News

We Now Charge California Sales Tax. Here's Why.

By Carlton Hoyt, 03 July 2019

We don't like taxes any more than anyone else. Unfortunately for many, last year's South Dakota v. Wayfair decision by the United States Supreme Court meant that more companies are going to have to charge state and local sales taxes in more jurisdictions. A number of factors have made us come to what we consider an unfortunate but necessary decision to begin collecting CA sales tax. Here's why we're doing it:

  1. We already had a number of suppliers that charged us sales tax to ship to various jurisdictions, and we simply ate the cost. The number doing so in California are increasing rapidly.
  2. Many institutional customers' require that they can show they are paying sales tax in order to avoid having to pay it themselves. If we don't collect it, and therefore don't bill it, tax is being double-paid. The customer is still liable to pay it, and additionally we're being charged it by our suppliers.
  3. We're right on the cusp of being legally liable to do so anyway, just based on our own sales volume. While here in New Hampshire we do have a bit of that "live free" mentality, for business purposes it's best to remain above board.

Here in New Hampshire we have no sales tax, so we're still figuring all this stuff out ourselves. We apologize to any of our customers in California who will be disappointed by the new laws. We liked it better when "tax nexus" was determined based on physical presence but hey - we don't make the rules.

As always, if you have any questions about past, present, or future business with us, just drop us a line.

Troemner / Ohaus Product Transition Update

By Carlton Hoyt, 29 March 2018

This information is current at the last time of editing, which is March 29th, 2018.

As we mentioned early last month, much of the Troemner / Talboys laboratory equipment line will be transitioning to the Ohaus brand (they're both owned by the same parent company - Mettler Toledo). In this post, we'll keep you updated on that transition. We have developed a guide to inform you what Troemner / Talboys products have been transitioned and what their new Ohaus counterparts are. That guide is available at this link.

March 29th, 2018 updates

We will be launching the first transitions in the immediate future, probably tomorrow. This will change some Troemner equipment and accessories to Ohaus. This includes the homogenizer, most of the orbital shaker line, and a small amount of the stirring line. At this time, not all of the accessories for products transitioned to Ohaus are available as Ohaus accessories. In these instances, we are continuing to make those accessory products available as Troemner / Talboys products. Therefore, you may see some Troemner items as accessories to Ohaus products. We have developed a "conversion guide" which we will continue to update as the process continues. This guide is available here: http://www.labsup.net/assets/Troemner_to_Ohaus_item_conversion_guide.pdf

Some Troemner / Talboys Products Now Sold Under Ohaus Brand

By Carlton Hoyt, 02 February 2018

UPDATE: More information on the progress of this transition is available and will continue to be updated on this page.

Back in 2016, Mettler Toledo purchased Troemner. You can read about it in this Mettler-Toledo earnings press release. Troemner manufactures the Talboys line of laboratory equipment, including a number of items which we sell on our orbitalshakers.net, stirrers.net, and homogenizers.net marketplaces. They are beginning to transition much of the lab equipment from the Troemner / Talboys brand to the Ohaus brand (MT also owns Ohaus). The underlying equipment will be exactly the same with the exception of some cosmetic changes. It will still be manufactured in the same facility by the same people. It will still have an epic 5-year warranty. (EDIT: As of 3/18/2018, we learned that the warranty on Ohaus products that were formerly Troemner products will be Ohaus' 2 year warranty.) As part of that transition, we will soon be making changes, most of them cosmetic, to the Troemner products listed on our marketplaces as well.

Here is the Talboys Professional 1000-3 incubated shaker ...

During this time, you may notice that some of your favorite Troemner / Talboys items are rebranded from Troemner to Ohaus. It is also possible that if you order a Troemner / Talboys item during this transition period that you receive the item with Ohaus branding. Please rest assured that it is the exact same item. As Troemner clears existing stock of items which will be sold as Ohaus, they will no longer be producing those items with the Troemner / Talboys branding.

As soon as we have all the necessary information, we will post publicly what Troemner items offered on our marketplaces will be changed to Ohaus, what will remain Troemner-branded, and what will be discontinued. We are currently working with both Troemner and Ohaus to ensure that the information we have is complete and correct before we make any changes or post any information.

… and here is the Ohaus ISLD04HDG incubated orbital shaker. Look familiar?

If you have any questions about this transition or how it may affect you, please feel free to contact us - or contact Troemner or Ohaus - at any time.

Small Changes to Shipping Rates

By Carlton Hoyt, 19 June 2017

We've updated our shipping rates. Rates for all US customers have been rounded down, and shipping rates for Canadian customers were increased slightly on orders under $1000 to reflect the higher costs of shipping and order processing for orders to Canada.

