Philosophy

This is a hobby for me. I retired from the dog-eat-dog corporate business world a decade ago, so I am generally unwilling to do same day shipping, or to send a package by express mail. (A trip to the post office costs $20 in fuel, and takes 90 minutes.)

Guarantee

I guarantee that the items sent will be in harmony with the photos and descriptions on the web site.

If I send the wrong item I will ship the correct item at no additional cost to you, and will generally ask you to keep the erroneous shipment as my apology for the mistake.

If you are not satisfied with an item return it for a prompt and pleasant exchange or refund.

Shipping

Shipping prices will be fair and reasonable. (On average I collect slightly less for shipping than what it costs me.)

Whenever possible, I ship in the USPS flat rate boxes, which allows me to ship as much as 15-25 pounds of rocks for one low rate anywhere in the usa. And transit time is generally 2-3 days! Shipping costs when using these boxes can be as much as 75% lower than UPS Ground or USPS Parcel Post rates. If you want to take best advantage of flate-rate shipping, order about 15 pounds of rock.

During warm weather I am often out in the desert badlands on rock collecting trips, and during cold weather we can get tremendous snow storms which can both delay shipping, but rarely for more than 10 days. If ship times get to be longer than a week I make a very strong effort to get things taken care of sooner rather than later. On items weighing more than one pound and less than 400 I generally ship by USPS Priority Mail. Shipments weighing more than that will generally arrive on a pallet on a truck with a lift gate and pallet jack.

If you provide an eMail address with your order I will send a notification a day or three after your package ships. (I know it's odd to send the notice after your package may have already arrived, but it's the best I have been able to arrange while being so far from civilization. I'm just glad the post office has set up a trust account for me and has been so helpful in getting packages shipped.)

Shipping Insurance. I self insure all shipments, and will replace any item which is lost or damaged in shipment. If a lost or damaged item is one of a kind I will either issue a refund, or substitute for a similar item.

Silver Accepted

I accept 0.999 silver as payment. I value silver at $30 per ounce, or $10 per ounce over spot whichever is greater. The day I wrote this page (silver spot at $17.80) that's equal to a 41% discount for paying in silver!

Privacy Policy

I will not divulge information about you to anyone except as required to complete the transaction, or if compelled by court order. I will not spam your eMail address.

Pricing Strategy

Pretty big prices for rocks!
You can pick em up for free yer self!

The prices I ask for a rock fairly represent the effort and/or cost that I put in to collecting it. If I crush rocks, or sort them, or polish them, they will cost more than if you take them just like they come out of the ground. Comparison shoppers will notice this pricing strategy throughout the site. You can pick up some really good deals if you are willing to do the washing, crushing, sorting, and polishing yourself.

I don't differentiate on the basis of rarity or prevailing market price for a rock. If I obtain it easily it will be lower priced than if I have to spend a lot of time or money to aquire it. If I chisel a rock out of the face of a cliff far away from home, it will cost more than if I collect it lying loose at a nearby quarry.

Tomorrow I will visit one of my mine sites. It is only a short distance from the highway as the crow flies, (a mile vertically, and a mile horizontally). From the spot where the photo was taken I will drive 22 miles on rough rocky jeep trails to the mine site which is near the red arrow on the photo. Ain't that trecherous terrain? We finally found the vehicle, (and body), of my neighbor who disappeared a year ago. His vehicle slipped off the road near the mine site and it is so rough that nobody saw the vehicle for a year. Now that I know where to look I can see the smashed up truck in the ravine.

I think it clever when I sell someone a rock out of the driveway, but for the most part mining is hard and expensive work. Last week I went on a rock collecting trip, putting 1500 miles on my truck, and incurring $500 in expenses. One day I was collecting at a site with snow on the ground, the next day I was out in the desert with the rocks so hot that I got third degree burns on my hands. I maintain a 4 wheel drive truck and a camper to take me into the badlands, deserts, and mountains and bring me safely home again. It is common for me to drive 100 miles on dirt roads without seeing any habitation or vehicle. One of the routes I take is 400 miles between gas stations. Some of my mine sites are only accessible for 2 months a year because they are snowed in the rest of the time.

On the night that I wrote this web page there were 13 partially healed cuts on my hands and arms from where shards of rock have cut me in the last week to ten days. I was lucky the day a cliff collapsed while I was on it that I escaped with only cuts and deep bruises. As therapy, I took my rock hammer and pounded at the offending boulder until it was reduced to fist sized pieces. (Then I took the pieces home and pounded at them some more until they were small enough to polish in the rock tumbler.)

Rattle snakes, scorpions, and wasps do not like me collecting near their homes. I get stung by wasps every summer while rock hunting. It's just too hard to predict where they will be ahead of time, though I'm getting pretty good about taking off running when I hear that certain buzzing sound. Woodticks and mosquitos love to bite anything that moves through their habitats. Burrs and rocks just seem to go together. While I have never been attacked by large mammals, collecting rocks in the western deserts or mountains requires awareness of the wild animals: Moose, bison, mountain lion, wolf, elk, and bear are dangerous wild animals that inhabit the areas where I collect rocks. I hear that tarantulas are harmless, but it sure creeps me out when one runs out from under a rock. I get so sick sometimes from dust inhilation after a badlands wind storm. My friends still laugh their heads off any time they remember my scream when a spotted lizard jumped into the air in front of me while I was picking up agate. I never even knew such gigantic lizards existed around here, and to have one almost land on me was just outlandish!!!

A badlands dust storm

A badlands tornado

The badlands

I look forward to hearing from you again some day when you want a really nice rock that can't be found anywhere near your home. I bet you will come to the conclusion that my prices are more than fair.

Regards,
Joseph