FAQ's

General

What discounts do you offer?

Our pricing structure is quite simple. There is a pick price, a lower flat price, and often a full box price. If you are a serious wholesaler there is probably a wholesalers discount as well. If you buy more of a certain product, you get a better price. We are happy to pick and choose material for you, but as this takes more time and the best pieces, the price reflects this.

What is your discount structure?

We do not try and tie you in with loyalty/ or annual turnover based discounts! Discount structures for certain spend levels can oblige you to buy things you don’t really want, just to keep your discount… If times are hard and you can’t buy as much – the last thing you need is to lose a discount grade, and have to pay more just when you need good margins more than ever. We keep it simple, and if you get larger quantities of a certain item, you’ll get the volume discount. Bear in mind that our pricing is fair to start with, and reflects the real price you’ll be paying.

Why isn’t “X” as cheap as the ones I can get from “Y”?

We have years of experience sourcing stones from all over the world and we don’t pretend to be cheapest at everything, especially when we emphasise quality in picking. Many things aren’t the same, in terms of rarity, size, quality or grade as other similar items in the market. When comparing a product always try to compare like with like; price is not the only criterion.

Do you offer a discount if we visit the warehouse?

No, but we do offer a Mileage and travel allowance to help out.

Do you offer a cash discount?

No.

I am a wholesaler, what can you offer?

We are a source supplier of many items, and could serve you a number of reliable and competitive lines. See wholesaler for more details.

Why can’t I see any prices?

Apart from our Gallery (coming soon!) of one-off items, this is a wholesale (B2B) only website. Please register with us to see prices and place an order. Once you have submitted these details we will need to validate your account and will be in touch with a couple of days to let you know the outcome. If you are only looking for one item, please contact us for details of someone close to you who should be able to help out.

Why can’t I pay online?

We have an online “shopping basket”  but stones vary a lot and stock levels are difficult monitor –  generating the final invoice from the submitted order is not easy to automate, so we prefer to talk to customers directly before taking payment. We accept most forms of Payment once an order is finalised.

Why can’t I find what I’m looking for on your website?

We can only list so much material, please contact us for more information we may have what you want in stock, or use our bespoke sourcing service.

Why don’t you sell “X”?

So long as the item is something to do with rocks, contact us or use our wholesale forward ordering form and tell us about it and we’ll see what we can do.

I can’t get to the warehouse, what do you suggest?

We offer Subsidised shipping on most orders over £200. Alternatively, we can arrange a visit by our travelling warehouse truck on one of our regular road-trips.

I want to pick my own stock, but am too far away to visit…

Our Mileage and travel allowance may make the difference, making a visit more worthwhile, or we arrange a road-trip visit to you.

Do you offer items on SOR (sale or return)?

No we don’t. We have found SOR difficult to administer. However, we do offer a limited trade back arrangement on certain one-off items. If you use this service you can exchange items or swap for more commercial material you know will sell, within a certain time limit, and subject to the conditions applicable.

Can I have a visit from your road trip truck?

Of course! Please see more details here and contact us to make an appointment.

What happens if I don’t like the material you send me?

We can usually sort this out, see our satisfaction guarantee for more details.

What happens if something arrives damaged?

We can sort this out too… see damages and returns for more information and what to do next.

Do you buy collections?

Yes we do, but only if they are reasonably well documented, and contain some good looking or rare & unusual material. Contact us with details.

I have something to sell you, what do I do?

If you have a direct source of something rare, attractive or unusual we will be interested in hearing from you. Also, if you can offer consistent quality at really competitive prices we will be interested. Bear in mind we pick our partners carefully… make it as clear as possible what you are offering, contact us and we’ll take it from there.

Grading & Quality

What is “Jewellery Grade”?

Small, light, well proportioned and clearly defined, ideal for jewellery.

What is “Clearance grade”?

Lower grade material with noticeable flaws, discolouration or extensive damage. May be mine run, or what is left after other grades have been selected out. Main advantage is that it is cheap!

What is “Commercial grade” material?

Reasonably standardised mixed grade that sells. May not be the best quality available but, due to reasonable quality and reliable consistency over a large amount, is consistently saleable.

What is “Premium grade” material?

Selected for quality, depending on what is coming out of the ground this could represent the best 5 to 40% of available material.

What is AA grade material?

Scarce, the very best quality. When applied to minerals good colour, clarity and form, flaws and inclusions should be minimal. Fossils should have good definition and little or no restoration.

What is a “Basket line”?

Lower cost items with high turnover and good margin, ideal for point of sale displays. Mostly best sellers, these lines are chosen with a specific retail price point in mind.

What is a “Kit Fossil”?

Small, illustrative fossil specimens. Low unit cost makes these items ideal for science kits, basket line “mix & match” selections for children (e.g. 3 for £1 retail), using in sieving or excavation discovery activities, publishing promotions and giveaways.

What is “Select” or “Picked” quality?

Best quality material selected from mixed grades. Ask for this in your order and it is company policy to pick the best items available from our current stock. Pick price is generally a little higher than mixed grade material.

What is “Display grade”?

The best available. When quality is everything and the price reflects that… high quality material for discerning collectors or a special collection.

What is “Museum grade”?

The largest or most exceptional examples or sometimes, illustrative of a story that needs to be told in a museum.

Technical

How do you source you material?

We cannot source everything we sell directly from the person who digs the material, although we have a surprising number of things from the people who found them. We have 120 sources of material from Morocco alone. The person who digs Quartz may not be the best person to polish Quartz spheres. Knowledge gained from years of experience means we can source the best material from the best source. We get the best material we can and bring everything to one place for you to look at before you buy…

Insofar as we can, we operate a free trade policy. Over the years extended families have been supported, homes built, land bought and improved as a direct result of the business Moussa is engaged in. We aim to continue that positive contribution in the years to come, and want you to become part of that picture as well.

How old are minerals?

It’s very difficult to judge the age of minerals. The age can range from the age of the host rock until yesterday, depending on the situation… in some cases the minerals are derived from an older deposit and end up recycled in a new one – some of the ingredients are older than the baking day.  E.g. with the White Quartz Geodes it’s more likely (although not certain) that the geodes formed shortly after deposition-compaction-lithification-diagenesis of the host rock, which as far as we know is Eocene in age. Host rock for the White Quartz Geodes is phosphate rich, similar to the material the shark teeth are found.

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