How you save big with Bunsen
What suppliers don’t want you to know 👀
Supplier prices vary so much these days.
One reason is that it’s difficult to compare prices: you’ve got to flick through catalogues or visit supplier sites one by one.
Sometimes it’s just not worth the effort 😪
Suppliers know this and get away with charging higher prices on some products and lower prices on others, because it’s so slow to shop around 🐌
And even though some suppliers say that they’re wallet-friendly, no single supplier offers the lowest prices across all products
This means that the market isn’t transparent - and it’s schools that lose out.
We’re on a mission to fix this 🚀
Why we’re building Bunsen 🛠️
You use Google Shopping, MoneySupermarket and CompareTheMarket to compare prices when buying things for yourself.
So why isn't there a price comparison site for school supplies, especially as budgets are tightening?
That's why we've built Bunsen.
We let you compare prices from all your favourite suppliers on a single site.
This makes the market more transparent, and saves you money.
We’re the secret that suppliers don’t want you to know about 😉
Let’s see how you can save 30% on a typical shop for your school 💸
We've designed an example basket with products that schools often buy. The basket contains a mix of
🧪 Consumables
🫗 Glassware
🔬 Big, one-off purchases
We also account for the fact that schools buy different items in different quantities.
Here’s our typical basket.
| Product | Basket Quantity |
|---|---|
| 2M Hydrochloric Acid (2.5L) | 2 |
| Battery AA (10 pack) | 10 |
| Borosilicate Beaker | 10 |
| Cover Slips (100 pack) | 10 |
| Dropping Bottle | 10 |
| Filter Paper (100 pack) | 20 |
| Goggles | 30 |
| Melting Point Apparatus | 1 |
| Monocular Microscope | 5 |
| Plastic Pipettes (pack of 500) | 20 |
| Reagent Bottles | 20 |
| Soda Lime (500g) | 4 |
| Sodium Metabisulphite (500g) | 4 |
| Stirring Hot Plate | 2 |
| Test Tubes (50) | 10 |
| Weighing Boats (250) | 20 |
We compared hundreds of products from 10+ suppliers to determine typical market prices for these products. Here is an example of a shopping basket of typical examples of these products (as of January 2023).
| Product Name | Typical Vendor | Price | Market Median Price | Basket Quantity | Typical basket |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hydrochloric Acid 2M | Breckland Scientific | £14.30 | £10.61 | 2 | £28.60 |
| Energizer Industrial Alkaline Battery - AA, LR6 - pack of 10 Pack of ten | Philip Harris | £3.49 | £3.49 | 10 | £34.90 |
| Simax Beakers, Squat Form, 250 mL | Timstar | £9.33 | £9.09 | 10 | £93.30 |
| Cover Slips No.1 | Timstar | £1.90 | £1.65 | 10 | £19.00 |
| ACADEMY Dropping bottles, clear glass, 50ml | Select School Supplies | £2.38 | £2.38 | 10 | £23.80 |
| Filter paper 304 - Grade no. 1 - 150mm | Breckland Scientific | £5.30 | £4.96 | 20 | £106.00 |
| Spectacles, Lightweight, Safety | Timstar | £2.30 | £2.30 | 30 | £69.00 |
| MELTING POINT APPARATUS - DIGITAL | Breckland Scientific | £595.84 | £595.84 | 1 | £595.84 |
| Satz Monocular Student Microscope [80627] | Better Equipped | £94.98 | £93.99 | 5 | £474.90 |
| Plastic pasteur pipettes 3ml pk500 | Select School Supplies | £6.85 | £6.85 | 20 | £137.00 |
| Bottles, reagent, polypropylene stopper 500ml | Beecroft | £4.56 | £4.09 | 20 | £91.20 |
| Soda Lime 3-5mm Self Indicating, 500 g | Timstar | £9.70 | £8.02 | 4 | £38.80 |
| Sodium metabisulphite (Sodium disulphate (VI)) L.R. 500g | Beecroft | £2.80 | £2.80 | 4 | £11.20 |
| Amicus Round-top Magnetic Hotplate Stirrer [2531] | Better Equipped | £314.55 | £314.55 | 2 | £629.10 |
| Philip Harris Glass Test Tubes, with Rim: 24mm x 150mm Pack of fifty | Philip Harris | £23.40 | £23.40 | 10 | £234.00 |
| Weighing Boats: 100ml - Pack of 250 Box of two hundred fifty | Philip Harris | £22.05 | £22.05 | 20 | £441.00 |
| Basket Total | £3,027.64 |
When you buy on bunsen
By shopping on Bunsen, you can find the cheapest vendor for each of these, and on top of that, you get access to Bunsen Exclusive pricing. For this specific basket, here’s what you get on Bunsen (prices checked January 2023).
| Product Name | Vendor | Basket Quantity | Vendor Price | Bunsen Exclusive price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.5L Hydrochloric Acid 2M | SLS Select Education | 2 | £13.80 | £12.83 |
| AA ENERGIZER INDUSTRIAL BATTERY PK10 | Select School Supplies | 10 | £27.50 | £25.58 |
| SLS Select Beaker Borosilicate Glass Squat Form with Spout - 250mL | SLS Select Education | 10 | £88.60 | £82.40 |
| Microscope Cover Slips No. 1 22x22mm | SLS Select Education | 10 | £14.00 | £13.02 |
| Dropping Bottle Clear 50ml | SLS Select Education | 10 | £23.30 | £21.67 |
| FILTER PAPER PROFESSIONAL GRADE 1 15CM | Select School Supplies | 20 | £61.40 | £57.10 |
| Overspec Clear Lens | Select School Supplies | 30 | £63.00 | £58.59 |
| Cole-Parmer MP-200D Stuart Digital Melting Point Apparatus; 240 VAC | SLS Select Education | 1 | £594.88 | £553.24 |
| Microscope Monocular Mirror Illumination 42mm dia. | SLS Select Education | 5 | £259.80 | £241.61 |
| Plastic pasteur pipettes 3ml pk500 | Select School Supplies | 20 | £137.00 | £127.41 |
| Reagent Bottles, clear glass with interchangable dust proof stopper, 500ml | Select School Supplies | 20 | £72.40 | £67.33 |
| SODA LIME SELF INDICATING 500g | Select School Supplies | 4 | £25.20 | £23.44 |
| Sodium Metabisulphite (500G) | SLS Select Education | 4 | £11.12 | £10.34 |
| Hot Plate Magnetic Stirrer 5 lt Aluminum Top | Select School Supplies | 2 | £360.72 | £335.47 |
| Simax Borosilicate Test Tubes 150x24mm pack of 50 | SLS Select Education | 10 | £277.50 | £258.08 |
| SLS Select Polystyrene Weighing Boat - 100mL, White, Diamond | SLS Select Education | 20 | £256.80 | £238.82 |
| Bunsen Price | £2,126.93 | |||
| Bunsen Savings | £900.71 |
That’s a saving of 30% !
Frequently asked questions
Q: I already buy from a budget vendor, will I still save money with Bunsen?
A: Yes, no single vendor is cheapest for all products. On top of that, Bunsen offers exclusive discounts that are not available through the vendor directly.
Q: Are the products you're comparing, really like-for-like substitutions?
A: It's often impossible to find exact like-for-like substitutions between different vendors. We've tried to find products that are equivalent for use in schools.
Q: I've found an even cheaper version of a product somewhere else, can you include it?
A: Yes, just use the "Contact us" link at the bottom of this page to let us know.