June 2011 visit to the Gemshow at Sainte Marie Aux Mines

We had the privilege to take part in the Sainte Marie Aux Mines mineral show in France. It was a last minute decision to go. And boy are we glad that we went. I was washing our new diopside from Zambia when I came accross a stunning specimen. I walked through our office and made a declaration. I am going to take these specimens to Sainte MArie Aux Mines. It was an inpromptu decision. I went down to town and bought two tickets for me and Geran my son. We then went in to Johannesburg and applied for the Visums for Europe. The Visums were issued on the last day before we were suppose to leave for Europe. This was rather scary.

We landed in Amsterdam and spend the day there.

We took along 30 kg of specimens and had to pay R700 at the airport for excess babage. This I did not like.
In France we had no problem at the airport and breezed through customs.

I hired a small Renault Twingo. Driving on the 'wrong side' of the road at night with scanty map details is scary. We lost about 1 hour of aimless driving through the backstreets of Strasbourg.

The next day we reached Sainte Marie Aux Mines after visiting the postcard towns of Riquewihr and Ribeauville. Visiting these places is like food for the soul. It is sooo pretty.

At the show we set up our banner and packed out our 'new find' stones.
It was great watching the buyers and their reaction to the stones. Competition at this shos is fierce. There are 1100 exhibitors. It is the 3rd largest mineral show of it's kind. Literally everybody with something to show is at this market. It is a feast for the eyes. You can see the type of specimens I brought back on our website. http://www.bronnrocks.com/

We picked up a few substantial orders but realised that the material is more commercial in nature. We are now selling the diopside in lots of 100 kg at $1000 per lot. You will get a mixed parcel for this price. This is dirt cheap. I have stacks of enquiries that I need to follow up. This translates to around $2 to $3 per specimen. You can make a huge profit on this. Please write to us as soon as you read this to place an order. Stocks are limited.

We will be marketing this worldwide and will have no problem to sell such a well crystalized mineral at such a good wholesale price.

The secret to making a success selling wholesale is to give your customers such a good deal that they keep on coming back for more.

We are very excited about our prospects. A friend of mine in Zambia said that when you go and hunt the Impala and encounter the Kudu you are welcome to divert your attention to the Kudu. We are going to Zambia this week and hope to get a few more exciting things to add to our arsenal.