How to Buy Crystals Online and Choose the Right Crystal

Laura Konst
2021-01-30T16:52:30+00:00

Buying crystals online does not have to feel overwhelming. Whether you are choosing with spiritual intention or building a serious collection, this guide walks you through finding a trustworthy shop, choosing the right crystal for your practice, and what collectors should look for in quality, origin, and formation.

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Buying crystals online is a very different experience to walking into a physical shop, but it is no less intuitive. Whether you are building a collection with a focus on quality, origin, and formation, or you are choosing crystals to work with spiritually and energetically, this guide is here to help you find the right piece with confidence.

We have split this guide into two sections: one for those choosing crystals for spiritual and intentional practice, and one for collectors focused on quality, structure, and provenance. Read both, or go straight to the section that resonates most with where you are right now.

Finding the Right Online Crystal Shop

Before you choose a crystal, you need to choose where to buy from. These principles apply to every buyer, whatever your purpose.

Trust Your Instinct About the Website

Your intuition starts working before you have even added anything to your basket. When you land on a crystal shop website, ask yourself honestly: does this feel right? Does it feel like the people behind it genuinely care about what they are selling?

There are shops online that source cheap, low quality, and sometimes outright fake crystals, including resin and glass pieces sold as natural stones. A careful look at the website will often tell you a great deal.

Check the product photography. Are the images stock photos that could have been taken from anywhere? You can run a reverse image search on Google to find out. More tellingly, do crystals of the same type look identical across every listing? Natural crystals like Carnelian or Turquoise are never exactly the same colour or shade, even within the same grade. If every piece looks identical, that is worth questioning.

Find Out Who Is Behind the Shop

A trustworthy crystal retailer will be transparent about who they are. Look for a personal biography, a genuine social media presence, and evidence that the people behind the shop are passionate about what they sell.

At Tali and Loz, we are open about how we consciously and ethically source our crystals, which suppliers we work with, and the standards we hold them to. Every crystal is carefully selected and chosen with intention before it makes its way to you. If you want to understand more about what ethical and conscious sourcing really means in the crystal trade, our Crystal Quality, Grading and Ethical Sourcing guide explains it in full.

Read the Reviews

The crystal community is one of the most generous and honest communities online. If you are considering a shop you have not bought from before, spend time reading customer reviews on Google, Facebook, and Instagram. When someone finds a crystal shop they love and trust, they tend to say so. That social proof is one of the most reliable signals available to you as a buyer.

Choosing Crystals for Spiritual and Intentional Practice

If you are drawn to crystals for their energy, their healing properties, or their role in meditation and intentional practice, the following guidance will help you choose with confidence online.

Intention Comes First

The most important starting point is knowing, even loosely, what kind of support or energy you are looking for. Are you working on emotional healing, protection, clarity, confidence, or connection? Start by searching for that intention on the shop's website and see what comes up. From there, notice which pieces draw your eye, and then read the descriptions carefully. Does the crystal still resonate when you know more about it?

Our Shop by Intention page is a good place to start if you are not sure where to begin.

Colour and Energy

Colour is one of the most instinctive ways we respond to crystals, and it is rarely a coincidence. Each colour carries its own traditional energetic associations. Pink and green stones are broadly associated with the heart, love, and emotional healing. Blue and purple stones connect to communication, intuition, and higher awareness. Black and dark stones are grounding and protective. Earth tones bring stability and rootedness.

If a particular colour is calling to you, trust that. Your eye and your energy are often pointing in the same direction.

For a deeper look at colour and Chakra connections, our Pink Crystals guide and Top Black Crystals for Protection, Grounding and Balance are good starting points.

Chakra Guidance

If you are aware of a blockage or imbalance in a particular Chakra, working from that awareness is one of the most purposeful ways to choose a crystal. Different crystals carry strong traditional associations with specific Chakras.

For example, if your Crown Chakra is calling for support and you are experiencing feelings of disconnection or isolation, Amethyst or Golden Healer Quartz may be exactly what you need. If your Heart Chakra needs attention, stones like Rhodonite, Mangano Calcite, or Cobalto Calcite are natural choices.

Another simple approach is to look at an image of the Chakra colour system and notice which colour your eye is naturally drawn to. That pull often points directly to where your energy needs attention.

Zodiac Connections

Many crystals have particularly strong traditional connections to specific zodiac signs. Using your sign as a filter can help you narrow down a large selection with more confidence, particularly when you are drawn to several pieces and need help deciding.

Check out our full Crystals for Zodiac Signs guides to explore which crystals align most closely with your sign.

Shape and Form: Choosing the Right Crystal for How You Work

The shape of a crystal is not just aesthetic. Different forms carry different energetic qualities and suit different kinds of practice. Here is a brief guide to the most common shapes and how they are used.

Palmstones are smooth, flat, and shaped to sit comfortably in the hand. They are ideal for meditation, breathwork, and moments of quiet focus. The continuous contact with the skin makes them particularly effective for grounding and calming practices. If you are choosing a crystal to hold during meditation or carry in your pocket throughout the day, a palmstone is often the most practical and energetically accessible form.

Towers and Points direct and amplify energy upward and outward from the tip. They are commonly used in crystal grids, on altars, and in intentional spaces to focus and project energy in a specific direction. A single tower placed in a room will radiate its energy outward into the space. If you are building a crystal grid or creating a dedicated spiritual space, towers are a powerful choice.

