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Post by rockjunquie on Apr 20, 2023 8:51:56 GMT -5
I generally buy slabs on ebay and have seen prices shoot up. For those of you buying and selling rough, have you seen prices of rough skyrocket, too?
Shipping on eBay has gotten crazy, too. Plenty of people charging 10 bucks for a sfrb. I refuse.
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realrockhound
Cave Dweller 
Chucking leaverite at tweekers
Member since June 2020
Posts: 4,446
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Post by realrockhound on Apr 20, 2023 9:43:27 GMT -5
I don’t buy material hardly ever, at least online. But I do check prices on material a lot. Only stuff I’ve noticed price increases on is stuff that would be considered rare or hard to come by.
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hypodactylus
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2021
Posts: 477
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Post by hypodactylus on Apr 20, 2023 9:54:02 GMT -5
Yeah, it definitely seems like prices have increased on the more interesting material. Then again, seems like prices have gone up significantly on a lot of things.
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hoolligan1938
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2022
Posts: 253
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Post by hoolligan1938 on Apr 20, 2023 10:22:07 GMT -5
Yes, the prices have gotten rediculous. Some rocks that were around $7 to $8 dollars on ebay, about six months ago are now $15.00. I can understand a 10% price increase but not 100%. The same for shipping. $10.50 shipping charge on what used to be $4.00 shipping. It's not the Post Office doing this, it's sellers trying to make some extra bucks. I've noticed too, that the quality of some of these rocks is getting worse. Just my opinion!
Jim
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Post by taylor on Apr 20, 2023 11:26:12 GMT -5
Based on the 2023 Tucson Gem and Mineral shows prices on some rough have significantly increased. We saw some reasonable prices, usually when the actual miner was offering the rough. Many prices were a bit higher and some prices were sky high. Particularly high were those offered by the Australian and South American sellers at the Kino Center.
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ashley
Cave Dweller
Member since February 2023
Posts: 933 
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Post by ashley on Apr 20, 2023 11:51:22 GMT -5
My boss went to the Tucson show and said the prices were crazy, especially on amethyst.
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jimaz
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2018
Posts: 470 
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Post by jimaz on Apr 20, 2023 11:57:53 GMT -5
I just mailed a small flat rate box to my son and it was $10.20. Crazy. Postal rates are going nuts.
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Post by catmandewe on Apr 20, 2023 12:23:35 GMT -5
Most of the increase is from import and duty taxes, a friend of mine who imports containers full of stones said his last container that came in cost $21,000 when it used to be somewhere between $2000-3000 per container.
USPS just raised its rates again, $10 something for a small flat rate, $15 something for a medium flat rate and $20 something for a large flat rate. You can save a little bit by using paypal shipping or some similar volume discount postage company but its really not that much, usually enough to offset printing and packaging costs.
Amethyst from Brazil and Uruguay took a huge leap (from $4 to $10-15 a kilo), even for material that was already in the states before the shipping increase, no one can explain that increase except for blaming it on covid.
Lots of material that we used to buy in bulk is no longer available (such as labradorite or rainbow flourite), we couldnt find any this year except for leftover material from last year at very high prices.
Tony
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Post by Son Of Beach on Apr 20, 2023 14:30:33 GMT -5
My boss went to the Tucson show and said the prices were crazy, especially on amethyst. I watched a video a couple months ago and he stated that Amethyst, for a time, was considered one of the highest value "gemstones" mostly found in Europe until a huge reserve was found in Brazil.
I wonder if that source is starting to get tapped out..
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khara
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,979
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Post by khara on Apr 20, 2023 15:51:30 GMT -5
Prices on everything have gotten ridiculous.
With shipping it’s not the sellers overcharging, that’s actually the shipping rates now. USPS small flat rate is over $10 and medium flat rate is over $17. That’s your best option for heavy items like rocks. If you are buying something lightweight, like a cab, the seller could ship that first class but that won’t have insurance so they’d want to add insurance for a couple bucks. This puts even a first class package with plenty of padding at about $6.
We are taking care of my mother in law. Lots of extra expenses and little things she needs now in memory care. She needed some little desktop bins, for papers and pencils. 20-25 bucks. For little plastic bins. I spent an hour on Amazon looking for options. Everything is 25 bucks. Same with clothing. Cheap Chinese made tops, 25 bucks.
I do occasionally buy rocks online. I try to buy multiple items from one seller to help the shipping costs get absorbed across multiple pieces. Otherwise the shipping can double the cost of an item! I have a feeling if sellers have increased their prices for the material itself it’s because they are having to raise their rates to deal with this newly imposed inflation. Everything is up from food to clothes to desktop organizers. People have to adjust to pay the bills.
