How to Buy Mineral Lots by the Kilo

If you run a rock shop or a crystal store, most wholesale offers you see are priced one of two ways: per piece, or by the kilo. Buying by the kilo is straightforward once you know what the numbers are telling you.

What the three numbers mean

Every lot we list carries a piece count, a total weight, and a per-kilo rate. The price is simply weight times rate. A lot of 3 pieces weighing 1,216 grams at $90 per kilo comes to $109 for the whole lot.

Divide the weight by the piece count and you get the average piece size, which is what actually tells you how the material will sell. That same lot averages about 400 grams a piece — display size, one good shelf piece each. A lot averaging 60 grams a piece is a bowl of tumble-sized material, a completely different product for a completely different customer.

Why the rate varies

Per-kilo rates aren't a measure of rarity alone. Crystal quality, color saturation, whether the pieces are cut or natural, matrix condition, and how much hand sorting went into the lot all move the number. Mine-run material picked at random costs less per kilo for a reason: nobody looked at it before it was boxed.

Ask what the rate buys you. Sorted, filmed, individually weighed material should cost more than a random kilo box, and it should sell through faster, because you are not paying to ship someone else's rejects.

Why we film every lot

Photographs flatter minerals. Video does not. Every lot on this site is filmed before it ships, and what appears in the video is the exact material that arrives at your door — not a representative sample, not a similar lot from the same pocket. Each lot is a quantity of one. When it sells, it's gone.

That also means you can judge scale honestly. Our photos include a ruler in the frame, and every description carries a size range in inches.

Sizing a lot to your shop

Think about where the material will sit before you buy. A lot of display-size slabs needs stands and shelf space, and each piece carries a price high enough to justify that space. A lot of small pieces fills a basket by the register and turns over fast. Both work. Buying the wrong one for your floor plan is what leaves inventory sitting.

Ordering

Pricing here is public — no application, no approval wait. The order minimum is $200, and most lots need to be paired with another to reach it. You can upload your resale certificate at checkout or in advance, and it applies to your next order. It never blocks a purchase.

Material comes direct from small family-run operations in three countries: a single mining operation in Diamantina, Brazil; zeolite quarries around Pune, Aurangabad, and Nashik in Maharashtra, India; and several islands in Indonesia, including Java, Sulawesi, and Sumatra.

Browse the collections: Brazil, India, Indonesia, other origins.