Well, I'll admit I'm a little new to this, having only the experience of several dozen purchases.  Never-the-less, I pick up ideas fast and I thought I would have something to offer.  Just to let you know, keep checking back on this guide, because I think I might keep adding to it until it's a short book; it'll be rough(not a pun) and it'll be my own style of writing, but it should be good.  It should also be known that this was intended to be read by people in the United States, so if your from another country and you find me referring to a circumstance prevalent in your country, no offense.

Lets start with Ebay

I guess I'll start with; if your buying gem rough, Ebay is both one of the best, and one of the worst places to buy it.  After all, this IS Ebay.  Ebay is...safe and the products are well advertised and you are able to return them if possible.  So if you buy a 40 carat yellow Beryl crystal and it turns up there is a crack all the way through it that you didn't see in the photograph you will be able to return it.  But you have to remember that Ebay is a reseller's market, and if you want to buy gem rough that wasn't "cherry picked" through, broken down into divisions, had all of the best crystals seperated and sold individually, or any other thing that may happen with a middleman involved, it is better to buy from a distributor closer up the distribution chain, preferably closer to the mine, obviously.

The problem with this is it isn't easy to find.  Anybody that has ever typed "gem rough" into the search engine knows that you may find anything from music videos to Ebay to redistributors to the trade sites that are the gold of gemstone buyers.  But to make a long story short, hard work pays off, and it you seek you shall find.

Of course, the problems that I described above in Ebay purchases persists even at the mine level.  I mean, who wouldn't single out a large crystal if it were to be given to the Maheraja, King, Sultan, or Emperor as a gift?  Nobody.  So I suppose thats another lesson to teach, even if you buy close to the mine, don't expect it to be everything you would hope it to be.  You have to admit, and I don't mean to be rude, if your podding on Ebay looking for something priceless for a steal, chances are you won't find it no matter where you look.

Now, if your buying mine directly, chances are you will be sent some form of credentials.  This is common and good, but remember, internet buying is not a 100% sure thing, and I hate to admit that there are bad people who cannot be trusted in the world, and documents can be forged.  So unless your willing to contact and communicate your possible grievance with that country's bureau of commerce, documents don't mean a thing if you never get what you paid for.  Some people will tell you that you should never buy things by sending Western Union, but I say to do that is to single out and overlook what could be a very viable resource in a country with a different culture.  I think I should remind you that this is Internet buying, not travel the world and know how it is over there and buy it.  The point is, unless your paranoid somebody is going to rip you off(pardon the expression), you have to trust to get something of an untampered with quality.

The other good thing about Ebay is that it's cheap, to put it bluntly.  Or rather, it can be cheap, depending on the circumstances.  Also, there is no need to deal with minimum kilogram or hundreds of dollars to place an order.  You can find the peice you want, and buy it.  There is the good part about having one or more kilograms of gemstones, you can sell what you don't use!  Of course, you would be selecting out of the product, but well, it happens. 

Fundementals of Selling:

So lets say you get what you wanted and you got your parcel, or lot, or whatever it is of rough, raw, or uncut or whatever it is gemstone.  Now what do you do with it?  Sell it?  Are you sure?  Because if everybody can do it, what do you offer that allows you to make money?  There may be a chance that simply your ability to get it makes you able to profit by the redistribution of that product in your more immediate region.  But what if thats not enough?  After all, paying top dollar and then trying to sell on Ebay, where you just know everybody's looking for a bargain, is a sure way to lose money!  You have to have something to offer.  This is something that I'm still trying to learn.  The more work you put in to it the more money you'll make from it.  There must be a univeral law that says as much.  So cob it, preform it, facet it, have it faceted, if you didn't do anything at least you'd be dividing it into smaller potential shipments.

Maybe I will decide that I will be the one to tell you that gem rough may not be the sure investment you thought it would be.  If you want something nice that will stand the test of time, and may even last forever; fine.  But if you think that what your looking for is going to be worth a fortune, whether or not everybody wants to hold your 50 carat Garnet is one thing, but whether you'll be able to sell it is another.  I've been told again and again that "it's not worth anything unless somebody is willing to buy it."  And thats true, I never want to hear about it, but it's true.  Of course, what retailer wouldn't want to buy your 50 carat Garnet?

Fundementals of Buying:

Other then that, there's the easy stuff; buy big(quantities and carat size), and buy clear and big.

There are a few things that may help the Ebay buyer, however.  Remember, when using technology, mind over matter is augmented.  So if you find something you want, and you don't have a problem with stealing somebody's item, exert a little mental control.  That ones a little out there, but if you think it might work, hey, power to ya.  Another one: try looking for items using every possible variance; I once found a heliodor crystal that wasn't listed as rough, and truth be known it's still there.  14 grams too.  This advice can also work oppositely; if you sell, be sure to put everything in the description that is necessary for people to find it.

