Buying minerals through auctions should be exciting and straightforward. To help you bid with confidence, here is a simple guide explaining how shipping works on MineralBids.

Shipping Is Set by the Vendor

MineralBids is a marketplace where independent mineral dealers (vendors) list and ship their own specimens.

Each vendor is responsible for:

• Packing the specimen
• Choosing the shipping service
• Setting shipping prices based on weight and destination

Because vendors ship directly to buyers, shipping costs may vary between different stores on the platform.

How to Check Shipping Before Bidding

You can always check the shipping cost before placing a bid.

To see the shipping cost for a specimen:

1. Open the specimen page.
2. Scroll down to the Shipping tab.
3. Select your country.
4. Return to the Shipping tab.

The system will then display the shipping charge for that specimen to your destination.

This allows you to know the expected shipping cost before you place a bid.

Helpful Video

Combined Shipping

IIf you win multiple specimens from the same vendor, the system automatically calculates combined shipping.

Combined shipping works by:

• Adding together the weights of the specimens
• Calculating shipping based on the total weight
• Applying the vendor’s shipping rules for your country or region

This often results in significantly lower shipping costs compared to sending items separately.

Many vendors also include a shipping table or list in their Store Policies, showing prices based on weight ranges and shipping zones.

If a vendor provides such a table, you can estimate your combined shipping cost before bidding by:

1. Checking the weight of the specimens you want on their product pages
2. Adding the weights together
3. Looking at the vendor’s shipping table in their Store Policies
4. Finding the price corresponding to the total weight and your region

This allows you to estimate very accurately what the combined shipping cost will be if you win multiple specimens from the same vendor.

Open Box Shipping

Many vendors support Open Box shipping.

Open Box allows you to:

• Win multiple auctions from the same vendor
• Keep your items temporarily “open”
• Ship them together later in one parcel

This is useful if you want to participate in several auctions from the same vendor and combine everything into one shipment.

Instead of charging the full shipping cost again for each item, the system only charges the additional shipping cost created by the extra weight of the newly won specimen.

Each time you win another specimen in the same Open Box:

• The system adds the weight of the new item to the existing parcel
• Shipping is recalculated based on the new total weight
• You are charged only the difference (increment) in shipping

This ensures that buyers only pay the true additional shipping cost caused by the extra weight, rather than paying full shipping multiple times.

Vendor Shipping Tables

Some vendors include detailed shipping tables in their Store Policies.

These tables may show shipping costs based on:

• Weight ranges
• Shipping zones (regions or countries)

If a vendor provides such a table, you can estimate your exact combined shipping cost by:

1. Adding the weights of the specimens you want
2. Checking the vendor’s shipping table for your region
3. Finding the price that corresponds to the total weight

This allows you to predict the exact shipping cost the system will calculate when the items are combined.

International Shipping

Most MineralBids vendors ship internationally.

Shipping costs depend on:

• Destination country
• Parcel weight
• Shipping method used by the vendor

If you have questions about shipping to your country, you can contact the vendor using the Inquiry button on the specimen page.

Bid With Confidence

MineralBids is designed to provide clear and transparent shipping information so you can focus on what matters most – finding great mineral specimens.

Before bidding, simply check the Shipping tab, review the vendor’s policies if needed, and enjoy the auction.

Happy bidding!