Where to Buy Real Insects in Amber - 3 Tips from a Museum-Grade Dealer (And where NOT to buy!)
- Ryan Zschomler
- Jun 4, 2025
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 24
How to buy real amber online, and avoid the fakes
Shopping for amber online can be overwhelming. There is a lot of fake amber out there, and no one wants to be duped into buying some plastic that someone put a bug inside.
There is also a lot of real amber online, but how do you know? This blog will clear it all up for you.
There's a list of reputable sellers of real amber below, if you want to skip straight to shopping!
First, Check out this quick comparison between a piece of real amber, and a fake amber.
Real amber: Notice the imperfections, the natural position of the inclusions, the color gradients, the dust in the piece. these are all good signs! Because nature makes things with imperfections.
Fake amber: Notice the mass-manufactured packaging, the amber itself is perfectly clear (which is not common), and it's set on a keychain. These are all bad signs! Real amber doesn't come like this.
Tip #1: know the Seller
A real amber dealer will be transparent about sourcing, age, insects, and scientific context. On my TikTok and Youtube (@AmberBugs), I unbox hundreds of amber insects and teach people how to spot fakes, how to test amber, and what qualities make amber valuable.
Websites selling real amber will show the following things:
-Shows the piece under magnification
-Shows the piece under UV light
-Offers educational information and close up details
-Doesn’t hide flaws - amber may have cracks or imperfect inclusions, which is natural
-Provenance of each piece
Good Websites for buying real amber
Here is a list of websites known for selling high quality authentic amber.
Bad Websites for buying real amber.
If you shop at any of the following websites, you are at high risk of buying fake amber!
Avoid Amazon
Avoid Alibaba, Aliexpress
Avoid Temu
Avoid Tiktok Shop
Avoid anything mass-manufactured
Tip #2: Make Sure it’s Real Amber - Not Plastic, or Copal
There are two main things you want to check for when purchasing amber online: Obvious fake plastic amber, and Copal
First of all, the obvious fakes. Amazon.com is full of fake amber, and almost devoid of real amber. How can you tell real amber from fake amber? Read that blog for the full breakdown on how to spot fake amber.
About fake amber
Fake ambers are too perfect. Real amber has imperfections, character, and oddities. Fake plastic amber always looks the same: A giant, colorful, perfectly placed insect, encased in a amber-colored plastic. And it will have no imperfections.
Also, the shape of the plastic is usually uniform, like a square or oval. They may come in keychains, or packs of multiple pieces that are all too similar. Fake amber usually costs $5 or less, where as real amber has it’s price. Once you learn to spot these fake ambers, it will be easy. They are usually pretty obvious. If it’s too perfect and too cheap, it’s probably fake amber.
About Copal being sold as amber
Second of all, the Copal. Copal is the young version of amber: It’s a real tree resin, with real insects. The caveat? It’s not fossilized. Copal can be anywhere from a few years old to a few hundred years old, but it’s never fully fossilized. This one is a little harder to distinguish because it is so similar to amber. Copal is cheaper, and more abundant. But sellers often sell copal as amber, when in fact it is not.
Here are some of copal’s distinguishing characteristics.
1- It’s pale yellow, usually not a richer yellow like amber. Sometimes it’s almost colorless.
2- It has a lot of clear insect inclusions. While we love insect inclusions, it’s important to distinguish copal from amber because it’s a modern day tree resin, not an ancient one.
3- Copal is much cheaper than amber.
4- pieces can be very large, for very cheap.
Copal comes from 3 places: Colombia, New Zealand, and Madegascar. If you see “Colombian Amber,” “New Zealand Amber,” or "Madegascar amber," you can be sure that it’s copal, not real amber.
The Caveat with Copal? It’s beautiful and has impressive inclusions. On a personal level, I love copal, I just warm that it is mis-represented as amber.
Tip #3: Don’t Just Buy Any Amber - Look for Inclusions and colors
Some amber is gorgeous, but empty. In fact most amber doesn’t have insects inside, those are quite rare. But the amber with insects are the ones that truly fascinate us, and help science establish our evolutionary records. If you are collecting for science, investment, or the thrill of discovery, what matters most is the inclusion - The insect, the bubble with ancient water, the ancient leaf, the mammal’s foot, and so on.
A piece with an inclusion inside is worth exponentially more than an empty amber piece. A well-fed mosquito, a moth with it’s wings splayed out perfectly, an extinct Hell-Ant with vertical jaws? This is the difference between decorative amber, and Museum-Grade amber.
The Caveat? Amber has rare colors, that can also be valuable to collectors, even without insects. Blue amber, for example, is amber that captured forest fire smoke. This can sell for up to $300 a gram in some markets. Learn more about rare colors in amber here.
Want to See Real Amber?
Amberbugs has hundred of authentic insects in amber. I also host daily livestreams on TikTok (@AmberBugs) where you can buy insects in amber directly. All pieces are tested, shown in great detail, and ID’d using an encyclopedia of information and my 10+ years of experience.
Whether you are just starting your collection, or you are looking for that one-in-a-million fossil from the time of the dinosaurs, we have authentic insects in amber from every major deposit. And it comes with scientific confidence, and some of the best pricing online. Happy collecting!