What to look for when buying

Now, not everybody can get facet grade gemstones, that is why their rare and valuable.  But if that is what you want that is what you should look for, besides, if what you want is valuable then that is what you should buy; again, obviously.  But what should you look for when buying facetable gemstones?

1.  Natural crystal faces.  The more the better.  Not only will it save you time and effort faceting them because many of the sides will already be flat, but many gemstone cuts rely upon the gemstone having a shape that is easily manipulatable.  You would rather simply bisect a crystal then have to replicate the oblong cubic shape before you bisect.  When buying alluvial pebbles, or worn-down gemstones, try to get a good look at the stone, even if it's only through a photograph, and see if you can see if the cracks are internal or surface imperfections.

2.  Lack of inclusions.  This one is a given.  Do what you can from the photographs.  But I'm going to let you in on a little secret.  There is so little that people understand about crystals.  What one person sees as the color of a gemstone another may see as the color imparted from the objects the gemstone is near.  Inclusions may be redefined to be flaws not internal but because of how light shines through the surface of the gemstone.  What I mean to say is, one person may see a flawed stone while another may see a flawless stone.  Now, you may be extraordinary to be able to use this feat of mind or sight, but it is a talent that is extraordinarily useful when buying something that another person may think of as less then what you potentially do.

3.  Source.  If your looking for something valuable, your going to want to care about where the crystal originated from.  Safe rule of thumb that can't go wrong:  If they don't produce it anymore, or use to long ago, buy it if you find it!  Peridot from Egypt, red Rubies from Burma, Opal from Bohemia(I may be wrong about this but you get the point).

4.  Size.  Everybody knows that with gemstones size matters.  People want big gemstones.  Not only collectors, but faceters find working with larger stones exponentially easier.  This one is a given.

5.  Color.  People buy what they want.  Most people buy their favorite colors.  Or at least as close to them as they can get.  Most gemstones that aren't precious are used as substitutes for precious stones because not everybody can afford to buy a stone of the color they want.  Garnets for Ruby, Aquamarine for Sapphire, Peridot for Emerald, and so on.  That is why Ruby red Spinel and Rubellite Tourmalines are so popular, similarly to Tsavorite and Demantoid Garnet as substitutes for Emerald.  So if your buying to sell, buy what people want.  If your buying for you, buy what you want.  Simple as that.

Faceting(without straight angles):

You might think that this is foolish when better tools are out there, but believe it or not faceting by hand is not only traditional, but allows you to be more precise in measurements then any tool would allow(being that tools are made by tools and so the secondary tool would never be as precise as the primary).

Not only that but I myself consider faceting with tools a form of cheating.  I say if your going to alter the shape of the crystal, the least you can do is be stronger then it yourself.  Sometimes I'm amazed that metal even withstands the tempertures that the stones get up to during the faceting process, and dop wax?  Thats a different story altogether.

The hardness and natural cleavage planes of gemstones are the hand faceters worst enemy.  Because some places on a stone are easier to facet down then others, you may, if not careful, be left with a crooked plane, for one, two, three, or potentially four reasons.  This off-angling can be attributed either to the hardness of the stone or to the optical property distorting your vision before pressing the stone down on the lapidary wheel.  I can facet a stone flatter with a verticle cab lap then I ever could with a flat lap and an angle tool.

One of the most annoying problems with faceting is multiple planar surfaces comprising a single flat surface.  Whether using an arm and dop wax or faceting by hand, it is a problem that anyone with a good eye can detect.  You put a stone back down on the wheel and when you look at it again it just wasn't in the same place twice.  I have no suggestions for this other then to not take breaks mid-faceting.

Orthoclases:  These are exceptionally easy stones to facet.  Inexpensive too.  They are soft enough to not alter the shapes you attempt to make unlike the harder materials.  Also, the crystal formation tends to work in complement to the unnatural shape made from the stone.

Quartzes:  These are somewhat tricky.  The optical property is there but it is not deep.  Be careful to not peer through the stone while your working on it and repositioning it and you should be fine.  Be careful of positioning, and be sure of yourself!  You may just place it wrong by eyeing it wrong reletive to the lapidary apparatus.

Topazes:  These are similar to quartz but the optical property is much more powerful.  Just don't stare through the crystal while you look at it, same as with quartz, use the reflections off the surfaces as your reference points.  These crystals when exposed to friction become incredibly hot, compared to other softer varieties, and faceting by hand is recommended only when faceting the smallest of areas and only when necessary.

