Amethyst cathedrals from brazil can be very expensive. A little knowledge about the crystals can assist the consumer in making a successful purchase.

The mines in Brazil add cement to the bases (and sometimes backs and sides) to protect any crystal area from breaking off and to allow you to stand the geode on end. They also paint the crystal exterior a green that matches the actual volcanic stone the crystals are found in. This is how all Amethyst Cathedrals are sold. The mines in Brazil do a wonderful job of working with mother nature to develop a beautiful display piece. These are sold in stores for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Any cathedral on ebay is from the same mines and produced the same way. Many sellers do not want this information to be available to the general public. I believe in truth in advertising and will never intentionally misrepresent an item.

When buying an Amethyst Cathedral several factors help in deciding how much to spend on a crystal.

1. Color - the better the purple the more a crystal is worth.

2. The bigger the crystals the better the price.

3. Calcite and other secondary crystals add to value.

4. The more crystal and less cement the better. These are usually sold by weight so you would rather have your dollars go towards the weight of the crystal and not the weight of the cement.

5. Uniformity of shape is also a price  issue, if a crystal has nice symmetry it usually has a higher value.

The fact is no one has the best or worst Amethyst Cathedrals on EBAY. They are usually bought in 55 gallon drums stuffed with Shrink Wrapped Cathedrals and saw dust. A drum may have as few as 2 cathedrals or as many as 14 cathedrals. Drums are bought by the pound and shipped from Brazil. A buyer doesn't know how good or bad the crystals will be until opening the drum and fishing them out. It is like Christmas - for big kids - you can be elated or disappointed. I have never received a drum that didn't have some fantastic crystals mixed mith some nice and some so-so crystals. Each crystal has some level of beauty and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So my idea of an awsome crystal could be your idea of a dog.