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How We Source

Ben Polzin

 

I have high standards, I was born with a curse that involves having to speak my mind or else I won’t be able to sleep at night. I mean I have trouble sleeping at night as it is, I take a high grade beaver tranquilizer to get to sleep or else I’ll just lay awake all night!

 

When I started selling crystals, stones and sourcing them for projects I worked with a wholesaler overseas to get super specific items that were literally exactly what I wanted. I’d go crazy, getting a bunch of different materials that were whatever I wanted and more. The shit didn’t always sell. I got the exact crystals I thought would do well and they didn’t. I’d sit at markets and watch everyone sell all day, and I'd sell nothing. It was so depressing.

I started figuring out what was selling and ordering more of that. When I went back to my suppliers and compared them I realized that some of the materials not only weren't selling but it also was almost causing a burden on us. We had an accident one time and EVERYTHING fell and we ended up breaking like $500 worth of product. My new line of crystal necklaces that I sourced directly from a factory didn’t sell, it was beautiful and incredible but for whatever reason it wasn’t resonating with people.

 

That is when I really started to analyze what was selling and wasn’t and thats when “Ethically Sourcing” started popping up on some of my suppliers. Ethics wasn’t necessarily on my radar, I grew up poor and closeted so I was mostly focused on pop culture and music. I truly didn’t understand why it was necessary in my business. What it took for me to move over onto ethical sourcing was researching what it means for the crystals to not be ethically sourced. There are countries that I don’t work with any more as far as producing the crystals, countries and areas I don’t work with that mine stuff, and I have to make sure I’m balancing and constantly cross referencing to make sure that everything is legit.

 

Photos by @VioletCristinaPhoto

 

Some of the things I found out were that there is a lot of slave and child labor involved in crystal sourcing in some parts of the world. Including the part of the world my crystal factory I was working with was originally. I immediately cut all ties, and started researching what it meant to be ethically sourced when it comes to crystals. Certain stones come from conflict areas (bad) Some stones are byproducts of other mining (good for the environment) and I really started to live the life and effect change with what my business was purchasing. 

 

Before I could actually market myself as “ethically sourced” I not only had to do the research on what it meant, but also living by those values for a long period of time. I like to keep my prices low, which means my margins are super low to remain competitive. If I wanted to start cutting corners and buying unwholesome materials I could improve my margins and make way more money. But of course I’d be laying in bed thinking about what or who went into sourcing this stuff.

What it means to me is this. I will always take the time to research what/where items come from. I won’t cut corners in sourcing because its easier. I will continue to not purchase from unsavory sources, to ensure ONLY positive energy comes out of our local crystal shop. There are a lot of places to buy crystals in the Twin Cities, but we will always strive to source our crystals with the highest standards. and not just cus were stoned all the time