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Post by susand24224 on Apr 21, 2023 16:42:00 GMT -5
Yes, USPS rates are way up on flat rate priority, of course Ebay discounts the $10.20 a bit, but the seller also has to pay a final value fee on the postage as well as the item itself. Khara and Catmandewe have very good explanations for why this is happening, and it doesn't appear to be because the seller wants to make more money. Recently I had three packages that needed to go to New Zealand, and it was actually cheaper for me to mail them to a friend in Canada ($16.50 U.S.) and have him mail them individually to New Zealand from Canada. Even with Canada's fuel tax added on. Most countries consider mail a service, but our current Postmaster General considers it a business. Sorry Ben Franklin!
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Post by stardiamond on Apr 21, 2023 21:30:12 GMT -5
I'll take an opposite position. Unless you want to set the time machine for more than 10 years back, this is a great time to be buying slabs; quality and price. I am always looking for a wide variety of material, so I do check out ebay and sometimes Etsy, but I very little from those sites. I am currently buying from 6 Facebook groups and prefer BIN to auction. Most of the sellers are hobbyists. I watch the listings and they buy stuff from each other. The only problem with BIN is that with time zones, I wouldn't be able to get any sleep since slabs are being listed almost 24 hours a day. Here are my page links: www.facebook.com/groups/FullMoonRockShopwww.facebook.com/groups/CreativeSlabConnectionwww.facebook.com/groups/THESLABDEPOTwww.facebook.com/groups/1580169828944386 (wild west slabs and rocks) www.facebook.com/groups/2103732609822197 (mike's rocks) There are probably a lot more that I haven't explored. This is a hobby and information should be shared. Payment is usually by a paypal invoice and some sellers are quicker than others to invoice and ship. Most of my buying experiences have been positive. |
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Post by stardiamond on Apr 21, 2023 21:33:16 GMT -5
The groups can be a pain to search, there is no search and listings bounce around on the group pages.
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khara
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,979
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Post by khara on Apr 22, 2023 2:59:05 GMT -5
stardiamond It’s probably a good thing I’m not on Facebook. 🤓
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Mark K
Cave Dweller
Member since April 2012
Posts: 2,807
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Post by Mark K on Apr 22, 2023 9:29:40 GMT -5
Well, I can start selling my slabs here and not screw anyone. I am just really slow. I have a variety, but not anything insanely rare.
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Post by Rockoonz on Apr 22, 2023 10:29:54 GMT -5
We are looking at our pricing for shows now. We have a pretty good stock of slabs that is priced already, trying to change price structure right now would be a ton of work with our shows only about 6 weeks (EEK!) away, but I have also listened to my long time dealer friends berate people who undercut them, usually folks like us with fairly large collections they just need to make managable.
As far as shipping with online sellers go, why do so many people think the $25 item with $10 shipping is gouging, so they buy it for $40 with "free shipping"?!? Is math obsolete? My main seller for basic supplies on ebay often has 2 BIN sales for the same item going, with the free shipping item a couple bucks higher overall, and when you check sold items they sold more of the free shipping item. For spreadsheet purposes for those of us who track and pay taxes, adding shipping can be a lot easier to keep track of if it's consistent and our actual cost.
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Post by stardiamond on Apr 22, 2023 10:43:07 GMT -5
I smoke cigars not as a habit but as a hobby. I have an inventory of around a few thousand. I don't use a spreadsheet to keep track. Buying rocks and cigars and a lot of other stuff is similar.
Cost is cost delivered including sales tax. I buy in bulk to save on shipping cost. The more the value of items the less the percentage shipping is of the total cost. I frequently ask sellers to hold items so I can buy more later and combine shipping costs. I sell my cabs on Etsy with free shipping. I believe buyers prefer it. When a person buys multiple items, I get increased profit for all the items above one. When there is a negotiation prior to sale, I offer a discount. When there isn't I send an extra cab with the package.
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Post by stardiamond on Apr 22, 2023 15:43:06 GMT -5
Latest acquisition from Wild West.  |
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vance71975
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since September 2022
Posts: 760
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Post by vance71975 on Apr 25, 2023 2:06:36 GMT -5
I generally buy slabs on ebay and have seen prices shoot up. For those of you buying and selling rough, have you seen prices of rough skyrocket, too?
Shipping on eBay has gotten crazy, too. Plenty of people charging 10 bucks for a sfrb. I refuse.
If they are shipping priority mail, 10 bucks is the actual shipping cost for a flat rate box at least it is for the small box. |
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Post by rockjunquie on Apr 25, 2023 5:52:20 GMT -5
I know the USPS shipping went up. I also know sellers get a break on costs. I try to shop free shipping or first class. I am usually only buying one or 2 small slabs at a time. A frb is a waste to me.
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