Interest in Himalaya Salt Lamps and salt products continues to grow in the U.S. and Himalaya Salt Company  continues to be one of the leading Importers and Distributors of these items.  We hope that this brief guide will help you make an informed decision when purchasing your salt lamp.  A fine guide to color and color rarity has already been written by one of our worthy competitors and we won't duplicate their efforts here.   Instead, this guide will confront a few of the pitfalls and false information prevelant in the marketplace. A few points as we see them:
         1) PRODUCTION:  All salt production in Pakistan is controlled and operated under the auspicies of a governmental mineral development board.  This is a hold over from British colonial days.  A very few families have had certain concessions granted to them to control operation of certain mines, but in almost every respect, production of salt and salt lamps, for that matter, in Pakistan, is a government controlled affair and has been since before Pakistan was an independent country.  Why is this important to a potential buyer?  Any importer/reseller claiming to be a manufacturer, producer or mine operator, or to have control of the production process is not being totally forthright.  If a business relationship starts off with misrepresentations, it usually doesn't get better from there.  Enough said.
         2)  SHIPPING:  Salt lamps are heavy and expensive to ship, but not unreasonably so.  A few sellers offer a very low price and then charge huge shipping and handling fees to make up the difference. Supposedly ebay is going to crack down on this practice, it's common in all areas, not just salt lamps. Always remember to keep your eye on the bottom line when considering any deal, a $1.00 item plus $19.00 S&H is the same price to you as an identical $19.00 item with $1.00 shipping. 
         3) QUALITY:  It has been our experience that the vast majority of lamps produced in Pakistan today by reputable manufacturers are of basically the same quality. After all, the salt lamp concept is a simple one; a chunk of rock crystal salt on a polished wood or stone base with a shaft drilled into it. They are produced in either natural rock forms or carved and polished into various shapes. Claims to the contrary notwithstanding, there are remarkably few actual manufacturers of salt lamps, most who claim to be so in fact being brokers rather than actual producers. Those who do fabricate the lamps have access to the same general "quality" mix of mined salt chunks. Having seen these operations up close we can assure you that there isn't any vast difference in either salt quality used in lamp fabrication, nor in overall quality of product coming from the manufacturers. They all make thousands upon thousands of lamps and the finished product is either first quality or it is not. It then becomes a matter of finding a broker/representative who concentrates on choosing lots with the highest percentage of lamps showing quality of fabrication of the product and who works closely with the actual manufacturers. Needless to say it is quite a complex maze of relationships that requires time and experience to negotiate. Many salt lamp brokers buy large quantities of second quality lamps for export, quality refering to fabrication and finished product rather than oft hyped salt quality. These are passed on to whoever will buy them.  Obviously then, the real problems stem from the area of quality control.  Even the best producers and their agents occasionally allow export of lamps that do not have deep enough or large enough shafts, loose bases, unstable fissures and other quality issues.  We believe that most of the time this is a result of a hurried inspection process, which is somewhat understandable given the medium and number of lamps being produced.  Everybody that imports salt lamps gets their share of these no matter how reliable their producer and his reps are.   What really counts then is who the seller is dealing with at source and whether or not your lamp is inspected prior to shipment by the seller in order to cull inferior lamps that slip through. If a problem lamp isn't set aside and does get shipped to you,( and this happens with even the best sellers), will the seller replace it or otherwise make it right? Just like any other product, buying a salt lamp from a reputable seller will go a long way to insure your satisfaction.  Reading a sellers feedback before making any purchase is a good practice.
         4) DOO-DADS, GEE-GAWS & ADD-ONS:  As we stated before, one of our colleagues has written a fine guide to salt lamps that we would recommend reading.  The only exception we would take with it is about the fixture mounting brackets.  When salt lamps were first being imported into the U.S., the standard fixture came with a stiff spring steel clip that was virtually impossible to dislodge once the fixture had been inserted into the lamp.  One of our early competitors in the wholesaling end of the business came up with a mounting bracket that attaches to the bottom of the base to make detachment of this type of clip easier.  It was a great idea, and like most great ideas, it reigned supreme until the next innovation came along a few months later and made it obsolete.  The new standard is a hinged flex type clip that will insert and detach with the greatest of ease and more importantly, allow the socket and bulb to be inserted high enough in the lamp for optimal lighting effect, something the mounting bracket does not.  It is our opinion that the fixture mounting bracket is now uneccessary and adds no real value to a lamp. Once again, though, this is our companies opinion, albeit a result of having examined thousands of lamps and fixtures from various manufactureres and wholesalers. The final decision of whether it is a feature you might want is entirely up to you, the buyer.  What unquestionably does add value,though, is a quality UL approved cord and fixture.  It should be included in the price of the lamp.  Without a cord and fixture what you have is a pretty lump of salt on a base, not a salt lamp.   Finally, a word about light bulbs.   It is our long experience that shipping them with the lamp is a no win proposition for everyone, so we stopped doing it and were able to cut our lamp price by a dollar.  Other sellers like to include one, and that's fine too (although it usually arrives in little shards without the additional expense of protective packaging, an expense that is passed on to the consumer )..either way, you will need one and they usually cost 4 for a dollar at the local discount store. 7 or 15 watt candleabra base (night light) bulbs for the small lamps, 7, 15, or 40 watt bulbs for the larger lamps.
5) SUMMATION:  Salt lamps are great fun and there are some great (and we're sure, fun) people selling them.  All integrity minded sellers of salt lamps have an interest in people being happy with having purchased them, and there are many such sellers on ebay.  We salute our competitors who do the right thing and work to that end.  We think that they would join us in encouraging you to buy one and enjoy it, but to do so armed with some useful information in order to make your purchase an enjoyable experience.  If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact us via our ebay store: Himalaya Salt Company  We look forward to hearing from you!