rockbrain
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2022
Posts: 2,535
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Post by rockbrain on Jan 26, 2024 11:38:59 GMT -5
Here's a couple beautiful slabs of Pietersite. I saw at quartzite this year. They were priced similar at the few other places I saw them. Some of the prices are just insane! The prices are listed on the slab. I don't know why I didn't take pictures of the most expensive ones. These were actually some of the lesser priced in the bin. I think I was just in shock! Patty liveoak I wanted you to see these but I didn't want to post on your thread and detract from your beautiful copper smithing work!
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RWA3006
Cave Dweller
Member since March 2009
Posts: 4,208
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Post by RWA3006 on Jan 26, 2024 11:54:31 GMT -5
The dollar is sure losing its value and many slabs, rough, etc. are getting more scarce. I sometimes wish I could have been in the hobby 50 years ago.
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Post by liveoak on Jan 26, 2024 13:08:04 GMT -5
Thanks, rockbrain ! They look beautiful, but I'm floored over the prices- I mean you were at Quartzite aren't there supposed to be deals ? ! Patty...wishing she had stock piled some Pietersite of any kind, a number of years ago !
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Post by Rockoonz on Jan 26, 2024 14:21:32 GMT -5
Is that Russian or African? Country of origin, and current events there, can really effect the supply and drive up pricing. I have a friend who managed to order some Siberian jade right before trade with Russia went south. Popularity went up before supply all but disappeared, perfect for a dealer, but he is reluctant to part with it because he can't resupply.
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Post by rockjunquie on Jan 26, 2024 15:27:59 GMT -5
I have a little rule for myself that I won't cab a slab that I can't replace. I'm sure a lot of you are the same way. Same with cabs. I got a lot of rhodochrosite before it got crazy and I have a lot of pietersite which was expensive, but not THAT expensive. I have a bunch of charoite and serraphinite as well. But, with the way things are with Russia, I'm holding onto them.
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Post by stardiamond on Jan 26, 2024 17:38:27 GMT -5
John Rowland said that deals are harder to find at Quartzsite. Booths are expensive and sellers would rather pack up their inventory than reduce price. I've never considered attending since I wouldn't buy enough. I'm only interested in selling cabs, not rough or slabs.
I'm finding a lot of reasonably priced material at FB.
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gunsil
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2023
Posts: 325
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Post by gunsil on Jan 26, 2024 17:53:49 GMT -5
I just looked at some slabs of pietersite from Namibia I got at Quartzite seven years ago. 6X3" with no brown junk were $120 each. Nice thick slabs and if you want the good stuff you simply gotta pay, it's the American way. The Chinese stuff is cheaper but I like the blue Namibian stuff better.
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Post by stardiamond on Jan 26, 2024 18:04:33 GMT -5
I really like Pietersite. I have made some nice cabs and even priced right they don't sell. My rule is don't buy more material that doesn't sell. That seems to be the case for me for all chatoyant material.
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wargrafix
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2023
Posts: 558
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Post by wargrafix on Jan 27, 2024 12:11:03 GMT -5
John Rowland said that deals are harder to find at Quartzsite. Booths are expensive and sellers would rather pack up their inventory than reduce price. I've never considered attending since I wouldn't buy enough. I'm only interested in selling cabs, not rough or slabs. I'm finding a lot of reasonably priced material at FB. Dumb business model. Letting it sit on the shelf is a model for bankruptcy. They can go right ahead. They will carry the rock with them when they pass on.
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Post by Rockoonz on Jan 27, 2024 12:50:47 GMT -5
John Rowland said that deals are harder to find at Quartzsite. Booths are expensive and sellers would rather pack up their inventory than reduce price. I've never considered attending since I wouldn't buy enough. I'm only interested in selling cabs, not rough or slabs. I'm finding a lot of reasonably priced material at FB. Dumb business model. Letting it sit on the shelf is a model for bankruptcy. They can go right ahead. They will carry the rock with them when they pass on. Business? The real businesses mostly buy at the big shows, they just set up to sell since they're there anyway. My friend Herbert was telling me they do more profit in a single non-rockhound art/metaphysical/whatever show than they do in a dozen rock club or gem shows. Quite often it is a literal benefit thing they do to keep those shows alive so they have a place to buy. It's kind of a balancing act, seems like at the shows whatever you left at home is what everyone is asking about for one thing, and there are community considerations as well. We just started doing shows, so other than some of our long time friends here and in the NW, we are outsiders developing relationships. Whether it seems practical or not, undercutting your neighbors pricing is not well recieved, but at the same time being expected to raise yours to placate someone is not necessary. Balancing act, can't keep everyone happy, but don't be a jerk. Signs for like 25% off, half price, and so on at the end of a show are a better way to do it, and of course making offers. John Rowland is a very knowledgable person with a lot of influence, but almost universally an outsider among those who are the real core of the rock and gem world. His choice to burn all bridges for personal gain is his choice, and he gets to live with it.
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Post by Rockoonz on Jan 27, 2024 12:58:33 GMT -5
stardiamond John will say most anything to get a sale, he picked up the Chinese sales model real well. Guess it takes all types.
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Post by stardiamond on Jan 27, 2024 13:42:54 GMT -5
stardiamond John will say most anything to get a sale, he picked up the Chinese sales model real well. Guess it takes all types. He's a salesman and there is so much bs at his sales that I feel like I need a large shovel. When buying a person needs to be knowledgeable. He also likes to tell stories and he has told this one before. Quartzsite is not on my bucket list. In 2020, Tony (catmandewe) was selling Willow Creek at Quartzsite for the miner. When he got back he sent me pictures of the rough and I chose about 15 pounds. I don't know how much better I would have been choosing the pieces at the show. I've sold enough cabs to pay for the lot and have plenty of cabs and slabs remaining.
