5 ways to sell crystals on Instagram

If you enjoy interacting with customers on social media and creating new content daily, selling crystals on Instagram could be a great fit for you.

This article dives into 5 different ways you can use Instagram for your crystal business. Instagram is just one of the 3 main ways to sell crystals online: on Etsy, your own website, or on social media.

The very first things to do

I know you’re excited to get started, but hold on a sec! Before you list any crystals, make sure to take care of these tasks.

Set up a PayPal for business

This is a super important step! You can’t use your personal PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, CashApp, etc. to accept payments on Instagram. 

Of course, you can try… And you might even get away with it for a while. 

But as soon as these services figure out that you’re using your account to sell things, they can and will freeze your account! It’s possible to lose lots of money this way.

So, just don’t risk it. Instead, open a business account with PayPal. The process is really simple – all you need is a bank account.

With a business PayPal you can track orders, send invoices to your customers, and buy discounted shipping labels. It’s a real win-win!

And, while you’re at it, open a separate checking account for your business. This keeps everything nice and organized for tax time.

Figure out your store policies

Your policies should be posted in your Instagram bio, or in a story highlight, before you sell a single crystal. You’ll want to cover:

Shipping

• Where do you ship to?
• Do you offer free shipping, do you charge a flat rate, or is the buyer responsible for the full cost?

Payment

• How do you accept payment?
• Do you offer payment plans?
• How long does a buyer have to pay you after claiming?
• What happens if they don’t pay in time?

Returns

• Do you offer returns? (Most Instagram crystal sellers don’t.)
• If you take returns: How long does someone have to request a return? Who pays for the return shipping?

Ok, those are the essentials! Now let’s move on to the good stuff.

Strategies for selling crystals on Instagram

These are the top 5 ways to make sales and grow your business on Instagram. I’ve ordered them from easiest to most difficult. 

If the thought of doing all of these at once makes you nervous, it’s ok! Pick the strategies that you’re comfortable with, and once you’ve mastered those you can think about trying others.

1. Feed sale

In a feed sale, you create individual posts for each crystal. Include photos or videos and the price. The first person to comment “Sold” on the post buys the crystal!

Here’s an example from @druzy.dripsales:

How to be successful with a feed sale

• Feed sales work best when you already have a large, engaged audience of followers.
• Promote it ahead of time in Instagram posts and stories.
• Tell your followers to turn on their post notifications for your account.
• Post an image to announce when your feed sale is starting.
• Post the items one by one, or schedule them advance using a tool like Tailwind.
• Include the name and price of the item.
• After someone comments “Sold”, tag the buyer in a comment so they know the item is theirs.
• Many shops create a separate Instagram account that is just for feed sales. This way, they don’t overwhelm the followers on their main account.

2. Story sale

A story sale is similar to a feed sale, but you add the crystals to an Instagram Story.

Stories are shown at the top of your followers’ feeds for 24 hours. If your crystals aren’t all sold after 24 hours, you can save the story as a highlight so it can be shopped later. 

But realistically, most followers will only see your story in the first 24 hours. That’s why this is a better technique for a shop that is established and has engaged followers.

To start a story sale, add a photo or video of each item to your story and include the price. Tell people to direct message you to buy the crystal.

Once a crystal is claimed, remove that individual photo from your story.

How to be successful with a story sale

• As with feed sales, story sales work best when you already have many followers.
• Promote your story sale ahead of time in Instagram posts, stories, and/or Reels.
• Create an Instagram post when your story sale is starting.
• Instead of posting all of the photos/videos to your story at once – space them out. That way, every time you add a new photo, your story will become highlighted again for your followers.
• The more you space out your story, the longer your story sale will last.

3. Live sale

Many of the most successful shops sell crystals on Instagram through live sales. This means they start a live video broadcast that anyone can join and comment on. 

They hold crystals up to the camera one by one, and read off the prices. The first person to comment with the price of the crystal claims the item.

Once you have a live sale following, it’s possible to sell over $1,000 in crystals in just a few hours. This is the most lucrative way to sell crystals on Instagram, but it’s also the most labor intensive!

How to be successful with a crystal live sale

• Watch other live sales to understand what works well for other sellers.
• Be consistent and go live at least 1-2x a month.
• Add a countdown to the start time of your live sale to your Instagram story.
• Get organized! Add a removable sticker to the bottom of every crystal with the price.
• You also need a system for organizing claims, so you know who claimed which items.
• Get a helper – it’s possible to run a live sale by yourself, but it’s much easier when you have someone to help you record and organize your claims.
• Have a lot of inventory on hand, so you don’t run out of new things to show.
• Be prepared to spend a day (or 2!) to send out invoices and pack shipments.

4. Directing followers to your Etsy or website

Here you’re using social media in addition to your existing online store. Unlike a live sale, linking to your online store doesn’t usually result in immediate sales. But, it’s key for building name recognition and winning new customers.

When you have your own online store, your photos will make you or break you. You have to publish listings with photos, descriptions, and tags for all of your crystals. 

So, you make a major time investment before you can even start promoting on Instagram. But, good news!

You can reuse your photos and videos for Instagram posts, stories, and Reels. In your captions, direct people to your listings via the link in your bio.

This is how I use Instagram for my store, Interstellar Crystals:

How to be successful at directing followers to your store

• Encourage people who order from your store to follow you on Instagram.
• Add posts and Reels that feature your crystals at least a few times a week.
• Interact with your fans, crystal stores, and other accounts on Instagram to increase the number of people who see your posts
• Use crystal related hashtags on every post and Reel. You can include 30 hashtags in each post – use them all! If you run out of ideas, try a hashtag generator.
• Create a bio link website using a tool like Campsite.bio, and include links to your featured listings. 

5. Instagram Shopping

With Instagram Shopping, your customers don’t even have to leave Instagram to buy crystals. You can tag items in your posts, stories, and ads; followers can tap through to reach a product listing page and buy your crystal. Pretty neat, right?

@allthatshimmerzz is a master at Instagram Shopping!

This is an advanced level sales strategy. While not as grueling as hosting live sales, you need to spend lots of time on your marketing, content, and Instagram store to make this work for you. 

You’ll need your own website as well, which is a whole other can of worms. If selling crystals is your full time gig and your store already has its own website, Instagram Shopping can be a great next step to reach even more potential customers. 

Don’t be afraid to sell crystals on Instagram!

Now you have an idea of the methods that will work best for your business and lifestyle. Which will you try first? Are there other Instagram strategies that have worked for you? Leave a comment below!