Shell hunting on the Gulf coast cost me $300 in sand dollars I regret buying

Picked up a bag of so-called 'natural' sand dollars from a vendor in Destin for $300 only to find out after boiling them at home that they were just dyed concrete casts, has anyone else gotten burned by tourist trap fossil sellers?

2 comments

2 Comments

drew_chen1mo ago

Honestly $300 for souvenirs is a steal compared to what I paid.

joseph_martinez351mo ago

Yeah "compared to what I paid" is the key part there. Most people dont realize that prices at these spots are actually set by the local vendors not the tourist companies. I found out the hard way when I talked to one of the shop owners and she told me they have to pay a huge cut back to the tour operators just to set up there. So the $300 you see is already inflated by like 40-50% compared to what youd pay in the actual local markets a few blocks away. Its basically a tax for convenience and not knowing where to go.