Dinosaur Fossils Become A Gift Making Trend As Semi-Luxury Item

SAN FRANCISCO - Dec. 19, 2016 - PRLog -- At the time of writing this article Jurassic-Dreams.com has over 600 authentic specimens in stock from 40+ species of dinosaurs, reptiles, sharks and fish. With over $350,000 in sales in the last year alone, the once small one-man company is turning into the profitable world leader in commercial paleontology. But let's look at who's behind it.

It was a little over 7 years ago when a young fossil hunter started selling his finds online. Like many others, he had a passion for dinosaurs since he can remember. However, instead of going about in life like many other fossil aficionados that actually make a living in something not related to paleontology, he went all-in and got a Degree in Geology with Major in Paleontology. He has since explored most the well and also little known quarries in Morocco, taking advantage of living in southeast Spain, which is a 2 day trip from the majestic North African dinosaur fossil sites.

His name is Juan A. Poblador, the owner and expert paleontologist at Jurassic-Dreams.com.

Despite your contagious enthusiasm, I have to ask you this.
What makes you think you are any different from the dozens of online dealers selling fossils?

I have nothing against all the aficionados that try to sell what they find. However, being the only major player in the industry whose background is actually being a real paleontologist, I found that the rigor with which many well-intentioned dealers act was far from ideal. In addition, most of the dealers have mainly trilobites, ammonites and even minerals in stock, but almost no dinosaurs or vertebrates in general, and no specialization –they are hobbyists, not scientists. That's where Jurassic-Dreams.com comes in.

Great sales pitch… but aren't those other dealers also offering certificates of authenticity?

Not really. You can get a signed paper saying "Certificate of Authenticity" from anyone who can spell a dinosaur species. However, the validity of such document is only tight to the authority who signs it. Most of those certificates do not guarantee anything to the collector. Being a certified paleontologist myself, what I can issue is an authority document.

Now that you mention fakes, most of the people who collect fossils are afraid of getting tricked, especially with fossils from Morocco or China. And it seems that your specialty is the Moroccan Cretaceous.

That is absolutely true. Morocco is a temple for fossil forgeries. They have incredible craftsmen dedicated to carving out bones and stones, restoring partial fossils… It's a disaster down there. It took me many years of visiting the quarries and having contact with local dealers to get to know all the techniques they use to try selling you as authentic, something which is a complete fake. I spend most of my time analyzing specimens and making sure I only sell authentic specimens. It is probably my number one daily task. In fact, I have written an extensive guide about this topic which anyone can download for free at Jurassic-Dreams.com.

What can you tell the people who think that selling fossils is unethical, especially coming from a person tightly linked to academia?

Most of the people who say that are academics –like myself. I also navigate those circles. First, it's paramount to comply with law so that the reputation remains unquestionable. You will never find in my online store a fossil with a doubtful provenance or from locations where collecting is illegal. We have to reflect about what a fossil is. There are more fossils buried than dozens of generations could ever unearth. The important point is to recognize what has a scientific value and what not. The basements of many museums I have visited have unfortunately large boxes of fossil specimens which will never see the light of day because they simply can't go on exhibition due to their repetitiveness or lower scientific value.

I like the example of the US, where fossil collecting is legal under certain circumstances and therefore it is a much popular activity with greater awareness. And, many of the best paleontological exhibitions can be found in the US. I do believe that those two facts go hand in hand, and other countries where fossil collecting is simply banned should reflect about it. I think that collecting brings visibility, and visibility brings funding for the paleontological institutions.

In fact, I adhered to the American AAPS (Association of Applied Paleontological Sciences) because there is no counterpart for it in Europe.

What about the buyers. What types of buyers do you have? Is there any pattern?

The type of buyers is so wide that I cannot make a pattern out of it. However I could classify them in terms of the purpose of the purchase: approx. half of the buyers are shopping to make a gift, and the other half is buying for themselves.

Most of the customers are from within the US, so I have optimized the shipping costs and delivery time for them, and there are no customs duties whatsoever, all that is covered by us. I have also customers from many other countries, but in lower numbers.

It is a growing business and sometimes the biggest challenge is having all the parcels dispatched within 24 hours. They want to have a shopping experience like in any other major online retailer. Many aficionado online stores do it as a side business and the buying process is not so straightforward, so I try to keep it as easy as possible.

https://www.Jurassic-Dreams.com