About Us

Thank you for visiting our website.  This is the page that chronicles a bit about us and how we started in the fossil world.

Fossils haven't always been part of my life.  Not even as a child did I ever think about looking at Dinosaurs like most kids do. I was too busy with Sci-Fi and the great outdoors to worry about the prehistoric world!    However in the year 2000, nearly at the young age of 21, I was on holiday in the Isle of Wight and walking along the beach I found some turtle shell and crocodile bones.  They are quite common there and I was keen to find out what I'd found.  After visiting the old museum and a few other fossil dealers I learned about what I'd got in the little box in my hands.  So I went back to the beach over the next 2 weeks and found lots of stuff.  I got home and thought about what I was going to do with them.  I decided to keep the best and sell off the rest of the little bits and pieces on an online auction site.  Amazingly they sold quickly. At the time I was only about 1 in 5 of the fossil dealers on there.  Although I didn't have any stock.  So I found a wholesaler, I still use them today, and I spent £100 to start with.  I don't spend so little anymore I can tell you!  

 So I bought some little trilobites, ammonites, some crocodile teeth etc. All the cheap things that I could get a lot for my money.  I put them online and they sold. So I had a bit more money to go back and buy some fossils and minerals that were a bit dearer in price.  Very soon I had a few salad boxes in the corner of my bedroom.  Doing the auctions, I quickly learned about dealing with customers, money and frequent post office visits.  I quickly made friends with many of my customers.  I made friends with the fossil dealers at the time and did a bit of swapping and trading to get different stock. 

I worked at craft markets selling fossils from my stall and small trailer on the back of the car.  I did a lot of music festivals at the Crystal Palace Bowl and Victorian days at the Park. I was surprised there were so many people interested in fossils and minerals.  I sold tumble stones and agate slices, fossil fishes and shark teeth necklaces. People kept coming back for more things because they'd never seen these things before.   They appreciated seeing something different.  I was just happy to show them things even if they didn't buy them.  It was amazing showing people a meteorite or a piece of dinosaur bone and talking about where it was from and how old it was.  The look on their faces is priceless!

It got to the time when that corner in the bedroom was getting cramped.  So I built a little shed to put everything in.  Safe to say, that ended up getting bigger and bigger.  Now I have a workshop all kitted out with stock shelves and easy to find inventory (well relatively easy to find!).  The salad boxes might be a thing of the past but I always remember where I started.  From little fishes, big fishes grow.  I have not reached my full size yet either.   And I do still use salad boxes too. 

Back in 2005 I decided to build a website. Initially I was looking for someone to build it. But after discovering what the price was, I thought, hey do it yourself!  It surely can't be that difficult.  And it wasn't at all - all the software editor did the work so I could be creative.  and in late 2016 I felt the need to update the interface and give a more modern and secure site to my customers.  So This new site is the result of that work.  It is never easy recreating something from scratch again, but I always remember back to when I started.  And I never for one moment expected to get to this stage. I thank God for that, I thank my family, and my wonderful customers who have supported me in rich and lean years. I give my thanks and praise to you all. 

During my time as a fossil dealer, I have supplied countless Universities, Colleges and Schools, TV and Film companies and the media.  But I try to remain grounded and down to earth always.   Every customer is treated with the same respect regardless of what they spend.  I look forward to serving you very soon.  Should you wish to get advice on anything fossil or mineral related just drop me an email or Facebook message and I'll be right back.

In 2017 I became a Born again Christian.   The experience I had a few weeks after, helped me to cope with the web server destruction of their systems and editor. I could no longer work the way I was, the system was upgraded and changed to the point I could no longer edit the website or put on new stock.  It meant I could no longer list new items on my old website and this went on for weeks. I did contemplate on giving up my fossil business, because 12 years of work went up in smoke.   After a few weeks of inconsolable feelings, I felt the strength, with the help of family, to start again on a new site.  I went to Weebly and found I could build a brand new site quite easily.   The monumental task that lay ahead though was big - restocking. So I sat for months moving photos and listings over, all manually, I could not copy them over because the other web provider did not have the facilities. They were a multi million dollar enterprise as well!   I think many customers left at the same time I did.  People's websites were just totally corrupted.   Anyway the website you see now, is the Phoenix that arose from those ashes.  Again, thank you God for showing me the light and giving me the strength to fight on.

I incorporate as much as I can in my business from my personal beliefs, working to make people happy, not focusing solely on financial gains, but the gains of new friends, who happen to be my much valued customers.   Many pathways have led me back to the path I was meant to be on.  It is never too late to start again.  God Bless x 

Matthew J McGrane, Owner of Fossilsforsale.co.uk