What's It Worth

This is probably the most asked question by people. The hobby has been changing over the past couple of decades. You still have a group of true hobbyist that set no price or value on stuff they have collected. While we are on the subject lets break down the whole into some groups. You have the true collector, the dealer, the guy that digs and sells in order to get some extra money and the investment collector. Now ask a person from each of these groups of what the value of a particular crystal and I am willing to bet you will get a different price and answer.

There is no guide book to let you know what each crystal should be worth. Crystals are like us, there are no two alike.....maybe similar. So now where does that leave us? Seems like we are more in the dark than we started.

Ok, lets start with a particular crystal. We need to look at what kind it is, lets say quartz because quartz is a common crystal and looks nice. Next we look at the location where it came from, does this area produce a lot of crystals ? Size, is this quartz crystal small, medium or large for the area? Are there any other types of crystals located on it to make it unique ? Last but not least, is it of good quality?.... no cracks, dings or pieces missing ( a complete crystal).....I find it better to leave it as a matrix (what the crystal is sitting on) and have the buyer cut or break the piece to get what he is after.

I can remember once asking a dealer at a show when I was first starting out what a crystal I had collected was worth. His reply was, as much as the buyer was willing to pay. To this day that thought still comes to mind. When I have been to shows to add to my collection some people have told me that I paid too much for certain ones. I know different, we each look for what applies to us, and know what we can afford to spend. If I were looking to buy in order to sell to make money it would be in bulk where you can average the prices over a group and the seller can sell for less because he knows he will not have to sit on them for awhile with his money tied up.