Hey all! I’ve been wanting to get some (more) crystals for myself and while looking at local webshops they were more on the expensive side… I looked on sites like Wish and Aliexpress and while the photos look good and some items have good reviews I’m kinda bothered if I’d get a REAL crystal or not.
Once I was given a piece of amethyst which turned out to be a clear quartz crystal painted purple… Looking at these sites I’m worried if the crystal I want to order is just resin or glass with paint mixed in…
Are the crystals legit on these sites? Or should I just bite the bullet and not cheap out on everything?
@John_Wick Yeah, Ebay was always hit or miss for me, and I usually see people selling the same stuff (from China) that is sold on the sites I mentioned. Still I’ve seen the same photographs used on Aliexpress on Etsy too, but I trust the sellers on Etsy more…?
@anon10524665 The best option would be going to stores and checking the crystals IRL, but that’s not always the option I guess… with other stuff, I heavily lean towards ordering.
Ikr, its a pain in the ass especially for Europeans… I’ve found really good stores with huge variety and really good prices with legit stones buuuuut they’re in the US and they either don’t ship worldwide, they won’t ship at all or the shipping cost + waiting time will be the same as getting a stone from an expensive store.
Dammit US, you got all the good stuff…
I feel you… damn Western World! The cheap price + expensive shipping is a common thing sadly… Sometimes I’m bothered by the waiting time (1-2 months), but my orders usually arrive when I completely forget about them. Also the current state of the world slowed down deliveries too, so it’s just better to forget about the package
There are actually a lot of trustworthy shops, also in Europe. I tend to buy from smaller shops, who also sell not so shiny, more normal looking minerals. Last one I ordered from was a mineral museum. Many trusted shops also tell you where the stone was mined.
In the past I loved going to mineral shops, but there are also depleted mines in the countryside which have crystals laying around - I planned a trip to one of these places. I don’t know if the effort put in counts in this case, but I think if you find the crystal yourself, it’ll feel more like yours I guess.