What to look for in a wholesale crystal supplier

One of the most daunting parts of starting your own crystal shop is finding the right wholesale suppliers. A large part of the value of your business comes from your supplier knowledge and supplier relationships.

But, identifying suppliers can be tricky. Most crystal shops won’t tell you who they source crystals from. That’s not because they’re afraid of competition, or they don’t want to welcome you to the crystal seller community.

The truth is, they’ve spent lots of time and invested money to develop relationships with quality suppliers for their business.

Take a shortcut and find suppliers I use in this crystal wholesale supplier list.

If you’ve read my blog about How to find crystal wholesale suppliers, you know that there are free websites to find excellent suppliers. And there are even tricks to get suppliers to come to you directly. But how can you tell which suppliers are the right ones for you?

Table of Contents

• How to vet a wholesale crystal supplier
  • Are they a legitimate, established business?
  • Do they provide detailed photos and videos prior to purchase?
  • Do they know what they’re selling?
  • What types of items do they specialize in?
  • Watch out for these wholesale crystal supplier red flags
  • A few final tips
• Don’t be afraid to try a new wholesale crystal supplier

How to vet a wholesale crystal supplier

Say you’ve come across a few wholesalers with beautiful stones that you want to carry in your crystal shop. The next step is to vet them to make sure your investment in inventory will be worth it. 

There’s nothing more disappointing than receiving a shipment of crystals that are:

• Much smaller than expected
• Poor quality
• Or fake or mislabeled!

Here are some things to look for before placing an order with a new supplier:

Are they a legitimate, established business?

These are some important questions to consider:

• Have they been around for a while? (At least a few years.)
• Do they respond to messages quickly and consistently?
• Do they have genuine customer reviews or references? 
• Does the seller own their own crystal business? Do they work with a family-owned crystal business? Or are they a contractor shopping with other contractors at a crystal mall? (It’s best to work directly with a business.)
• If they do live shows: do you see the same people claiming items in their shows over time?
• Do they take payment through PayPal? (PayPal will protect you as a customer.)

Do they provide detailed photos and videos prior to purchase?

Many suppliers will let you shop over livestream. Others will send you photos and videos with items for you to select from.

Salespeople should be happy to show you more details and close ups of the stones you’re considering. For towers and other self-standing carvings, they should provide pictures upon request, so you can check if the items stand straight.

(Please note this advice applies to suppliers outside of North America. Not all wholesalers provide this level of service, but that doesn’t mean they’re not legit.)

Do they know what they’re selling?

You’ll want to make sure that your potential supplier passes the following tests.

• Are they able to accurately identify the stones they’re showing you?
• Do they disclose if a crystal is manmade, such as smelting quartz or opalite?
• Do they disclose if a crystal is dyed, such as some types of colorful agate?
• Do they disclose if stones like citrine or smoky quartz are heat-treated?

What types of items do they specialize in?

• Many factories in the Donghai region of China specialize in carved and polished stones such as towers, spheres, palm stones, and decorative carvings.
• Other vendors and mines in South America and Africa often specialize in raw stones and specimens.
• Some vendors may specialize in stones that are native to their area, such as ocean jasper and celestite from Madagascar, or Caribbean calcite from Pakistan.

Watch out for these wholesale crystal supplier red flags

• Their prices are too good to be true
• Their prices are too high for you to make a profit
• They don’t know the pricing of items
• They are overly pushy
• Their pictures are highly saturated and filtered
• They won’t provide additional photos, videos, or measurements when you ask
• They try to hide chips or imperfections on camera
• They won’t give you an itemized invoice listing all of your crystals and weights
• They don’t take PayPal

A few final tips

When trying a new supplier for the first time, place a small order. That way, you don’t have a lot of money on the line if they don’t meet your expectations.

Some rare stones only come from certain areas of the world. For example, larimar can only be found in the Dominican Republic. If a supplier from another country is selling that stone, proceed with caution.

Moldavite is often faked because of its popularity, high price, and ease of counterfeiting. Even legitimate sellers may be fooled into selling you fake moldavite.

Don’t be afraid to try a new wholesale crystal supplier

I’m not going to lie – it takes time, and a bit of trial and error, to find the best suppliers for your business. But once you have two or three go-to sellers, they quickly become trusted partners who will help you grow your store.

Armed with these tips, you can now approach wholesalers with confidence.