities for enthusiasts.  Most of all, encourage interest in the community.  Perform chemistry demonstrations at schools and local events.  It can be done, it just needs to be done right.

[billnotgatez]

Fluorine -

Can we assume you do not live in Texas USA

I know of a place where I live that is called Science and Hobby or the like

there Hobby business keeps them afloat not there science

they sell mostly non chem science stuff geared for younger kids

but i do get glassware from them from time to time

selling chemicals on the other hand may be more difficult to deal with knowing that the law enforcement folks will look at you closely.

[TheUnfocusedOne]

Sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen...

You won't be able to sell glassware without the governemnt watching you. You'd probably end up attracting street chemist (drug deals) more than you'd like. If I'm not mistaken, if you try to buy glassware and get it sent to your house then the DEA checks into you.  I've heard that from a few people, especially if your buying glass that could be used in drug productions.  I can't imagine local law enforcement letting someone sell distillation kits and reaction flasks to the general public without some sort of hassling.

As far as your smells go, once someone gets some in their eye or some lil 4 year old chugs the bottle and vomits himself to death your pretty much cooked.  Theres a reason why perfume companies do animal testing.

Sorry to be so pessimistic.

[vmelkon]

I would not worry about the government. When you import stuff from China, you will just pay the import agency some fees. Glassware, equipment and electronics, chemicals can all be imported.

I would worry more about sales.

"I could sell my own product line of different smells. For example there'd be the smell of dead bodies with putrescine and cadaverine, the smell of dead fish with triethylamine, smell of skunk with all those weird thiols, smell of rotten eggs with iron disulfide etc. I'd never run outta ideas"

I don't think there is a market for that.
Also, may I suggest "human feces", "squirel feces", "duck feces".

[TheUnfocusedOne]

I would not worry about the government. When you import stuff from China, you will just pay the import agency some fees. Glassware, equipment and electronics, chemicals can all be imported.

Well I'd love someone to chime in to give us an actual answer to this.  I've been told that getting glassware delivered to your house will raise some eyebrows in the government.  It makes sense, I mean if I start buying up heating mantles, 5L reaction flasks, distillation equipment and things of the sort and have them delivered to my house, it's very easy to become suspicious. 
Selling such glassware over the counter would pretty much make buying it anonymous. Can't image the DEA would be too thrilled with that idea.

[Fleaker]

Getting glassware delivered to your house is less of a concern than getting chemicals delivered to your house. I don't pretend to know anything about the DEA's policies regarding investigations, but I think they are not interested in some obvious amateur buying a distillation kit so much as they are in the guy buying 5L reaction vessels, bulk solvents, a whole mess of organic glassware, and other things beyond the realm of amateur scale things. Hopefully they have bigger fish to fry than some responsible enthusiast teaching his kids in the privacy of his own home, but maybe they don't want that either. I would imagine that they look for combinations of glassware and certain chemical purchases before even beginning physical surveillance that would lead to a warrant.

Let's put it this way; it is exceptionally difficult to remain a law-abiding citizen while performing amateur chemistry at home (and apparently physics too according to recent news on SMDB). Why is this so? Quite simply this: there are so many laws on the books regarding chemical storage, right-to-know laws, and even glassware laws (for deterring drug cooks). Thus it is quite likely that you will, at some point in your good-natured, well-intentioned, legitimate inquiry into science be at odds with the law. Most likely it will be a law designed to protect you from yourself, or others from you. Despite pursuing what should be a God-given natural right than any free person should enjoy, that is, the right to inquiry without harming others or the environment, you may still be legally liable. This is because some people have ruined the good name of science at home (and science at large, in my honest opinion). Indeed, it is a sordid state of affairs and is quite unfortunate. It is no longer an acceptable hobby, like it once was in the 50s when a teenager could go to the pharmacist and source all manner of reagents. Try that now, and you've just sourced yourself a hefty investigation into your character and intentions while guaranteeing a permanent file with the authorities. Upsetting as it is, amateur scientists must either cope with the risk and hope to avoid persecution, pick another hobby, or satisfy their intellectual curiosity studying the literature and pursuing a college degree. Education at home is bad. The authorities feel that way because they see things in terms of cost and benefit (as they should). After all, this is a world of terrorism, designer drugs, fragile environments, and all manner of evils.

Being blunt, I would say that any person considering chemistry at home should do so with the expectation of trouble at some point. Whether that trouble amounts to (at the minimum) a cease and desist order and confiscation of your dearly bought property and emotional damage of having people rummage through your home looking for things to prove a case that shouldn't exist, or at the worst, a felony conviction for "intent to" do something (which seems odd, as people still buy firearms and bullets all the time and they intend to shoot them).

I think there is plenty of legitimate and interesting science that can be done at home safely, but I don't think it can be done without violating some code or law by virtue of the sheer size of the corpus of laws.

[vmelkon]

I read the thread posted by Bill (the one that has been stickied).
He was 17. Had a lot of KNO3. During his trial, an expert in bomb making said he had all the right ingredients, including magnesium ribbon. He or the family used the KNO3 as a stump remover since they wanted to make a pool but prosecutors did not want this fact to be mentioned.
He was convicted but it was appealed and overturned.
Also, there was a couple of bomb threats in the school and no one knows who wrote it.
The family received death threats. Some Americans said that Canadians should be thrown into the Niagara river.

[Glassblower]

I know that Texas,(my home),and California have laws prohibiting the sale of certain glassware.I had to get a permit for precurser to sell my glassware

[vmelkon]

In that case, fFeel free to come to Canada. Home of the free and brave enough.

[AndersHoveland]

Unfortunately your potential customers would be scattered too thin to make a conventional store viable. Only a small fraction of people i any given area have an interest in chemistry. An online store is the way to go, as you will have access to the wide customer base scattered accross your country. Shipping international, however, can potentially result in legal problems.

As a potential customer, I would be interested in such regents as hydroxylamine hydrochloride, hydrazine sulfate, methyl hydroxylamine chloride, and ammonium peroxysulfate. Perhaps sodium azide or even 4-amino-1,2,3-triazole

I would also have interest if I could find solid sulfur trioxide crystals being sold in ammounts under 10g. O-hydroxylamino-sulfuric acid?

As for your "perfume" line, I think there would be much interest in it by 14-year old boys. Of course, you would get the blame whenever these stink bombs were used for some prank, which would be inevitable. Some name ideas: "baby vommit", "raw sewage", "low tide", "expired milk", "vile bile", "mildewed socks", and of course "locker room after football practice". The could be an "21 and over only section" in the back containing the most putrid fragrances: "sweaty ball sack" and "butt cheese"