Spheres radiate energy evenly in all directions, creating a continuous and balanced energetic field. They are used in meditation, scrying, and in shared spaces where you want the crystal's energy to flow outward without directional focus. A sphere placed in a central space, a living room, a healing room, or a workspace, creates a gentle and constant presence.

Rough and Raw Pieces are crystals in their most natural state, unpolished and as they were found. Many practitioners feel that rough crystals carry the purest and most direct expression of a mineral's energy, as nothing has been altered from their natural formation. Rough pieces are particularly well suited to those who want to connect with a crystal's origin and natural character, and they often make striking display pieces as well.

For a comprehensive overview of all crystal shapes and their energetic uses, see our Ultimate Guide to Crystal Shapes.

Quality in Spiritual Practice

Grade matters in spiritual work too, though perhaps differently than it does for collectors. Higher grade crystals with greater clarity and structural integrity tend to carry a stronger, more consistent vibration. That said, a lower grade piece chosen with clear intention and genuine resonance will always serve you better than a high grade piece you feel nothing for. Trust your response to a piece over its grade alone.

Not Sure? Ask Us

If you are feeling overwhelmed or simply want a second opinion, reach out to us directly. We are genuinely happy to help you find the right crystal, completely free of charge. Send us an email or a message on social media with a little information about what you are looking for and we will guide you through the options.

Choosing Crystals for Your Collection

If you are a collector, your priorities are likely to be different. Quality, origin, formation, and rarity matter as much as, or more than, energetic properties. Here is what to focus on when buying collector pieces online.

Grade and Quality

Understanding crystal grading is essential for collectors. Crystals are typically graded on a scale from AAA down to D, or numerically from 1st to 10th grade, assessed at the point of mining based on clarity, colour, cut, and carat. The higher the grade, the greater the clarity, colour saturation, and structural integrity of the piece.

At Tali and Loz we aim to stock AA grade and above wherever possible. For a full breakdown of what the grading system means and how to apply it when buying, our Crystal Quality, Grading and Ethical Sourcing guide covers everything in detail.

Origin and Provenance

For serious collectors, knowing where a crystal comes from matters significantly. Origin affects both the character of a piece and its value. Tanzanite found only in a small region of northern Tanzania, Larimar exclusively from the Dominican Republic, and Fulgurite formed by lightning strikes in specific desert environments are all examples of minerals where origin is inseparable from identity and value.

Always look for country of origin in the listing. A reputable retailer will provide this as standard. If it is not listed, ask.

Formation and Structure

For collector pieces, the quality of natural formation is one of the most important factors. Well-defined crystal terminations, intact matrix, natural growth patterns, and complex internal structure all contribute to the value and interest of a specimen. When assessing pieces online, look for close-up photography that shows the crystal structure clearly.

Specific formations to look for include natural double terminations in Herkimer Diamonds, botryoidal surfaces in Grape Agate and Smithsonite, skeletal formations in Fluorite, and sputnik formations in Aragonite. These are the formations that make a specimen genuinely collectible rather than simply decorative.

Rarity

Rarity drives value in the collector market, and it is influenced by a range of factors including deposit location, accessibility of the mine, seasonal availability, and the frequency with which high quality specimens appear. Some minerals are abundant but rarely found in collector quality. Others are inherently scarce.

Understanding what makes a particular species or locality rare helps you make more informed purchasing decisions and recognise genuine value when you see it.

Rough vs Polished for Collectors

For most serious collectors, rough and matrix specimens are preferable to polished pieces, as they preserve the natural formation and provide the clearest record of how the mineral grew. Polished pieces have their place, particularly for minerals where the interior colour or banding is best revealed through cutting, such as Malachite or Agate. But where natural formation quality is the primary draw, rough will almost always be the stronger collector choice.

Assessing a Piece Online Without Handling It

Buying collector pieces online requires more care than buying tumbled stones or palmstones. Look for the following when assessing a piece remotely:

Multiple photographs from different angles, including close-ups of the terminations, matrix, and any areas of particular interest. A single flat image is rarely sufficient for a collector piece.

Clear measurements and weight. Size and mass are important context for understanding the scale and density of a specimen.

Honest description of any damage, chips, or repairs. A reputable retailer will always disclose this.

Natural lighting photography where possible. Heavy editing can mask surface quality and alter colour accuracy.

If in doubt, ask the retailer for additional photographs or video. At Tali and Loz we are always happy to provide more detail on any piece in our collection.

The Right Piece Is Here

Whether you are choosing with your heart, your intuition, your eye for quality, or all three at once, the right crystal or mineral is out there for you. Take your time, trust your instincts, and choose with intention. There is no wrong answer when you are choosing with care.

As always, our inbox and DMs are open if you would like guidance or simply wish to explore further.

As always feel free to reach out if you have any questions!

Love, Laura

Further Reading

How to Buy Crystals Online

Chakra Crystal Guides

How Does the Moon Affect Mother Earth and Crystals

How to Incorporate Crystals in Your Daily Life

How to Cleanse and Recharge Crystals to Maintain their Energy

How to Use Crystals for Indoor Plants

Zodiacs and Crystals