Corundums:  Be careful about what your doing.  Corundum is hard, but there is a chance that you cut it at just the wrong angle and it fractures a piece off.  This has been true with Australian Sapphires for me so far.  The chances of faceting a crooked plane is higher because the gemstone is harder, simply pushing the stone down on a grinding wheel will cause it to facet at an angle; you have to be careful.  I've faceted Ruby that would not be straight.

Diamonds:  The good thing about these are that they are so difficult to alter that chances of making crooked angles is little, you'd realize your doing it far ahead of time.  I have yet to facet Diamonds, but theoretically they are so dense and variable in that density that they are the easiest crystal to look away from and then look back to find that the angle you faceted is off.  A bit contradictory but undoubtedly true.

Tourmalines:  These crystals are soft and usually found in whole crystals, so for that reason they are easy to facet.  The density of the crystals around the spire varies, however, and the typical step cut of Tourmalines is difficult to make symmetrical when faceting by hand.

Beryls:  These crystals are a faceters dream for some reasons, and their bane for others.  A beryl crystal is reletively hard and not prone to fracturing even with the roughest of grinding surfaces.  It has a limited displacement ability due to it's optical property, and for that reason angles are kept when shaping a gemstone; you are less likely then with other crystal varieties to check your work only to find that the angle is off.  I've faceted Aquamarine that was so straight, flat, and symmetrical that you could see both the natural density of the crystal distorting the shape of the gemstone so that it appeared to be crooked, but at the same time even enough to see the former.  These crystals also are capable of internalizing an incredible amount of heat, which radiates(painfully) outward while faceting.

Garnets:  These are no fun.  Simply put.  I admit it may have something to do with the quality of my faceting equipment as of yet, but for the most part I find transparant Garnet extremely brittle compared to other crystal varieties.  Don't use a rough grinding wheel to cob Garnet, chances are it will crack before you get to the desired shape.  Another peice of advice is to facet the whole stone in steps; grind the whole stone, then sand the whole stone, then polish the whole stone(not that many people make the mistake of doing otherwise).

Spodumenes:  If you know about these then fine.  Extremely brittle.  Cut with a low grit grinder and cut away from the cleavage planes.

Something you should know:

People have long coveted crystals, since they first explored natural caves and found the rare geologic fissures and found them in their natural formations.  People would break them off and possess them for as long as they could, or it could be thought of as long as the crystal would(after all, it is a living creature that grows and dies, in a sense).  People would do their best possible to unnaturally recreate the beauty they would destroy when bringing that crystal from it's natural environment.  That is why it became popular to facet what was the base of the gemstone, to make it symmetrical.  The crystal, as a lifeform, knows only that it is the least bit confused; it can no longer consume elements through it's base how it had since it was "born".  The crystal becomes aimless, content to jostle about in somebodies pocket or hang, even upsidedown, around somebodies neck.  People faceted the base because the crystal became theirs, it was no longer belonging to the Earth, and it was necessary to make it comfortable, if even by doing so confusing it into crystalline contentment.

The faults, or could they be achievements, of human civilization have their effect upon gemstones.  Science as the art of crystal gazing was the original reason why crystals became bisected.  Simply put, so people could see inside them.  To get closer to the center of that rare and phenomenal optical property of a crystal.  Art and aesthetics also had their effects.  People looked at the minute cracks that would form and instinctively flatten the fracture out of the gemstone, and to make the gemstone furthermore symmetrical.  Leading to star and girdle facets.

A crystal in mans posession becomes influenced by man, as man is influenced by the ownership of a fine artifact.  The crystal becomes inherently human; moving linearly in directions with the possessor, rather then outwardly expanding in crystalline growth.  It is shown to people, not only so people can see it, but also so it can "see" people.  That women would be given gemstones as gifts is to provide reassurance of a maternal instinct to the crystal, because it was taken from it's place of "birth".  To make the point; a crystal is a form of life, and as a form of life it has wants and needs.

The people who take the crystals from their natural habitat, to call it that, are directly responsible for the unnatural reshaping, or faceting, of that crystal afterwards.  To reshape a crystal by faceting is to mutilate an already complete and beautiful form of life.  To collect mineral specimens, and allowing them to live in reletive peace, is superior to faceting and exchanging them for money.  To leave a crystal in it's natural state is to allow a beautiful thing to happen, that is the old adage, to allow it the godliness of peace.

A crystal allows itself to be handled and faceted.  Anybody that has ever touched a priceless gem, a finicky one at that, knows the pressure your under to not "accidentally" drop it.  That is the crystal enforcing it's will upon the possessor.

Well, I guess thats it for now.  I hope this incomplete guide helped, and even if I didn't, may it have been entertaining, enlightening, and informative about myself.