prices

#1 31-08-2015, 10:49 PM

what determines the price of crystals.
some of them seem to have strong profound effects but you can get them for like a dollar.

what makes them expensive?

LeoAngel · #2 01-09-2015, 02:01 AM

Much of the fact is how common they are, what kind of properties do they have... but mainly how often it can be found... how big it is.. etc

FruitLoop · #3 01-09-2015, 11:38 AM

Rarity and quality.

FairyCrystal · #4 02-09-2015, 10:24 AM

Yeah, rarity and quality AND the greed of the seller.
For instance ... I got a real good quality ruby tumble, bought it for E5.10 (approx $5)
Someone I know that does workshops and sells crystals too, had one similar size, similar quality and sold it for .... wait for it! .... E22!!! (Approx $22)

So FOUR times as much as my fave crystal shop. That's why it is my fave crystal shop, lol.
They make sure they get the quality AND keep the prices affordable for everyone.
They do so by buying as close to the source (miners) as possible, avoiding greedy salesmen and traveling to the US, Germany and UK to do so (cutting out as many middlemen as possible).

And the funny thing is: That woman's crystals sell like hot cakes, even though she charges top dollar for it. Simply because people believe in her. And yes, she knows crystals, but she knows money even better it seems. Yet it works for her, they sell, even when she asks 4-5 times more than another.

Astral Explorer · #5 02-09-2015, 11:02 AM

Supply and demand (rarity is a factor in that) and then quality. If someone strikes a massive deposit and then floods the market with more high-quality specimens than even the dealers can buy up and re-sell at higher prices the price for even the higher-quality specimens will go down. Because dealers do not like sitting on product and they will attempt to move some of it by lowering their price which of course can sometimes create a chain effect. Dealers competing with other dealers keep lowering their prices until prices are incredibly low. Or on the opposite side of the spectrum if a piece is rare and only pops up in the physical and online market once a while then dealers can generally ask whatever they want. So I think supply and demand is the biggest contributing factor to price as it is with almost any commodity known to man. But quality and rarity obviously are going to play an integral part in a final price as well. There's quite a bit more Moldavite on the market right now than there was a couple years ago, but the price continues to rise. It seems to be having the opposite effect, a dealer sees another dealer selling for a higher price and making sales and they think "well why can't I?" so they raise their prices. And since Moldavite is a single-source tektite with limited amounts it works unfortunately. Sometimes I find myself pitting one dealer against another and trying to reverse it by saying "well they offered a similar quality piece for a lower price" it hasn't worked yet though. Because they know they have sold similar pieces for higher prices than what I'm asking I suppose.

Lola_Wolfe · #6 02-09-2015, 12:51 PM

I would say availability, size, quality, and seller. I am very lucky to have a local shop ran by wonderful people who have very low prices, most of theirs are under a dollar for decent size tumbled stones. They even have smaller pieces of more expensive stones like lapis lazuli so you can have them and not spend a fortune, as well as really nice pyramids, spheres, and other specialty pieces that are more pricey. They also charge all their crystals before putting them out for sale and keep reference books laying around for everyone to use. I think its important to shop around and find somewhere local (if available) that really cares about what their selling and the people who buy it. Those are the best places to support.

8thsinner · #7 02-09-2015, 01:12 PM

Yeah, it's a business like any other at the end of the day, after that it's rarity, and quality.
I have one local place to me, the prices are reasonable, but they don't actually care about the expansion of the customers, the staff are nice enough but sit on their phones all day.
I would rather travel 100+ miles to get better customer service and personal service.
My favourite place these days, will happily order a bunch of expensive stones for me, firstly, because they will sell them either way, and because they buy more for their clients, they end up having better prices becuase it's all in bulk.
I picked up herkimer diamond, raw ruby and tumbled emerald a few weeks ago for like 5 euro, My LOCAL shop would have charged that each too.