Selling online

The channel that works despite the product fighting it, and it works on the strength of the description.

The photograph is the specimen

The buyer cannot handle it, so the photograph carries the entire quality judgment.

Plain background, consistent light, a scale in frame, multiple angles including the back.

Photograph the damage. A listing that shows the flaw sells better than one that hides it, because it makes everything else believable.

No filters, no color correction beyond accuracy. A specimen that arrives duller than its photograph is a return and a review.

What a listing must say

Species, variety, locality at the precision you know it with a qualifier where needed.

Size, in the size class and in actual dimensions.

Weight.

Condition, including damage, in words.

Treatment, repair or restoration.

Stability, if the species is fugitive, hydrated or a sulfide.

And how it will be packed, because buyers of breakable things buy from people who describe their packing.

Shipping is the constraint

Heavy, hard, brittle and frequently with a projecting crystal. Double boxing is not optional.

Shipping cost is a large fraction of a mid-price specimen, which pushes the channel towards higher-value material rather than volume.

Insure it and photograph the packing. A damage claim without that photograph is not a strong claim.

Where to sell

Specialist mineral marketplaces, where the buyers are knowledgeable and expect proper descriptions.

General auction sites, which have reach and a buyer who knows less and complains more.

Your own site, which needs an audience you already have.

Social platforms, where a lot of this trade now happens live, and where the description discipline is hardest to maintain because it is a conversation.

References