Setup, so nobody has to ask: MKM · Tianjin Finder Chemical.
I am trying to choose between two options that are usually discussed as though only one exists.
I am not optimising for price, but I am not indifferent to it either.
What does each option buy me, and what does it cost me?
The short version: same compound, same laboratory, same method, ideally same week — otherwise you are comparing laboratories rather than suppliers.
Cost per milligram of actual peptide is the honest price comparison, which means dividing by measured content rather than by label claim.
| Step | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Vial price, 10 mg nominal | £34.00 | As advertised |
| Nominal cost per mg | £3.40 | 34 ÷ 10 |
| Measured content | 9.2 mg | Independent content assay |
| Cost per actual mg | £3.70 | 34 ÷ 9.2 |
| Dead-space loss, 20 draws | 4 % | 80 µL of a 2 mL fill |
| Cost per delivered mg | £3.85 | 3.70 ÷ 0.96 |
| First vial, with £110 assay | £14.85 | Testing dominates a single vial |
More usefully, content is the more discriminating measurement than purity for supplier comparison, because purity clusters tightly among competent suppliers and content does not.
Inter-laboratory spread on identical peptide material is routinely half a per cent to a per cent by RP-HPLC, which is the noise floor for any cross-laboratory comparison.
Comparisons drawn from different laboratories at different times are weaker evidence than most people treat them as.
One laboratory, one method, one submission. Otherwise it is not a comparison.
Analytical standards and reagents with traceable certificates. Every quantitative result you read inherits the accuracy of the standard behind it.
Shop standardsIn practice, a single member running three suppliers on one method is worth more than thirty members running one supplier each.
Submitting to different laboratories introduces a method difference that commonly exceeds the supplier difference. Gradient slope alone can move a reported purity figure by a per cent in either direction.
Publish the method with the result. A comparison without the laboratory named and the submission dates given is not reproducible by anyone.
Content assay results across the published datasets vary considerably more between suppliers than purity does, which makes content the more discriminating axis.
Nothing here is medical advice, and research-use compounds are not approved for human use.
Price per milligram of measured peptide, not per milligram of label claim.
edited 3 Feb 2025 by tobias_maartens — added the method parameters
Ask PeptideStack is a static archive. Posting is closed, but the norms are worth stating: answer the question that was asked, show your working, cite the trial or the certificate, and say plainly where the evidence runs out.