Online Shopping Tips for Picking Crystals

Choosing the right crystal for you can be an intimidating process. Even when you get to see and handle them in person, it can be overwhelming in shops where there are so many crystals to choose from. But for some, it is even more difficult when the crystals are being sold online.

How do you even begin to pick when there are so many options out there? How do you pick when some sources talk about needing to handle them to pick up their energies?

That is where this guide comes into play. Hopefully it will help in giving you some basics to choosing the right crystal for you from online crystal retailers like us.

Disclaimer: Crystals are not a substitution for professional medical or psychological advice and care.

Energy

For many people who believe in the power of crystals, they see crystals carrying certain types of energy. They vibrate, essentially, to different frequencies that can affect us and our own energy fields. We resonate to the different energies that different crystals give off.

Crystal meanings and metaphysical properties relate to these energies that people have experienced over the years. Lore becomes associated with those stones and thus certain crystals are believed to enact certain changes on the person using or working with it.

People feel these energies in different ways. Some people may feel vibrations from a crystal, while others can almost “hear” the crystal's inner voice. There are people that just get psychic and intuitive impressions from crystals and others that just find themselves inexplicably drawn to them.

There is no right or wrong way to sense these energies. And even if you don’t sense the energy of crystals, you can still work with them or keep them.

For some, picking out crystals is intrinsically tied to their ability to feel the energy of the stones, which can sometimes be more difficult to do that when they cannot be physically handled. But this is not an impossible feat.

This guide is meant to give you some tips and tricks to picking out crystals from online retailers when you cannot physically handle the stones and to learning how to sense their energies in a different way.

Keep an Open Mind

I know some people may be hesitant to pick out crystals online because of the lack of physical contact with the crystals in question. Some people find that they have to be able to touch or be in near proximity to crystals. However, that isn’t always a possibility if there are no local rock shops or gem shows in the area.

If you keep an open mind you may be surprised at how crystals can still call to you even through a computer screen from online shops and live sales. Look for pictures of crystals on the shops you find and read descriptions. If you find yourself constantly pulled back to the same picture or description, there is something calling you energetically to that crystal.

Go With Your Gut

This ties in a lot to the energy of crystals and how you individually pick up on that energy, but it is a very important part of choosing crystals both online and in person.

This has always been my number one piece of advice to newcomers to picking out and working with crystals. Whether you call it your intuition or your psychic senses, pay attention to that first reaction to a crystal you see and go with that gut reaction.

Open a page on a shop’s storefront (check out ours here) that shows all their crystals and just close your eyes for a moment. Focus on what it is you need. Take a deep breath and open your eyes. Glance through the products until your eyes settle one. You may get impressions or may just be drawn to it. But go with that gut feeling and you will find the crystal that calls you.

If it is during a live sale that shows a table of crystals, see what you eyes get drawn to the most often. Sometimes the sellers are intuitive enough to sense that someone is interested and keep holding a piece for longer than typical showing it off too.

This may seem super simple advice, but it is one of the better ways of picking out crystals for yourself.

Aesthetics

Paying attention to the aesthetics is something that I suggest when you struggle to pick up on the energy of the crystals or listening to your inuition. I have heard many people complain even in brick and mortar crystal shops that they cannot feel the energy of crystals. And that is okay. As I have said before, even if you can’t sense the energy of stones, that doesn’t mean you can’t work with crystals.

For these people, I tell them to pay attention to what stones they find most attractive. Maybe a certain color draws you or a certain shape of stone. Pay attention to the aesthetics of the crystals and you will find what stones are calling to you. Even if this seems a mundane way to pick crystals, it often works for those that are still just developing their skill in listening to their intuition.

Research

If you have the time while shopping online for crystals, do some research, particularly if you are new to crystals. Find some books or websites on crystals and read about their properties. Many will talk not only about their metaphysical properties, but also how they work and different ways you can use them.

Doing research will strengthen your knowledge on crystals and how they work and can help you find the right ones for you. You may even find yourself consistently drawn to the same crystal over and over again to indicate one that may be right for you.

Consider some of the following areas to delve into when researching.

Chakras

While being mindful of cultural appropriation, you will find a lot of crystals linked to different chakras. Some of this is based primarily on their main color or colors, while others can be more based on the subtle energies of the crystal. Having a basic knowledge of chakras can help you pick crystals that are right for you based on their correspondences to the chakras.

This guide may help as a quick chakra/crystal reference.

Intentions

Doing a quick Google search for crystals that are good for the intention you have in mind is another way to do some basic research. Some online retailers will arrange their navigation to help people search this way, but not all do. We try to provide multiple ways to search for what you need on our site so you can always shop by intention with us here.

Looking up what crystals are good for love or shadow work or money, can help you find lists of various stones that relate to those concepts. Some books even provide lists of intentions and the crystals associated with that intention. Take notes and keep a working list of stones that come up time and time again.

This is probably a good way to research when you know the intention behind what you want a crystal for but not the actual crystal you need.

Crystal Properties

And of course, just looking up the metaphysical properties of a certain stone can be helpful. Maybe you are interested in that amethyst you saw online but want to learn more before buying. Just look it up the crystal in a book or type in “amethyst metaphysical properties” into your search bar.

This is a helpful way to search when you know what crystal you want to look up and I usually recommend this after someone has found a stone that calls to them. You will be surprised to find that once you look up the crystal you will find that it will match the sometimes unspoken need in your life.

We are fans of The Book of Stones and it’s Pocket version by Robert Simmons for reference of crystal properties. This guide gives some great information on over 300 crystals that include not only metaphysical properties and key words, but also some general geological properties too like hardness and mineral composition.

Buy your copy here.

Divination

Now, if you are still trying to decide on the right crystal for you, try some divination to enhance your own gut reactions.

You can do a yes/no spread with your tarot cards or picking a crystal based on the message of your tarot or oracle cards. For more information you can check out this how to guide here.

You can also try using a pendulum for selecting crystals online. Pendulums are meant to enhance the messages from your intuition and allow you to see the response, so if you are struggling to pick up on those intuitive gut responses, pull out a pendulum and ask if that crystal is the right one for you.

You can pick out a pendulum here or get a book on how to use them here.

If you have a reference book on crystals like the Pocket Book of Stones, you can even try to flip the pages to select a crystal. And while that may seem pretty random, it is a form of bibliomancy/stichomachy. Learn more about bibliomancy here.

Reach Out

Finally, take some time to reach out to sellers like us. If you see some crystals that you like, but maybe want more pictures or a video to see that Labradorite flash just a bit better, don’t hesitate to message us.

Join our live sales on Facebook to see what new items we are showing off or ones that may already appear on our website. Seeing them actively handled can help sometimes in picking up their energy. Participate in live sales by commenting to get closer looks at the crystals that draw you.

 

Hopefully these tips will help you pick out crystals when you are shopping online.