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,623
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Post by QuailRiver on Jan 27, 2024 18:19:47 GMT -5
Here's a couple beautiful slabs of Pietersite. I saw at quartzite this year. They were priced similar at the few other places I saw them. Some of the prices are just insane! The prices are listed on the slab. I don't know why I didn't take pictures of the most expensive ones. These were actually some of the lesser priced in the bin. I think I was just in shock! Patty liveoak I wanted you to see these but I didn't want to post on your thread and detract from your beautiful copper smithing work! Am I reading those prices correctly - $539 and $570?
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Post by realrockhound on Jan 27, 2024 18:21:06 GMT -5
Saw similar prices at the powwow in prineville. So I’m not overly surprised
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Post by Rockoonz on Jan 27, 2024 18:47:48 GMT -5
stardiamond I bumped into Larry Ridley, Willow Creek mine owner at Desert Garden last weekend. I used to look for his booth first at Prineville, his only show back then. He had the good cast belt buckle blanks and I spent my spare pennies on them every year till the foundries started closing down due to EPA stuff. He must be somewhere near 80, now he uses a step ladder to get into the escavator, but he works that claim himself still. Don't blame you for not going to Q, I can understand how it doesn't fit into what you do. It's been more of a social event for me the last couple years, Hauling another ton home to the current tonnage isn't appealing right now, really jealous of the folks who do a show out of 3 or 4 tubs and a couple folding tables. Only time I have seen John in person was at the PowWow years ago with his display of new saws. At the time I was maybe 6 months into rock saw 101 and drove down serious about buying one of his new slab saws. Got to his booth and there were a few people around the saw so I looked at the sphere machines and a few other things, talked to a woman who was working for him for a minute. The area next to the saws cleared out a little so I walked over, and as a article or video or something had told me, started by rocking the top of the vice back and forth checking for tightness, and it rocked A LOT. I commented to the wife and all in earshot "I've looked at old used saws a lot tighter than this" or something to that effect, and walked away. One of the guys who was nearby closed the saw lid, turned out to be John. Pretty sure I wasn't the only person to say that, so I can see how he might speak negatively about Q. In his defense, I examined several of his new saws more recently, and they are much better. They even have a new "What would John and Sherman do?" saw that has some compelling design features.
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rockbrain
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2022
Posts: 2,535
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Post by rockbrain on Jan 27, 2024 20:47:37 GMT -5
Here's a couple beautiful slabs of Pietersite. I saw at quartzite this year. They were priced similar at the few other places I saw them. Some of the prices are just insane! The prices are listed on the slab. I don't know why I didn't take pictures of the most expensive ones. These were actually some of the lesser priced in the bin. I think I was just in shock! Patty liveoak I wanted you to see these but I didn't want to post on your thread and detract from your beautiful copper smithing work! Am I reading those prices correctly - $539 and $570? Yes, and there were slabs in that tub that were over $800.
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,623
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Post by QuailRiver on Jan 27, 2024 23:12:41 GMT -5
Am I reading those prices correctly - $539 and $570? Yes, and there were slabs in that tub that were over $800. Wow! I am astonished! I find it offensive when dealers price the more expensive material slabs and rough so high that it caps the cabbers' earning potential to at best maybe making $20-$25 per cab off of his/her time, investment and labor. IMO this is a lack of respect for the craftsman. If a cabber is going to invest say $150 into a slab or piece of rough that will only produce four $50-$60 cabs then they might as well be cutting four $25 cabs from $20 rough to minimize risk. While having not seen these Peitersite slabs in person I may not have a full appreciation for there quality or potential, but from what I'm seeing it would certainly seem to me to be a foolish undertaking to buy those with any hope of making a profit. When the Mrs and I were in the antiques trade there used to be a saying for some of the new and/or part-time dealers pricing practices who rather than pricing their items in a range that would likely sell they instead "Priced to Keep". At the end of a show those dealers would grumpily have to load most of the goods they brought back into their vans to carry back home all while complaining about what a bad show it was. I hope that this is not going to become too common of a trend for the already economically strained rock shows. No one will want to go to shows once they start feeling like they can't make a few fair purchases.
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brotherbill
spending too much on rocks
Member since October 2018
Posts: 373
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Post by brotherbill on Jan 28, 2024 8:01:02 GMT -5
Nice display specimens but I would pass at that price. Very poor investment for cabbing purposes. Pietersite has a lot of waste around the outer edges. I always look for trimmed edges.
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ThomasT
spending too much on rocks
Trying to keep the dust down.
Member since June 2022
Posts: 259
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Post by ThomasT on Jan 28, 2024 9:49:12 GMT -5
Hundred-dollar bills don't go too far these days in the States.
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Post by catmandewe on Jan 28, 2024 11:18:13 GMT -5
You also have to look at the initial investment, Pietersite rough is not cheap and then when you cut it into slabs you turn approx 1/4 of the material into rock sludge so you have to raise the price enough to cover slabbing costs and sludge loss. Then people say that you are over pricing the slab. Most dealers would rather sell than take it home, but selling at a loss is not good business practice either. Customs and shipping has gone way up since Covid, the next Pietersite slabs you see will be even more as the price will have to go up to compensate. Not complaining, just putting my 2 cents in.
(PS- this was not at my booth but I do recognize whose it is)
Tony
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