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Post by sheltie on Jul 17, 2013 11:12:00 GMT -5
If I seem excited, it's because I am. I just got off the phone with John Rowland, owner of HP and Rare Earth Trading Company. This past weekend he bought out a rock shop in Amarillo and has 60 tons of rock from the sale. He is "bundling" a lot of it into 55 gallon drums, each drum will have 600-800 lbs of agate, jasper, Amazonite and other rough, and he is selling each drum for $600 each. I didn't leave a zero off the end, that's truly six hundred for the drum. I've never heard of such a deal and am personally taking advantage of the offer. He can ship it to you at great shipping rates. At the risk of sounding like a shill, I need to tell you that I don't work for HP although I do own one of his saws. He can be reached at www.HPLapidary.com or info@RareEarthTeading.com, (512) 348-8528 if you're interested. |
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Member since January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2013 11:17:56 GMT -5
Ha! I saw a similar listing that also included other materials beside agates. Serpentine and others. sheltie, did John say anything about that? |
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Post by sheltie on Jul 17, 2013 13:47:24 GMT -5
He just said that he had a lot of rough. I think I caught him off guard when I called him back about the sale because I'd just gotten off the phone with him about something else. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he had serpentine, though He also has all sizes.
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Post by Toad on Jul 17, 2013 17:07:09 GMT -5
Big difference in price per pound between 600 and 800 pounds - especially not knowing what a 'great' shipping rate is.
Still, could be an excellent deal. Will have to check it out. Thanks for the heads up.
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Post by deb193redux on Jul 17, 2013 19:40:57 GMT -5
freight on 600lb drums is not cheap, and if it is delivered to a residence w/o a dock it is often more. but I think it is about $125. (I have seen shipping rates for $90 for a 500lb drum of liquid)
so if we have 700lb for $600 + $125 = $725/700 = $1.25/lb
this is a decent price but is is not a shout form the rooftop kind of price with pictures and more information. many old shops have big piles of $1/lb or $2/lb rough out back. Unless this is a barrel full of $4+/lb agate from bins inside the store, it is not such a deal.
more information about the quality is critical.
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Post by sheltie on Jul 18, 2013 10:27:36 GMT -5
I can't speak of the shipping rates because I know nothing about them. He did tell me that they would be great so you would need to find that out for yourself, as well as to what he has and what quality they may be. In my case, since I don't do this for a living and I have had some experience with him, I know that I'll be happy with whatever he gives me. To others, it would behoove you to do your due diligence prior to buying.
I normally buy one piece of rough or a LFRB, so I'm not experienced with buying in bulk. Someone like Tony or John Rowland deal with tons and containers at a time. That just boggles my mind. If one were to buy in bulk and wanted nothing but top quality material, I would think that would be very expensive. But they should be able to turn that into a decent profit with their workmanship on what they produce. I just want to please my wife and me and our tastes are pretty simple - if we think it's pretty, then it is.
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Post by deb193redux on Jul 18, 2013 11:48:15 GMT -5
All good advice.
My general point was that it is priced at $1/lb or a little lower if the barrel is heavy. I would consider that a typical bulk discount on $2-$3/lb "rockpile" rock. If it is cleaner and higher grade rock that was in bins and not on the shop's "rockpile", then it is a much better deal. That's why some information on quality is important and why I added that caution to your initial very "all in" posting.
For example Tony bought a recent 32 ton estate that he describes as "50 years of collecting all around the western states, lots of stuff that cannot even be found any more. Agates, jaspers, petrified wood, opalites, obsidian, onyx, alabaster, dino bone, coprolite, and lots of other stuff that I am not able to identify" - a general description of generally desirable lapidary rock that might also apply to the rockshop purchase you are describing.
However, Tony is offering this for about $1/lb SHIPPED, in 20+ pound boxes. In the case of the huge sale in this thread, even if shipping the barrel is the very very low price of $100, you are paying $1.10/lb for a 600lb barrel and as low as $0.88/lb if the barrel actually contains 800lb of rock and the freight remains the same. (And, I think the only way the barrel gets that heavy if less desirable smaller sizes are poured in around the larger rock.) This price only goes up if the freight is $125 or $150 ... etc.
My point being that the average quality would have to be considerably better than the quality of Tony's material to justify the inconvenience of having to buy 600+pounds, and then pay for or atherwise deal with moving it off the curb where it will be delivered. (Though I guess it could be unpacked into about ten 5gal buckets right on the curb.)
You were excited. If I was getting 600+ pounds of rock I would be excited too. You can avoid freight, maybe take 10 buckets and go pick it up. Exciting deal for you. -- Once freight enters the picture, maybe not as good a deal for others as more convenient deals already available.
Of course, if a picture looked a lot more colorful, more old stock, and/or a lot more slabbable than the pics Tony is showing of the pile he is selling, then the whole equation does change.
If you have the bucks, I don't think you personally can go wrong on this deal. You might even be able to sell a few MFRB here to recoop a bit. But, as you note in your last post, others would need to run down more details before deciding this was the best deal for them. I just wanted to get that sensible caution into the conversation.
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Post by orrum on Jul 18, 2013 12:00:25 GMT -5
Uhh wheres the info on Tonys $1 shipped rocks? Thanks and hope I didna hijack the thread with this question. As for unloading I used to get oil and grease in 55 gallon drums on a transport truck. Just put some unmounted tires on the ground and roll the drum off the back of the truck onto them and then roll it up the drive and into the shop. Never busted one or dented it bad. A rockhound aint gonna leave it in the barrel anyway, they gonna pull it out, fondle it, lick it, dip it in water, sort it, size it etc. right away. My girlfriend Susan, beautiful Polish blonde that she is says I like to play with my new rocks more than her!!!! LOL Err this lapidary rockhound business is addictive and fosters some truly Freudian behavior dont it! ROFLMAO
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Post by sheltie on Jul 18, 2013 12:10:42 GMT -5
Tony's my favorite seller and has been even before I met him. You can't go wrong buying from him. He's a perfect example of trusting someone to do what's right by you. Not that many people like him around any more.
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