For the US, the rates are now:

$0 - $999 $19
$1000 - $1999 $12
$2000 or more Free

For Canada, the rates are now:

$0 - $999 $30
$1000 - $1999 $18
$2000 or more Free

We No Longer Charge Canadian Sales Tax

By Carlton Hoyt, 18 May 2017

A few years back, we registered as a non-resident importer (NRI) in Canada. What that meant is that we designated ourselves as the importer of record and were liable for collecting and paying sales tax (GST & PST) whenever we shipped to Canada. Ultimately, we found that this was confusing to many of our Canadian customers, who were not used to paying sales tax to US-based businesses. In light of this, we have canceled our NRI brokerage and will no longer be designating ourselves as the importer of record for Canadian shipments.

What does this mean for our Canadian customers?

There are two main implications:

  1. We will no longer be charging sales tax for orders being shipped to Canada.
  2. You, the customer, will be responsible for paying all import duties and taxes.

In many cases, the shipper (UPS, FedEx, etc.) will require payment of import duties and / or taxes prior to delivery. It is your responsibility to ensure that prompt payment is made such that delivery can occur. If it is not, and the order is returned, you will be liable for all shipping fees to you and back to us. If the item carries a restocking fee for returns, you will be charged that fee. If the item is not a returnable item, you will not be eligible for any refund. In other words, be sure to pay all required import duties and taxes!

As always, if you ever have any questions about shipments to Canada or anything else, just give us a ring or drop us an email and we'll be happy to help.

Our marketplaces are now more secure!

By Carlton Hoyt, 29 April 2016

While we've always encrypted our checkout process, we've added SSL encryption to the entirety of our marketplaces! Now when you're shopping on any Laboratory Supply Network site, you can be comforted knowing that your data and privacy are protected by secure SSL encryption.

When you're browsing OrbitalShakers.net or any of our marketplaces, you can see the green https in the navigation bar of your browser to show that you're protected.

Our Shipments are Carbon Neutral!

By Carlton Hoyt, 03 December 2015

We're happy to announce that all shipments originating from Laboratory Supply Network are now carbon neutral! That means we're paying our express shipping providers extra in order to purchase certified CO2 offsets and negate the emissions produced by the transportation of your laboratory products.

Disclaimer: please note that not all shipments originate from a Laboratory Supply Network facility. To expedite order processing, orders will sometimes be fulfilled directly from the manufacturer and while we request that they also offset the carbon emissions from shipments, we have no way of guaranteeing that they do so. However, carbon neutrality will apply to many US shipments and all Canadian shipments.

O Canada!

By Carlton Hoyt, 04 December 2014

Now that we're actively advertising to Canada, we're celebrating by making it easier for Canadian customers to earn free shipping!  Just like for US customers, Canadian customers now get FREE shipping on all orders over $2000 (USD).

If you'd like, you can consider it our tiny contribution to keeping the True North strong and free!  :-)

Lower Shipping Rates for US Customers!

By Carlton Hoyt, 22 August 2014

We've dropped our shipping rates for our US customers!  It's now less expensive than ever to get the orbital shaker you need.  We've also lowered the order value necessary for free shipping from $3000 to $2000 on all US orders.

The new rates are:

$0 - $999 $19.70
$1000 - $1999 $12.15
$2000 or more Free!

Shipping rates to Canada remain unchanged.  (Sorry, Canada, but you're far more expensive for us to ship to and we're already subsidizing your shipping costs pretty heavily.)

As always, if you have any questions just ask us!

We've Cut and Simplified Our Shipping Rates!

By Douglas Rogers, 22 May 2014

At Laboratory Supply Network and OrbitalShakers.net, we're want to make your life as a researcher a little a bit easier and simpler.  That's why we're trying to help you find the right Orbital Shaker as easily as possible, and that's also why we just reduced and simplified our shipping & handling rates!  We've also decreased the threshold for free shipping to $3000 from $3500.  As before, the shipping rates we charge are a simple, flat-rate based on order price.  They're as follows:

$0 - $999 $25
$1000 - $1999 $18
$2000 - $2999 $10
$3000 or more Free!

That's the extent of it.  Simple.  Does it mean we're losing money on shipping?  You bet it does.  Do we mind?  If that's what it takes to better serve our customers, then not at all.

Happy shaking!

OrbitalShakers.net Has Launched!

By Carlton Hoyt, 24 April 2014

We're live!  Welcome to the only store in existence focused solely on one thing: orbital shakers.  What that means for you is more choice, more tools to help you find the right shaker, an expert support staff ready to assist you, and a better and easier overall shopping experience.  We want to make it as easy for you as possible to find the shaker you need so you can focus on - let's face it - more important things.

We're still adding products and features, so if you're in the market for a shaker but don't see what you need, be sure to either call us (we can offer a lot more than we currently have listed on our storefront) or check back.  We're adding more products and suppliers daily!

For now, check out our great selection of Benchmark Scientific benchtop orbital shakers.  Benchmark Shakers have an optional platform that uses magnetic clamps to allow for near-instant reconfiguration of your orbital shaker platform - the MAGic Clamp platform.  It's worth checking out.

As always, if you have any questions feel free to contact us!  Our phone number and email address are always right there at the bottom of the page.

Happy shopping!