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Post by fernwood on Feb 6, 2020 6:16:51 GMT -5
A question. Saw a listing on Marketplace for someone who is "downsizing" their slab collection. Prices range from $1.00 to $5.00 per ounce. They listed a wide variety of slabs. Are these prices the going rate for individual slabs? If the person who posted these is active here, please chime in. Here are some of the photos:
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Feb 6, 2020 7:18:19 GMT -5
$16 to $80 per pound sounds high to me. There is a rock shop a few hours from my house that sells random slabs for $8 per pound. The last time I was there they had about 500 pounds of slabs in bins to choose from. I came home with 27 pounds. The trick is to know what your looking at. Plenty of junk in the mix but also plenty of killer deals. $16 per pound is maybe not too outrageous for some of what they have but I did not see much that I would pay over $50 a pound for. Tommy has a formula he uses to determine if a slab is worth the asking price. Check out this post to see some that I posted here for I.D. when I got home. Not too shabby for $8 a pound and these were bought at a retail establishment. forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/84838/slab-identification-help-needed-2018EDIT: I just checked out the listing and this is a rundown of materials. Lapis, Tiger Eye, Moss Agate, Montana Agate, Kambaba Jasper, Picture Jasper, Petrified Wood, Turitella agate, Purple Lepidolite, Septarian Agate, Wonderstone, Tiget Iron, Leopard Jasper, Jade and more! Chuck
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Post by rmf on Feb 6, 2020 7:43:30 GMT -5
fernwood That is a good question. Some time ago I took a piece of Brazilian agate and weighed it, sawed it, weighed the slabs. Based on diamond blade costs and other expenses I estimated that it costs about (excluding the value of the material) $15-$20per pound of slabs to saw then, clean them and get them ready to sell. So the $1 per oz => $16/lb is right in the ball park for material that is not too expensive. The $5/oz ($80 per pound, since I think in pounds) seems steepish to me so that would really depend on what material they are selling for the higher amount.
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Post by fernwood on Feb 6, 2020 7:58:32 GMT -5
Drummond Island Rocks Thanks for checking the listing out and posting the various materials. rmf I am not questioning the cost of preparing items for retail sales. Just wondering if driving the 1.5 hours would be worth it. Would take me about 3 hours to get there, due to needed stops to walk around. To me it appears the seller is not really trying to "downsize", but is offering the slabs at retail prices or higher, depending on quality of slabs.
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Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,652
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Post by Tommy on Feb 6, 2020 9:02:38 GMT -5
fernwood - what "marketplace" are these being sold on? If you mean the RTH Marketplace here on RTH please link us so we don't accidentally crap on a member's sales thread.
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Post by HankRocks on Feb 6, 2020 9:03:36 GMT -5
Drummond Island Rocks Thanks for checking the listing out and posting the various materials. rmf I am not questioning the cost of preparing items for retail sales. Just wondering if driving the 1.5 hours would be worth it. Would take me about 3 hours to get there, due to needed stops to walk around. To me it appears the seller is not really trying to "downsize", but is offering the slabs at retail prices or higher, depending on quality of slabs. Beth. The question to yourself is, "Do I need the Slabs, and do I need them right now". If not then if it were me I would wait until such time as I found a better deal. They are out there, patience is required. A 6 hour trip to go look at expensive slabs seems a bit much especially if you are in the healing mode. Time spent resting or do other chores seems to me better spent. Henry
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Post by fernwood on Feb 6, 2020 9:18:04 GMT -5
fernwood - what "marketplace" are these being sold on? If you mean the RTH Marketplace here on RTH please link us so we don't accidentally crap on a member's sales thread. They were on Facebook Marketplace.
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Post by fernwood on Feb 6, 2020 9:19:56 GMT -5
Drummond Island Rocks Thanks for checking the listing out and posting the various materials. rmf I am not questioning the cost of preparing items for retail sales. Just wondering if driving the 1.5 hours would be worth it. Would take me about 3 hours to get there, due to needed stops to walk around. To me it appears the seller is not really trying to "downsize", but is offering the slabs at retail prices or higher, depending on quality of slabs. Beth. The question to yourself is, "Do I need the Slabs, and do I need them right now". If not then if it were me I would wait until such time as I found a better deal. They are out there, patience is required. A 6 hour trip to go look at expensive slabs seems a bit much especially if you are in the healing mode. Time spent resting or do other chores seems to me better spent. Henry Yes, am spending most of my time now working, doing farm stuff and healing. Thanks for the reality check. Was just excited to see lapidary material being offered nearby, as this is rare.
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Deleted
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Member since January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2020 13:43:37 GMT -5
Slabs in rock shops and shows around here get sold in 2 ways: the high quality and rarer variety slabs get priced per-piece, and the less remarkable slabs get mixed together and sold per pound (ranging from $1-5 and up). Only individual slabs I recall being sold by weight has been facet-grade material and very rare stuff, but maybe that's a regional thing.
Lots of subjective criteria go into deciding what is high quality and what is lesser (pattern, color, fractures, porosity/density, orientation) and you can often find great stuff in the per pound piles that just weren't the things the cutter was hoping to get from the stone. If bought per slab, some pictured pieces look like they'd be good deals at the price you quoted, and others would be priced on the high side for me.
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