Potion Decanting

OSRS Potion Decanting Calculator

Different dose variants of the same potion don't trade at the same per-dose price. Decanting buys cheap variants, converts them to the variant selling for more per dose, and pockets the difference minus the GE tax on the sell. Calculator above shows which potions are profitable in which direction right now.

How decanting profit works

Doses come in 1, 2, 3, and 4 — same potion, different volumes. Bob Barter at the south-west corner of the Grand Exchange decants potions for free as long as you supply enough empty vials (he'll sell them at GE+2gp each if you don't). Zahur in Nardah does the same job if you're already in the desert.

The arbitrage:

1. Pick a potion and check per-dose price across all four variants. Cheapest per-dose is your buy.
2. Buy at the cheapest variant up to its 4-hour limit.
3. Decant to whichever dose sells for the most per-dose.
4. Sell the converted potions on the GE. 2% GE tax applies on the sell.

Profit = (decanted-variant sell price × quantity × 0.98) − (cheap-variant buy cost) − vial cost (if decanting up).

Calculator handles the dose math and tax automatically. If a potion isn't on the table, no current profitable direction exists.

Which dose to buy

The cheapest dose per pot changes hourly — it's not always the lowest-dose variant. The pattern that makes decanting work: most players sell partial doses after a boss trip ("I drank one, here's the 3-dose left over"), so 1-, 2-, and 3-dose markets get oversupplied and underpriced relative to demand. Decanting up to 4-dose captures that arbitrage.

But not always. When a meta-relevant potion is scarce, the 4-dose variant gets bid up so hard that decanting 4-dose down to 2-dose or 3-dose for impatient buyers becomes the better trade. Calculator shows the actual direction live — don't assume one direction is always right.

Vial cost is the catch when decanting up. You need 1 empty vial per output unit — Bob will sell them at GE+2 each, which eats the margin on cheap potions. For high-volume runs, buy your vials separately on the GE first.

Best potions to decant

Calculator ranks by profit, but the consistent winners are PvM-supply potions because they trade in volume:

• Prayer / Super Restore — the highest-volume potions in OSRS. Margins are thin per dose but throughput is the highest of any decant target.
• Saradomin Brew — high volume in PvM context, decent dose-spread.
• Ranging / Super Combat / Stamina — secondary tier, slower but typically wider margins per pack.
• Lower-tier potions (Anti-poison, basic strength) — thin volume, often filtered out entirely.

Each potion variant has its own 4-hour buy limit. Decanting four variants of the same potion effectively gives you four limits to work with — one of the few cases in OSRS where running offers on related items genuinely scales.

GE tax on decanting

Tax applies on the sell side at 2%. Calculator already accounts for it in displayed profit. The 5M per-item cap is irrelevant — no potion sells anywhere near 250M.

What matters more is that tax compounds against you on every conversion. A potion with a 3% gross spread between buy and sell becomes 1% net after tax. So decanting only works where the per-dose spread is meaningfully wider than 2% gross — calculator filters out the marginal ones.

Common mistakes

• Wrong direction. Assuming 1-dose to 4-dose is always profitable. It's the more common direction because most supply is partial-dose, but not universal. Check the calculator's recommended direction per potion.
• Vial cost ignored. Bob's vials at GE+2 per output unit aren't free. On thin-margin potions this is the difference between profit and break-even. Stock your own vials before a session.
• Buy limits. Each dose variant has its own limit. If you've exhausted 1-dose Prayer pots from an earlier flip, the math doesn't apply to you for the next 4 hours. Track which limits you've hit.
• Stale margins. Decanting margins are tighter than item flipping — a potion profitable now might not be in 30 minutes. Calculator refreshes every minute, but if you buy at one snapshot and Bob-decant 10 minutes later, the sell side may have moved.

FAQ

Is decanting really free?

Service is free. You only pay if you don't have empty vials when decanting up — Bob sells them at GE+2 per vial.

Do I need to be a member?

Bob Barter is members-only as an NPC, but he's accessible on F2P worlds (south-west GE corner), so any account on a F2P world can use him. Zahur is in Nardah, members-only area.

Does GE tax apply to decanting?

Yes — 2% on the sell side. Calculator already factors it in.

Which potions are best to decant?

Whatever's at the top of the calculator. Generally Prayer, Super Restore, and Saradomin Brew dominate volume; calculator shows current profit per pack and recommended direction.

Can I decant other consumables?

Bob and Zahur only handle herblore potions in standard 1–4 dose form. Divine potions, holy potions, and combat-effect items have their own rules; check the calculator filter for what's covered.

What happens to the vials when I decant down?

You get them back as empty vials in inventory. They sell on the GE — low value individually, worth selling in bulk after a long session.

Why is profit per pack so low?

Volume is the trade-off. Decanting wins on throughput, not margin. 200gp profit per pack at ~1,500 decants/hour is 300K gp/hour passive — and you can hit it while doing a Slayer task on the same client.

Data is pulled live from the OSRS Wiki Real-Time Prices API and refreshed every minute. Profit calculations include the 2% GE tax on the sell side. Want this data inside RuneLite while you play? Install the 07Flip plugin. Bug reports and feature requests welcome — message us via Discord.